Triple Echo - Birdie

Birdie's brand of accessible pop for sophisticates (and lovers of Burt Bacharach) will (and should) probably end up as required listening for fans of Stereolab and the High Llamas, but it wasn't always so. The duo's last recording, Some Dusty, was a mainly acoustic affair, filled with low-key pop hooks and an only slight Sean O'Hagan influence (he arranged the strings). Triple Echo takes off where Some Dusty settled down, combining the best of those acoustic guitars with the best of everything Stereolab and the High Llamas have to offer and blending those influences with perfect instrumentation (horns, electric piano, clavinet, flute, Mellotron, organ) and airy seamless vocals. The melodic drift of these songs keeps the listener deeply engaged from "The Original Strand" through to "Coda," never once losing a swirling '60s lounge-style pace or sepia-tinged focus. This is easy listening for everyone. Triple Echo deserves a place in your record collection right alongside Dots and Loops and Gideon Gaye. ~ Terrance Miles, All Music Guide