Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Everything I read about Wildbirds & Peacedrums (made up of two folks, Mariam Wallentin & Andreas Werliin) made me think that I would love them. What's not to love about anything described as "haunting," "magical," and "hypnotic?" How can you not get excited anytime anyone drops the phrase "acrobatic vocal techniques?" On paper Wildbirds & Peacedrums seemed destined to be on my list of new favorites, with a definite GOOD stamp.

So you can imagine how surprised I was by how underwhelmed I felt listening to their most popular MP3 offerings- their ballads "I Can't Tell In His Eyes" and "The Battle in Water." I suppose it was their own good press that did them in- I was so hyped up expecting something "completely unique" that would leave me "musically shaken." Who loves to be musically shaken more than me? What I ended up hearing was something that at first listen sounded disappointingly typical; more "pretty" lush melodies surrounding delicate, "pretty" female vocal. Maybe I've been listening to too much out there drug music, but these two ballads hardly sounded "ambient" to me at all. All the things that would make this kind of music special to me (beautiful lyrics, strange and/or layered instrumentation) was totally absent, leaving behind something I really wanted to get excited about but couldn't. Sure there's a xylophone in "Battle in the Water" but it's not an EXCITING xylophone.

And honestly, I know I already touched on it, but what's with "underground" music's obsession with airy, barely there, delicate female vocals? Feist already put a record out, and I hated it. Can a girl get an experimental Janis, please? Thank God for Diane Cluck. All of this sickeningly saccharin lushness is making me feel like cracking open some "Sounds of the Jungle" cd's just so I can experience something real and raw for a change.

In spite of this, I was much more encouraged by their faster, less ballad-y songs, which NEVER happens. "Doubt Hope" sounded the least like most of their glowing reviews suggested- crashing, furious drums dominate the song's background and at times Mariam Wallentin's voice sounds absolutely shrill (thank GOD!) in an old time soul way that I loved. "The Window" was also faith-restoring, and probably my favorite of the four MP3s I heard. It starts off simple and slowly builds, as Wallentin's voice again reaches that shrill point where I love her best. It's the shortest of the MP3's, though, which was disappointing. I ended up listening to it several times in a row and loving it more each time. Overall, I wasn't as blown away as I hoped I would be, but based on the two MP3's I really liked I'd probably check out the album anyway.

"The Window" live

Halfway through my analysis of Wildbirds & Peacedrums, my 8 year old nephew Keithy came upstairs and picked up the bass in the kitchen. He was randomly holding down mismatched strings and strumming it like a guitar, not taking any advice I tried to give him about how to actually play it, and I was so much more interested in what he was doing that I just had to admit defeat. Whether or not this is proof that my taste has officially bubbled over from eccentric to unacceptably bizarre I don't know, but I'll let you know when Keithy's album comes out either way.

Links:
Official Page
Myspace Page(with sample tracks)