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Birds (North Sea Radio Orchestra album)

January 01, 1970

Birds is the second album by the English cross-disciplinary musical ensemble North Sea Radio Orchestra. It was released on December 1, 2008, on Oof! Records.

Background edit

Birds was a continuation of the work begun on the ensemble's first album, North Sea Radio Orchestra, consisting almost entirely of original compositions and containing settings of antique poetry from the Victorian and Edwardian eras and earlier. As with the previous album, Birds contained settings of poems by Thomas Hardy ("The Wound" and "Phantom") and Alfred, Lord Tennyson ("The Flower" and "Move Eastward Happy Earth", both of which had been in the repertoire of the ensemble since its earliest concerts in 2002). Birds expanded the band's choice of poetry for setting choice by including settings of Geoffrey Chaucer ("Now Welcom Somer") and William Blake ("The Angel", "A Poison Tree" and "Golden Cage"). Almost all of the music was written by group leader Craig Fortnam with the exception of "Personent Hodie" (a Fortnam arrangement of a traditional tune) and "Harbour Wall", which was a Fortnam arrangement of a composition by William D. Drake (the original of which had appeared as a solo piano performance on Drake's 2007 album Yews Paw).

The band performed a concert at St Martin in the Fields on 18 November 2008 to promote the release of Birds.

One album track, "The Flower", had previously been released as the first track on a 7-inch vinyl EP.

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic(unrated) link

Reviews of the album were generally positive. Isle Of Man Today described Birds as "effortlessly beautiful to listen to… NSRO manage to take you back centuries to an ancient form of music while retaining an eerie ability to remain thoroughly modern… Birds has a distinctly non-conformist sound but nevertheless achieves its aim with quiet, reserved gusto. NSRO aren't about to go on a media rampage shouting about how good they are; the whole project is far too middle-class for that. But by putting out Birds they are giving their audience a knowing wink. They realise they've created a fine piece of work and you can feel the confidence growing from track to track."[1]

The Cambridgeshire Times called the album "an intriguing proposition [which] feels at times like it's just been unearthed from an archaeological dig alongside some ancient flagstones. Organ, violins, clarinet, bassoon and oboe feature heavily alongside acoustic guitar, drum, percussion and choral parts, conjuring up images of royal court musicians… [The album] straddles the less crowded end of 60s folk and revives traditional chamber music, managing to sound timeless and refreshing rather than hopelessly outdated. A calming record of quality musicianship and carefully woven melodies." The review also praised Sharron Fortnam as being "a beguiling embodiment of a cut-glass English Rose singer, delicate, classical, strong and capable."[2]

Reviewing Birds in issue 181, Mojo described the album as sounding like "Tortoise reworked by Howard Goodall" and suggested "there's charm and melody aplenty, but the churchier excursions suggest bourgeois smugness - Blake would not approve."[3] In the underground music press, the Name Someone That’s Not A Parasite music blog hailed the NSRO as "(the) band British Sea Power wish they could be! These guys are like a latter day Incredible String Band mess of uniquely Anglican eccentricity."[4] Describing the NSRO’s music as "kitchen-sink folk" Subba Cultcha commented that Birds was "something quite magical, but at times cringingly twee and fluffy, but in terms of artistic endeavour, it’s a tour-de-force in no uncertain terms. Part classical, part folk, part something entirely new, if you fancy dipping your toe in something a bit different, then this is a great rock pool to do it in."[5]

Organ lavishly praised the album, saying that "North Sea Radio Orchestra are blossoming in a rather fine way now with their inviting mix of delicate English prog and 20th century classical pastoral folk. Harmonically rich and fluid in a Henry Cow, Art Bears, Incredible String Band kind of way... A fine mix of delicate English folk and something that has evolved out of fine traditions of chamber music… Birds is an album pulling gently in two distinct ways. One direction; nice, simple, sitting in a sunny field, female-voiced acoustic folk, the other towards a rarer thing, this fusion of English medieval progressive classical, chamber orchestral music, via Vaughan Williams, Cardiacs, Vernon Elliott, Henry Cow. In the end, it all works as a melodic spirited integral classical whole. Always more than just decorating modern music with classical instrumentation, at its core a real orchestra, this is something that’s both timeless and enchantingly beautiful – a very fine, very enjoyable rather magical album."[6]

Track listing edit

All music written by Craig Fortnam except where noted. All arrangements by Craig Fortnam. Lyricists as credited.

