Various Artists ~ Birds of a Feather Boxed Set

Did you ever encounter a physical object that instantly became your New Favorite Thing?  This occurred as I received the Birds of a Feather Boxed Set from Flaming Pines.  The set is the culmination of a three-year project from the label, which has wrapped up the series in a perfect way:  all 12 CD3″s, given a home in hand-painted birdhouses with removable roofs.  We’ve been raving about this series for years, and just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, it did.

In the words of curator Kate Carr, “Birds of a Feather was dedicated to Jean Sibelius and my grandfather Ron Gray, a great lover of magpies, who passed away at the age of 99 on the day this series was was launched Sept 11. RIP.”  This is about as beautiful a testimony to a life as one can provide, and we can imagine Kate’s grandfather smiling as the different-colored boxes were being painted.  As They Might Be Giants sing, “Make a little birdhouse in your soul.”

Over the past few years, we’ve reviewed all of the Birds of a Feather releases.  We even “punked” the label with a fake review on April Fools’ Day (Seth Chrisman’s The King Island Emu), catching even members of our own staff off guard.  To celebrate the release of the boxed set, here are the links to the reviews, all in one place.  Congratulations once again to all of the artists involved, and especially to Kate Carr and Flaming Pines on the completion of this amazing project!

Boxed set available here – limited quantities!

Michael Trommer ~ The Great Northern Loon

Porya Hatami ~ The Black Woodpecker

Darren McClure ~ The Black Kite

The Green Kingdom ~ The Great Blue Heron

Simon Whetham ~ The Phoenix

Broken Chip ~ The Wonga Pigeon

Marcus Fischer ~ The Crow

Gail Priest ~ The Common Koel

Seaworthy ~ The Rainbow Lorikeet

Radio Cegeste ~ The New Zealand Storm Petrel

Philippe Petit ~ The Kookaburra / Kate Carr ~ The Kakapo

Richard Allen