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Chicago's the Lesser Birds of Paradise have been making quiet music for wayward indie rock fans since the release of their debut record A Suitable Frame. Since the release of Suitable Frame in 2000, the Lesser Birds have been on several American tours, released a handful of studio recordings - It Isn't the Fall EP (2002), Reading Light split EP (2003), String of Bees (2004), and The Scenery EP (2004) - and have had various personnel line-up changes. The current Lesser Birds of Paradise consists of three original members: Mark Janka, Tim Joyce, and Greg Thomas. The Lesser Birds' most recent work might be described as finger-style indie blues (accompanied by the occasional electric ukulele-driven country lament.) Such a description may prove misleading, however, as these idioms (blues, country, and even folk or Americana) inform their songcraft, but do not determine it. The Lesser Birds are not trying to be bluesmen, cowboys, or folkies (not even ironic bluesmen or cowboys - not even "freak" folkies). They mindfully sidestep the trap of affectedness that many performers associated with these genres fall into. Instead, they use the "language" of these genres to tell stories they feel are, somehow, relevant to their lives and to the lives of the people in their listening community (artistic thirty-somethings, thoughtful punks, lonesome emo boys, churlish goth girls, coffeehouse anti-folkies, romantic anarchists, eccentric nine-to-fivers, etc.). Shortly after recording String of Bees (Contraphonic Records) with Barry Phipps, Phipps invited the Lesser Birds to record The Scenery for his Tight Ship Records short-run label. Both String of Bees and The Scenery were recorded at Phipps' North Branch Studio, but were very different projects. String of Bees was recorded over the course of a year and involved re-workings of songs, layers of overdubs, and many guest musicians. The Scenery was recorded mostly live, in about four hours, and with very few overdubs. The Scenery's resulting sparseness and openness and is a nice compliment to String of Bees' layered textures and subtle studio trickery. Currently, the Lesser Birds are working on their as-of-yet untitled third full-length record. They expect that it will fall somewhere in-between the rich fullness of String of Bees and the lean directness of The Scenery. Tim Joyce is taking the helm as main producer and engineer, and Janka and Thomas are assisting in the process. It is being recorded in their home studio (dubbed Amplified Gravity by Joyce), and is expected to be released in the fall. |
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Other artists from Chicago, IL 2620 Andrew Morgan Scott Free | |
Uncommon Ground Past Show Dates | |
| 2002-03-09 (2366 days) | Jason Harrod |
| Mark Watson | |
| Lesser Birds of Paradise | |
| 2001-12-30 (2435 days) | Kate Brown |
| Julie Frost | |
| Lesser Birds of Paradise | |