Dear listener, 
Testing signal one an incoming release "Robots and Skeletons".  Just a really fun, big, silly and detailed album where Voice synthesis takes the lead and humans are the backing band.  Although largely unmastered, it's an experience best listened in its entirety on good headphones or hifi, as there are plenty of easter eggs, audio jokes, filters, spot reverbs, pannage and sound design.    

A single, warm regard, Andy Bird.

ROBOTS AND SKELETONS

I've haphazardly written 'These Things' over 15 years in three bedrooms and across two countries,riding the wave of timidity and confidence, clarity and brain-fog.  Written as a journey to be played end to end on good headphones or a lovely set of speakers.

Gonna thank the lovely folk at Hobgoblin music London and in Bristol for their advice and excitement on all the nice little things featured - Mandolin, Uke, Flutes, Dulcimer, Toy Harp.

Stuffing all of my favourite instruments into every song.  Sure it's a mouthful, but I've chewed on these tracks long enough😂.  The glockenspiel is the oldest thing I own, a present from parents when I was 7 and I solemnly swear to get that good-boi into every album I lay my hands on.

These Things

Featuring tracks from various recent times and places. 
"Birdie" typically combines sound design, synthetic, acoustic instrumentation and vocals letting textural, narrative and visual ideas guide composition into surprising places and very occasionally… cheesy pop places.  

"It's like chasing a nimble burglar through a labyrinth at a music festival" (Kaz)

CONTROL

ANDREW R BIRD - MIX

"We Start Again" is a suprising cluster of textures and pilfers vocals from another song, "Human" which was written on a dark, stormy day in 2013 with legendary Anil Sebastian. 

Geek Aside: KYMA is both a confusing and elating sound design piece of kit and performed live via iPad, was used to re-pitch harmonics of Anils voice through this track.  If that sort of thing raises your eyebrow, find out more about KYMA at the symbolic sound website.  

We Start Again.  Featuring Anil Sebastian. (From the album, "Control")

Hello Soundcloud - it's been a while so here's a track from upcoming album, 'Winter Cities' - 'Mercy Cloud' is a conversation about a vulnerability and trust.  Beautiful improvised vocals by Anil and a Thom Brown sneaking into the background. 

Geeks:
Rain, sand and clouds… Thematically it's all about grains, so there's some deep use of the GR-1 granular synth and Form on vocals, bass and pads.  I've been in love with that texture since the 90's.  

Dulcimer, Ukelele, Granular, NI Razor, Vocals, Treated vocals, Accordion, Djembe, Toms, Ocean drum and shakers. All the reverb.

Mercy Cloud ©andrewrbird2019 
Vocals by Thom Brown, Anil Sebastian, and Andrew R Bird.
Improvised vocals and lyrics by Anil Sebastian. 
Produced and musicianed - Bird.

Winter Cities

Mercy Cloud

Robots and Skeletons: Late night linguini. It was midnight and there's plenty of cheese in this track! It's a grower in the sub-bass.
  
I loved writing this. Back to my early 90's roots having fun composing little ambient machines - even the EMU Audity2000 appears as the main character over plenty of sampled squeaky guitar pedal noises.

Artwork by Starry.ai/Orion

Robots and Skeletons

Late Night Linguini

From the incoming album, 'Robots and Skeletons'. 

I've had so much fun writing this track… spent a few weeks over it (not that ya'll need to care) - tried to stick to Moogs and the trusty ESP - and of course a -load of percussion, automation and our national instrument, the Steel Drums! 

A hilariously 'busy' track I'd say.  Its' 90% there, hope someone out there laughs all the way through it. 

Geek fact - all the Moog and Aelita parts were performed live… on a sunday.

robots and skeletons

Touch me on my frequency

Written from a marimba and KYMA experiment in my London flat on a day of torrential rain in 2013.  I was in love with this texture which can be heard in 'Shine' featuring Esther Mitchel. 
-
Finally found the confidence to finish vox on this rather old track. So vintage that I was still using KYMA to play the vocal at the start. Absolute love for that texture.

