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What Bird, Good Night, Good Riddance, 2008 (Self-released, Indie)
What Bird is Nashville-based duo Julia Harrison and Winston Harrison. If you consider yourself a voice snob who holds Imogen Heap, Sarah McLachlan, Sinead O'Connor, Bjork, and Liz Frazer from the Cocteau Twins up as the vocal bar, then you should add Julia Harrison of What Bird to your short list. Many will recognize Winston Harrison as an integral member (bass) of The Gabe Dixon Band. Indeed, while Winston toured with GDB, Julia attended graduate school at CalArts in Valencia, CA. According to What Bird, "The 30 mile drive from Los Angeles to CalArts and back every day provided a backdrop for Julia's songwriting. Her late night drives through the winding and mountainous freeways led the way to her collaboration with Winston." Good Night, Good Riddance is immediately comparable to Frou Frou and Sarah McLachlin. Organically electric in production, the record is filled with ambient guitars, loops, and a slew of other instruments played by a handful of Nashville's A-list indie musicians and producers including Ian Fitchuk, Matt Glassmeyer, and Joe Stark to name just a few. Julia's lyrics read like journal entries rather than a rhyming game, and although she runs the risk of sounding like a novice songwriter as a result, her vocals are so authentically angelic that each song pulls you into her meditative world. The record has eleven songs, one of which is a judicious cover of "Under the Milky Way." These songs contain subtle hooks—they're addictive without being annoying. The result is an outstanding high pop record that will be well-received by the most discriminating audiences. Good Night, Good Riddance is yet another brilliant project to emerge virtually out of nowhere from Nashville-based artists, as this writer is not aware of any What Bird performances having occurred to date. This forthcoming full-length debut, however, will no doubt catapult What Bird to the top of the indie class, with a tour to follow. — Vincent Wynne, July 22, 2008
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