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AKIMBO ALIENIST OUTFIT BARBARO BLUEBIRD THE BOXES STEPHEN BRODSKY CASPIAN THE BURNING PARIS EYES LIKE KNIVES MOMENT ON FIRE PLACER THE RISE PARK SLOWER THAN SEASONS THERE WERE WIRES THE YEAR OF OUR LORD |  |
  Official Bluebird website: www.bluebirdsounds.com Like a slightly generous prescription from a doctor you've not ever seen before, Black Presence answers to the anxiety and panic disorders developed by overexposure to common rock music. While being extremely potent, it never promises to cure anything thing you've been suffering from, but it certainly makes you forget what you've been through. This dose of valium-kissed schizophrenia is Black Presence, the latest release by Los Angeles' Bluebird. This new aspect to the collective personality of Bluebird is not unfamiliar to longtime fans, friends, and direct care providers of the band. Beginning with dreams firmly planted in improvisation, the band has grown beyond initial therapy to become one of the most recognized practitioners of a very much West Coast amalgam of rock and roll. Born of the Brown Brothers, the band known as Bluebird was initially just Jim and Bryan creating spontaneous music for the simple reason that they could. A benefit of having the makings of a band in the same household. Taking their chops out in to the surrounding sprawl of LA, they met with Sam, who has cherished his role in the band as protector of the last bit of sanity. With momentum building, and the band cascading ever closer to the point of no return, they snatched up the wandering Barry Gordon Thomas. Thus began the cycle of falling in and out of a sonic haze which we become privvy to hear on their many albums such as Lovitt Records' High Atmosphere and their full-length "The Two", out on Pacifico.
Black Presence itself is a wonder of space-rock proportions. Seeming to reach out in stellar directions, this album actually reaches just as far back to the experimental sensibility of their formative years. Conjuring up an orchestra to support their already rich sounds, Bluebird achieves a massive sonic size in this recording. Congas dance around in washy reverb chambers, making way for the vibraphone ostinatos that seem to pervade the majority of tracks on Black Presence. Minimal vocals taunt the listener, never fully developing to a full melody or sermon. Drone sounds akin to a harmonium enter the fray and provide a brief meditative interlude before the guitars and drums return. Expecting the sounds to unbuckle and reach guitar god status, instead the vibraphone returns to the forefront, bringing us back dreamy scapes. This may be new territory for the listener; a space inside your head you've not become aquainted with yet, or a landscape unfolded in front of your disbelieving face. Either way, its obvious from Black Presence that Bluebird has been there before, many times, and is more than comfortable to serve as tour guide.
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