  1. The Angel (2:12) (words by William Blake)
  2. The Wound (3:54) (words by Thomas Hardy)
  3. Copt Gilders (4:48)
  4. Move Eastward, Happy Earth (4.07) (words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
  5. A Poison Tree (2:15) (words by William Blake)
  6. The Flower (3:53) (words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
  7. Harbour Wall (3:57) (music by William D. Drake)
  8. Guitar Miniature #2 (1:21)
  9. Phantom (2:10) (words by Thomas Hardy)
  10. Personent Hodie (3:24) (music - Trad. arr Craig Fortnam)
  11. Now Welcom Somer (6:14) (words by Geoffrey Chaucer)
  12. Golden Cage (2:47) (words by William Blake)

Personnel edit

North Sea Radio Orchestra:

North Sea Radio Chorus:

References edit

  1. ^ Isle Of Man Today review of Birds, retrieved November 19, 2008
  2. ^ Cambridgeshire Times review of Birds[permanent dead link], retrieved November 19, 2008
  3. ^ David Sheppard, Review of NSRO album Birds in Mojo #181, retrieved October 24, 2008
  4. ^ Name Someone That’s Not A Parasite music blog review of Birds, retrieved November 19, 2008
  5. ^ , retrieved November 19, 2008
  6. ^ Organ magazine review of Birds July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved November 19, 2008

