The Birdwatcher
Afternoon Tales the Morning Never Knew
Arena Rock Recording Co
2001
Rating: 5 red bellied woodpeckers out of 10
I struggled with the rating for this album. The thing is, I enjoy it well enough - can’t think of anything bad to say about it. But for some reason, every time I put it on, it just becomes background music for me. I tune it out almost as quickly as I hear it, and not on purpose either - it just doesn’t seem to hold my attention. So I give it a middle of the road rating, because I’m sure plenty of people out there will like it, but I’m sure plenty others will be like me and forget they just heard it, even if they don’t mean to.
The Birdwatcher is the solo project of Windsor for the Derby front man Dan Matz. He also enlisted the help of various other indie luminaries, most notably Jim Kimball of Jesus Lizard and about a million other bands. The cover of this CD has a sticker with a quote from NME that says "emotive & fragile, strangely spooky, slightly unhinged". I’m not sure I’m feeling the unhinged part, but the rest fits pretty well. Lots of rainy-day soundscapes with acoustic guitar and singing layered on top, and the occasional bouts of percussion here and there would be a good general descriptor of sound. Not unlike what you might get if you smooshed Windsor for the Derby and The Blackheart Procession together, and only kept the real mellow bits. The only track to defy this description is ‘The Hush’, which easily is the most rocking song on the album, and probably my favorite to boot.
By no means would I say not to go out and buy this album, just be sure you know what you’re getting into. If you’re looking for something to play in the background while you do homework or trade stocks or have your tea and crumpets, this might be a good choice for you. But if you’re looking for something to keep you awake for a late night driving jaunt, unless you like falling asleep at the wheel, I would try something else.
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