Miranda Dali is the very definition of a lost classic. Though
Carter Burwell is best known for his Hollywood film scores, the albums he created with Stanton Miranda as
Thick Pigeon prove that he mastered experimental art rock before he moved onto mainstream success. And
Miranda Dali is perhaps the easiest introduction to the duo's warped blend of minimalist keyboards, haunting themes and vocals, and agit-rock.
Thick Pigeon's formula is a killer one. Miranda's simultaneously spooky, confident, and sweet voice is the perfect instrument for her mundane yet off-kilter poetic subject matter. Whether she's singing warnings to birds that they should stay awake or detailing a broken relationship, her delivery is always perfectly off-key yet soothing.
Burwell's arrangements are a gorgeous foil. He blends exotic keyboard patterns, hazy and distant guitar squalls, and loads of found sounds into fiercely addictive art symphonies.
Thick Pigeon deserves far more attention for helping to spawn and perfect a genre of music that inspired artists like
the Art of Noise,
His Name Is Alive,
Land of the Loops,
Helium,
Life Without Buildings, and a wealth of others. LTM's 2004 reissue adds a huge cache of singles and oddities; at least half of these extras are as exciting as anything from the original album while some are less essential.
Thick Pigeon's timeless music would be equally at home in an art installation or scoring a listener's summer, and
Miranda Dali deserves more acclaim and certainly a place in more CD collections. [An LTM reissue added singles tracks to the original program.] ~ Tim DiGravina