A Box of Birds

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A Box of Birds
A Box of Birds (The Church album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by The Church
Released 21 September 1999
Recorded 1999
Genre Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock, dream pop
Label Festival, Cooking Vinyl, Thirsty Ear
Producer Dave Trump, Tim Powles
The Church chronology
Hologram of Baal
(1998)		A Box of Birds
(1999)		 After Everything Now This
(2002)

A Box of Birds is the twelfth album by the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church, released in September 1999. [1] It consists of cover versions of tracks by artists who were influential on the group's music.

The Church (band) Australian rock band

The Church, an Australian psychedelic rock band, formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave, neo-psychedelia and indie rock, their music later came to feature slower tempos and surreal soundscapes reminiscent of dream pop and post-rock. Glenn A. Baker has written that "From the release of the 'She Never Said' single in November 1980, this unique Sydney-originated entity has purveyed a distinctive, ethereal, psychedelic-tinged sound which has alternatively found favour and disfavor in Australia." The Los Angeles Times has described the band's music as "dense, shimmering, exquisite guitar pop".

Contents

The album was released after the band's decision to abandon an already-complete live album [2] and was recorded and mixed in 10 days. [3] Guitarist Marty Willson-Piper said the band had played several covers in its gigs over the years, including "The Porpoise Song", "It's All Too Much" and "Cortez the Killer" – "and we thought, why not put them on a record. So we came along with our own ideas. Tim wanted to do an Iggy Pop number, Peter wanted "Cortez", Steve wanted Kevin Ayers and I wanted to do Alex Harvey. We had to pick 10 after an initial list of about 40." [4]

Marty Willson-Piper Australian musician

Marty Willson-Piper is an English guitarist and singer/songwriter best known as a former long-time member of the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church. He joined in 1980 after seeing an early gig where they were performing as a three-piece. He was an integral member of the band for over 30 years. He was also the guitarist for the English alternative rock band All About Eve from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1999 to 2002. He is currently working with Swedish progressive rock band Anekdoten.

Its All Too Much original song written and composed by George Harrison

"It's All Too Much" is a song by the English rock group the Beatles from their 1969 album Yellow Submarine. Written by George Harrison in 1967, it reflects the ideological themes of that year's Summer of Love. The Beatles recorded the track in May 1967, shortly after completing their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was one of four new songs they then supplied for the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine, to meet their contractual obligations to United Artists.

"Cortez the Killer" is a song by Neil Young from his 1975 album, Zuma. It was recorded with Young's band Crazy Horse. It has since been ranked #39 on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos and #329 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Original ArtistLength
1."The Faith Healer"Alex Harvey, Hugh McKenna The Sensational Alex Harvey Band 7:35
2."It's All Too Much" George Harrison The Beatles 6:10
3."Hiroshima Mon Amour" John Foxx, Billy Currie, Warren Cann Ultravox! 4:27
4."The Porpoise Song" Gerry Goffin, Carole King The Monkees 4:28
5."Decadence"Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers 9:14
6."The Endless Sea"Jim Osterberg Jr. Iggy Pop 4:33
7."Friction" Tom Verlaine Television 5:11
8."All the Young Dudes" David Bowie Mott the Hoople 4:10
9."Silver Machine" Dave Brock, Robert Calvert Hawkwind 4:57
10."Cortez the Killer"Neil Young Neil Young with Crazy Horse 11:08

Personnel

Steve Kilbey British artist

Steven John Kilbey is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for the rock band, The Church. He is also a music producer, poet and painter. As of October 2014, Kilbey had 750 original songs registered with Australian copyright agency Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).

Peter Koppes Australian musician

Peter Koppes is a guitarist, best known as a founding and almost-continuous member of Australian independent rock band The Church. He is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing mandolin, drums, piano, and harmonica. He has also released various solo albums and various recordings with his group The Well (1989-1995.) Koppes lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland where he also produces albums and conducts seasonal 'song writing' and 'performance for demo recording' short courses at Nambour TAFE, as well as offering private tuition in guitar, drums and song writing. His daughters are Tatiana 'O' Koppes and Neige Koppes who have their own band, Rain Party.

Tim Powles Australian musician

Timothy Guy Gerard Powles is a music producer and artist originally from New Zealand. He has lived in the Pacific and the UK. Though now an Australian resident, he is of English/Irish descent. Also known as "timEbandit" Powles, his main instrument and first love was the drum kit and tuned percussion, tho over time he's become a dab hand on a medium sized pile of instruments and gadgets, not to mention the studio itself- and virtual instruments as they occur.

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References

  1. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus. "The Church". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Scatena, Dino (7 October 1999). "Box of Birds review". Daily Telegraph. Sydney. pp. T21.
  3. ↑ Scatena, Dino (16 March 2000). "The Church resurrection". Daily Telegraph. Sydney. pp. T21.
  4. ↑ Buivids, Amanda (5 March 2000). "One out of the box for Church". Sunday Herald Sun. Melbourne. p. 98.
  5. ↑ A Box of Birds at AllMusic
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