For the Birds opens with "In the Deep Shade," an understated instrumental that sets the mood for the rest of the album. Despite some relatively peppy numbers such as "Fighting on the Stairs," the wailing guitar sound on songs such as "Early Bird" and "Santa Maria," and the expectations some listeners may have for an album recorded with Craig Ward (dEUS) and Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana, Rapeman), this is primarily a gentle, slow, and melancholic album. It features melodic, folk-influenced ock songs (somewhere in the general vicinity of Will Oldham and Nick Drake, for example) with clearly discernible instruments including mandolin, piano, violin, brushed drums, and softly strummed guitar, as well as vocals that manage to sound emotive even when they seem hushed. The band says in their liner notes that this was their first chance to record an album without having to "cater to people outside of the band"; consequently, For the Birds features less-commercial arrangements that allow the group to take a leisurely pace, use subtle dynamics and negative space, and gradually build emotional intensity over the course of a song instead of trying to hook listeners immediately. Of course, this is hardly the first band to try this type of approach, but Frames handle it gracefully.
" Giving Me Wings" -The FramesThe year 2000, and the old tape player in the corner of my course mates kitchen played out the soundtrack to our student days. On the b side of one of the old TDK C90 tapes that hadn't been chewed up, scrawled in blue biro, I could just make out the words "The Frames". I popped it in, pressed play and fell in love with what I heard.A few weeks later, in the intima...
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Now i'm still young and i've plenty of music to find but for the birds is the best album in my (small-very small) collection. I only found the frames late last year,like many,through once and i've been kicking myself-how could such a incredible band pass me by for so long, alright i am only fifteen but these guys have changed everything for me. I brought a guitar a few months back and have big ...
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" Giving Me Wings" -The FramesThe year 2000, and the old tape player in the corner of my course mates kitchen played out the soundtrack to our student days. On the b side of one of the old TDK C90 tapes that hadn't been chewed up, scrawled in blue biro, I could just make out the words "The Frames". I popped it in, pressed play and fell in love with what I heard.A few weeks later, in the intima...
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This is from the first of two farewell concerts for Dave Murphy's singer-songerwriter night at the International Bar in Dublin.I was at the second of the concerts, at which Glen played again, including a song which he said he had just written. He had been scribbling lyrics during the other singers and when he got up at the end of the night, he played Races. He described it as a song about shari...
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That's not a question, it's a statement. This song (referenced in the post title) by the (now Oscar winning) Glen Hansard and his primary band The Frames showcases the strength of their songwriting and the wonderful touch of Steve Albini, who records the band in a sparse, live-like sound. Listen for the volume reaching almost over-driven levels as the song continues... The rest of the album is ...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 In the Deep Shade |
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| 2 Lay Me Down |
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| 3 What Happens When the Heart Just Stops |
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| 4 Headlong |
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| 5 Fighting on the Stairs |
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| 6 Giving Me Wings |
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| 7 Early Bird |
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| 8 Friends and Foe |
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| 9 Santa Maria |
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| 10 Disappointed |
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| 11 Mighty Sword |
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 "For the Birds")
