Blow Wind Blow / Unknown / Cast The 1st Stone / It´s Alright Ma / Electrified / Tigerag / Calling / Reprise / Lo 2 Hi / B Sum 1 / My Only Love

ONE LITTLE INDIAN

Taking something of a musical u turn from the work of their previous band Rootjoose, Cornish outfit Rairbirds are a four piece blending downtempo electronica with lush orchestral bombast and the odd moment of anthemic pop.

Debut album 1 is something of a mixed bag musically, Rairbirds indulging in Kasabian like anthemics one minute and Zero 7 like downtempo atmospherics the next.  Take opener BLOW WIND BLOW a tune that journeys through genres and moods with wild abandon; big orchestral surges one minute, chanted house vocals the next and moody atmospherics right after that.  Its this musical melting pot that comes to define Rairbird over the course of 1; a collection of at times epic sounding songs that take you on diverse musical journeys into the unknown.  The sombre CAST THE 1ST STONE features falsetto male vocals and the the stirrings of an evocative string section whilst the more indie-centric IT'S ALRIGHT MA; an intriguing cover of the Bob Dylan classic rivals Kasabian in the anthemic dance rock stakes.

ELECTRIFIED meanwhile shows a slightly less inspired sounding side to Rairbirds, Cliched female acid house vocals chanting the songs title over dated sounding dance beats and lazy bass rumbles and samples; not Rairbirds finest moment.  The dixieland jazz mash up of TIGERAG finds the band back on steadier footing though, indulging in their more eclectic and genre defying side.

The dramatic CALLING is reminiscent of material from DJ Shadows Endtroducing masterpiece, though shot through with twanging guitar stings and an emotive male falsetto with certain echoes of Sigur Ros.  LO 2 HI is an acoustic tinged moment that harks back to the Rootjoose days, Rairbirds proving themselves a band more than capable of that whole traditional singer/songwriter thing whilst on closing number MY ONLY LOVE, they move into lush orchestral territory with a tune that feels like the love theme to a James Bond film, Rairbirds ending things on an impressively epic sounding high.

BIOGRAPHY

Rairbirds according to Rairbirds;

In Cornwalls darkest hour we formed, in the aftermath of Cornwalls greatest ever missed opportunity. The eclipse should have made us all rich, by the time theyd scared everyone away, whole futures had been lost. 

We were Rootjoose then. 

We played The Lizard that day & it may have been our finest, but we knew it was over- just as sure as the 20th Century was. It was time to let it lie, time for something new. 

As the clock struck 12 and the millennium bug didnt, we made our move. Some friends departed, others threw tantrums but we clung to each other in the hope that it may come to something. 

Shackled by debts & doubts, we put it all into a room and suddenly had something beautiful. Before we knew it, it was all over town & the majors watched intently to see who would go first. Ultimately none of them did, and the ladder turned snake once again. 

The fall out found us on distant shores, each of us searching for ways to keep it alive. Thats when we met the little Indian. Alone he showed us a way. 

For H it was too little too late, mother called and he had to go. And then we were 2. And then-finally-we found it. 

So here it is: Rairbirds. Part digital, part analog, part programmed, part played, everything we were and everything we became, for one and all for ever.

LINE UP

Crowe

Robin

Clavelle

Jabez

The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Allan Wilson

DISCOGRAPHY

1 (one Little Indian>2007)

Blow Wind Blow

Unknown

Cast The 1st Stone

It´s Alright Ma

Electrified

Tigerag

Calling

Reprise

Lo 2 Hi

B Sum 1

My Only Love

LINKS

Rairbirds>www.myspace.com/rairbirds

FURTHER LISTENING

Zero 7

Kasabian

DJ Shadow