{"id":3897,"date":"2015-10-05T13:30:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T17:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=3897"},"modified":"2015-10-19T11:46:33","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T15:46:33","slug":"bird-figments-of-our-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/bird-figments-of-our-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"Bird
Figments of Our Imagination"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bird,<\/a>There\u2019s something to be said for musicians who shrug at the occasionally arbitrary genre restrictions and just sort of go for it. Here\u2019s a tip of the hat to Jane Price for not being stuck in one mode. Having started her musical career as a drummer in a teenage punk band, she eventually became an in-demand cello session player for a wide variety of UK acts. Somewhere in there she also found the time to star in a British television series (Art of Survival<\/i>), release a book based on her adventures in TV land, and of course, launch a solo recording career under the moniker of Bird. The last on that list has resulted in her third album, the self-released Figments of Our Imagination<\/i>, produced by longtime Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey.<\/p>\n

Drafting the Stones\u2019 producer for a cello player\u2019s album doesn\u2019t seem a logical choice, but Bird\u2019s vision is beyond her main instrument. In fact, she went the 100% solo route and played every instrument on Figments<\/i>. However, the biggest surprise is that she didn\u2019t go for some type of neo-classical, pop-rock hybrid. Instead, she\u2019s recorded an album that swerves all over the lanes. At various points, she channels icy gothic pop, indie dance pop, dreamy indie pop, and some folky pop reminiscent of the first two Beth Orton records. In an anything goes environment, Kimsey is probably the one unifying force. Bird has also been quoted as saying that Kimsey also introduced her to gear that became the backbone of the record, so perhaps it\u2019s more of a natural fit than expected.<\/p>\n

Also unexpected is how the cello takes a relatively backseat to other elements. It\u2019s there, but when it does show up, it’s in a supporting role rather than lead. As a whole, Bird seems to be more concerned about the big picture than standout moments. While songs like \u201cStereotype\u201d and \u201cDrink Drink Drink\u201d have a sing-along quality to them, they don\u2019t feel like proper singles. Such songs are like album cuts that don\u2019t need the context of the album, and the record is like a collection of singles that play better next to each other than standing alone. There aren\u2019t any particularly weak songs on the record, but neither is there one song that would compel the listener to play it on repeat. It\u2019s a bit of a head-scratcher: an album worth the 37 minutes of playing time, but without one song overwhelmingly compelling for three or four minutes. At the end of the day it\u2019s a solid, but conflicting listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something to be said for musicians who shrug at the occasionally arbitrary genre restrictions and just sort of go for it. Here\u2019s a tip of the hat to Jane Price for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,1450],"class_list":["post-3897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-bird"],"yoast_head":"\nBird Figments of Our Imagination - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/bird-figments-of-our-imagination\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bird Figments of Our Imagination - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s something to be said for musicians who shrug at the occasionally arbitrary genre restrictions and just sort of go for it. 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