January 01, 1970
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Birds North Sea Radio Orchestra album news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message Birds is the second album by the English cross disciplinary musical ensemble North Sea Radio Orchestra It was released on December 1 2008 on Oof Records BirdsStudio album by North Sea Radio OrchestraReleased2008GenreClassical musicLength41 11LabelOof RecordsProducerMark Cawthra Tim SmithNorth Sea Radio Orchestra chronologyNorth Sea Radio Orchestra 2006 Birds 2008 I a Moon 2011 Contents 1 Background 2 Critical reception 3 Track listing 4 Personnel 5 ReferencesBackground editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message Birds was a continuation of the work begun on the ensemble s first album North Sea Radio Orchestra consisting almost entirely of original compositions and containing settings of antique poetry from the Victorian and Edwardian eras and earlier As with the previous album Birds contained settings of poems by Thomas Hardy The Wound and Phantom and Alfred Lord Tennyson The Flower and Move Eastward Happy Earth both of which had been in the repertoire of the ensemble since its earliest concerts in 2002 Birds expanded the band s choice of poetry for setting choice by including settings of Geoffrey Chaucer Now Welcom Somer and William Blake The Angel A Poison Tree and Golden Cage Almost all of the music was written by group leader Craig Fortnam with the exception of Personent Hodie a Fortnam arrangement of a traditional tune and Harbour Wall which was a Fortnam arrangement of a composition by William D Drake the original of which had appeared as a solo piano performance on Drake s 2007 album Yews Paw The band performed a concert at St Martin in the Fields on 18 November 2008 to promote the release of Birds One album track The Flower had previously been released as the first track on a 7 inch vinyl EP Critical reception editProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllmusic unrated link Reviews of the album were generally positive Isle Of Man Today described Birds as effortlessly beautiful to listen to NSRO manage to take you back centuries to an ancient form of music while retaining an eerie ability to remain thoroughly modern Birds has a distinctly non conformist sound but nevertheless achieves its aim with quiet reserved gusto NSRO aren t about to go on a media rampage shouting about how good they are the whole project is far too middle class for that But by putting out Birds they are giving their audience a knowing wink They realise they ve created a fine piece of work and you can feel the confidence growing from track to track 1 The Cambridgeshire Times called the album an intriguing proposition which feels at times like it s just been unearthed from an archaeological dig alongside some ancient flagstones Organ violins clarinet bassoon and oboe feature heavily alongside acoustic guitar drum percussion and choral parts conjuring up images of royal court musicians The album straddles the less crowded end of 60s folk and revives traditional chamber music managing to sound timeless and refreshing rather than hopelessly outdated A calming record of quality musicianship and carefully woven melodies The review also praised Sharron Fortnam as being a beguiling embodiment of a cut glass English Rose singer delicate classical strong and capable 2 Reviewing Birds in issue 181 Mojo described the album as sounding like Tortoise reworked by Howard Goodall and suggested there s charm and melody aplenty but the churchier excursions suggest bourgeois smugness Blake would not approve 3 In the underground music press the Name Someone That s Not A Parasite music blog hailed the NSRO as the band British Sea Power wish they could be These guys are like a latter day Incredible String Band mess of uniquely Anglican eccentricity 4 Describing the NSRO s music as kitchen sink folk Subba Cultcha commented that Birds was something quite magical but at times cringingly twee and fluffy but in terms of artistic endeavour it s a tour de force in no uncertain terms Part classical part folk part something entirely new if you fancy dipping your toe in something a bit different then this is a great rock pool to do it in 5 Organ lavishly praised the album saying that North Sea Radio Orchestra are blossoming in a rather fine way now with their inviting mix of delicate English prog and 20th century classical pastoral folk Harmonically rich and fluid in a Henry Cow Art Bears Incredible String Band kind of way A fine mix of delicate English folk and something that has evolved out of fine traditions of chamber music Birds is an album pulling gently in two distinct ways One direction nice simple sitting in a sunny field female voiced acoustic folk the other towards a rarer thing this fusion of English medieval progressive classical chamber orchestral music via Vaughan Williams Cardiacs Vernon Elliott Henry Cow In the end it all works as a melodic spirited integral classical whole Always more than just decorating modern music with classical instrumentation at its core a real orchestra this is something that s both timeless and enchantingly beautiful a very fine very enjoyable rather magical album 6 Track listing editAll music written by Craig Fortnam except where noted All arrangements by Craig Fortnam Lyricists as credited The Angel 2 12 words by William Blake The Wound 3 54 words by Thomas Hardy Copt Gilders 4 48 Move Eastward Happy Earth 4 07 words by Alfred Lord Tennyson A Poison Tree 2 15 words by William Blake The Flower 3 53 words by Alfred Lord Tennyson Harbour Wall 3 57 music by William D Drake Guitar Miniature 2 1 21 Phantom 2 10 words by Thomas Hardy Personent Hodie 3 24 music Trad arr Craig Fortnam Now Welcom Somer 6 14 words by Geoffrey Chaucer Golden Cage 2 47 words by William Blake Personnel editNorth Sea Radio Orchestra Craig Fortnam nylon string acoustic guitar chamber organ piano vocals Sharron Fortnam lead vocals soprano Dug Parker vocals main harmonies James Larcombe monosynth chamber organ Ben Davies piano chamber organ Nicola Baigent clarinet Geraldine Peach oboe Luke Crookes bassoon Harry Escott cello Sarah Longe Brian Wright violins Hugh Wilkinson percussion North Sea Radio Chorus Luke Albery Ben Davies William D Drake Louise Harrison Suzy Kirby James Larcombe Richard Larcombe Gideon Miller Kavus Torabi Melanie WoodsReferences edit Isle Of Man Today review of Birds retrieved November 19 2008 Cambridgeshire Times review of Birds permanent dead link retrieved November 19 2008 David Sheppard Review of NSRO album Birds in Mojo 181 retrieved October 24 2008 Name Someone That s Not A Parasite music blog review of Birds retrieved November 19 2008 Subba Cultcha review of Birds retrieved November 19 2008 Organ magazine review of Birds Archived July 22 2011 at the Wayback Machine retrieved November 19 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Birds North Sea Radio Orchestra album amp oldid 1128145284, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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