Soul Rush

Challenge you NOT to walk to the beat with this chubby boi.

Run Among The Stars

Featuring: Paul Toilalo's epicly fun lead guitar solo;s.

It's easier to write sad, epic songs than big fun cheesey numbers… so here's a big, fun tune full of glorious cheese! More to come

Love in the Hands of Madness

Love in the hands of Madness

Love In The Hands Of Madness

Written in 2012 was never satisfied with this track - but a couple of mandolins and percussion session later… I'm happy.

Scatter - Track 3 on the upcoming album, 'These Things'. Written a few years back but finally have the confidence to unleash my voice on the world. Poor world.

Scatter

One of 5 (Demo) songs written on the theme of the 5 rivers surrounding Hades (myths).

Lemosyne

The story of Robots and Skeletons continued… 
Geek: Strega, Moog and Cobalt 8 were the robots on this track.

Artificial

>>ARTIFICAL>><< GOT NO ONE TO PLEASE<<

Robots And Skeletons

221230 First Signs DEMO

Violent Seas. An experiment with with storyteller/singer Thom Brown in 2018.

Violent seas

Violent Seas (Bird & Thom Brown)

Half Way to our Robot Lovers

Mercury

A clip of the soundtrack from the sic-fi short film, "Cephalopod" directed and written by Lewis Peake. 

CEPHALOPOD - OST End Credits

We're Leaving: Sunworshipper

We're Leaving: End Theme

WAITLESS

What started as a drum recording and a geek-out over the Divine Comedy got a little out of hand. 4 days later…

Breath In The Echoes

I'm putting it up here… Love the vibe though. Thanks to Rich at Rich T Customs for my beautiful Welsh drum kit (which was double-tracked on this ditty for those listening in stereo).

THESE THINGS

Fire in the air (demo)

WOW07 Red Weed

WOW03 Across The Moor

WOW02 The Unscrewing

From the album "Control". Lights is a track that has been waiting under a neon sign for a few years to meet the right vocalist at the right time. 

Songstress and angelic soprano Sian O'Gorman features on this track. 
Lyrics by Sian O'Gorman.   

LIGHTS. Feat: Sian O'Gorman (From the album, "Control")

SHINE.  Featuring NZ vocalist Esther Mitchell(lyrics and melody). 
Recorded across countries UK and NZ.

Andrew Bird also co-produced and played Esthers massive acoustic Album, "Do they blame us" which can be found online in the usual places!

SHINE.  Feat: Esther Mitchell.

Starting where some of Andrew's childhood electronic musical influences left off in the late 70's, "Emergency Broadcast" pays homage to that era of analogue synthesis, sampling and the influence of Musique Concrete. There are even a couple of sample-based winks to Jean Michelle Jarre's "Equinoxe" in there if you can spot em…

Emergency Broadcast. (From the album, "Control")

This week's composition brings us back to earth with the tones of a rusty gibson, chimes, gamelan and a not so earthy Roland SH-3.

Return to Center

Last time we left you… 
A work in progress intro to the incoming album, These Things. The SH3 will feature heavily on this album. I'm bringing the pure Jean-Michelle-esque mono-synth back!
 

These Things: A Fear of Floating

Will feature on the new incoming Robotronic EP Number 2!
Featuring Jonas (2years old) and Plogue Chipsounds. Check em out if you remember what a Vic20 Sounded like. 

©2012 Andrew R Bird

Envy

Cold

Andrew R Bird (UK).  Bristol-based, London-born, and internationally-bred composer and sound designer.  

Collaborations and friends:  Anil Sebastian, Joy Ramirez, Lewis Peake (Director), Matthew Smith (Director), Chris Carr (Director), Rebecca Whitbred (Lovelace), Sian O'Gorman, Esther Mitchell, Animesh Raval.

Film and other media: The Wellcome Trust - Unseen Ideas, Cephalopod (Peake, 2016), The Drycleaner (Carr, 2019), Maria Heidemann (Activist-Promar), Secrets and Spies podcast, Warships IFR podcast.

Andrew Bird. (UK)

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