Rairbirds - Rairbirds 1

  by Cyrus Pearce

published: 11 / 8 / 2007

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Review

Back in the 90's, funk rock band “Rootjoose” were flying the flag for the Cornish music scene, and surfers, up and down the land, were revelling expectantly. Then, the eclipse came and went, the millennium was upon us and .... Rootjoose evolved into Rairbirds. Back to 2000, and the new line-up showed great promise with the opening track of this album, entitled 'Blow Wind Blow'. With rave reviews from Pete Tong, Timo Maas, Annie Nightingale to name but a few prominent DJs, as well as whole hearted support from drum’n’bass supremo Photek, the future looked bright. The influences are plain to see – Faithless, Moby, Chemical Brothers are merged with Miles Davis, the Beatles and Bob Dylan. These influences unashamedly make appearances on the record in one form or another. It is like listening to someone’s eclectic record collection merged into one album using five second samples on random. The product is incoherent yet one can see what they were attempting to achieve and you have to give them high marks for attempting this mix. When the band step away from the record decks to pick up their instruments, they allow their talents to emerge and, as with 'Low to High', and the heartfelt 'My Only Love'(a splendid finale), they become resplendent birds of paradise. Every now and again, a band emerges that takes what some would call "proper" music and transform it into something new, exciting, vibrant or experimentally challenging. 'Rairbirds 1' professes to do just that, but falls well short of the mark. Admittedly there are some interesting sounds to be found on this release but, unfortunately, there is a dearth of material to wade through to catch a glimpse of anything that would make you prick up your ears. The phrase, "Must try harder" reported of a child who has potential to better, springs to mind. The press release hypes the status of Rairbirds to be "Pioneers of the 'organic dance scene'" - Regrettably, for those looking for a significant release to represent the ever culturally expressive Cornwall, 'Rairbirds 1' was picked far too early in the season. This album shows a group, whose talents are definitely strong, trying too hard to impress.

Track Listing:-

1 Blow Wind Blow
2 Unkown
3 Cast The 1st Stone
4 It's Alright Ma
5 Electrified
6 Tigerag
7 Calling
8 Reprise
9 Lo 2 Hi
10 B Sum 1
11 My Only Love

Label Links:-

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