''Beat of the Mesozoic'' is the second EP by the American

Avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

band

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is an American musical group founded in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1980.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 226-7 The music of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is almost ent ...

, released in 1985 by

Ace of Hearts Records Ace of Hearts was a British record label founded by Decca Records in 1961, with the aim of reissuing early jazz and popular music on low-priced LPs. The catalogue included recordings by Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, and Ella Fit ...

Release and reception

Brian Olewnick of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album two out of five stars, saying that parts of the record "come across as affected and bland" and sometimes "a bit overwrought." However, he gave good mention to the track "The Beat of the Mesozoic, part I", concluding that at their best the band is "able to generate an infectious power and percussive drive that makes one wish for further explorations along that particular road." Never being individually issued on

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

, only some of ''Beat of the Mesozoic'' had been included on compilations such as ''Sonic Geology'' and ''The Fossil Record''. Finally, the entire release was issued by

Cuneiform Records Cuneiform Records is a record label in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1984, the label releases an mixture of musical styles, all with a Rock in Opposition aesthetic, including progressive jazz, jazz fusion, the Canterbury scene, and electr ...

on '' Dawn of the Cycads'', a two-disc anthology including most of the band's early work.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Beat of the Mesozoic'' liner notes. ;Birdsongs of the Mesozoic *

Erik Lindgren Erik Lindgren (15 December 1954) is an American composer and pianist. He runs Arf! Arf! Records, and has led or been a member of several ensembles such as The Space Negros and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Early life Lindgren was born in Harrisb ...

–

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping Country music, country and pop hits "King of the Road (song), Ki ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, organ, percussion * Rick Scott – piano,

farfisa Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...

, synthesizer, percussion *

Martin Swope Martin Swope (b. June 1, 1955, Ann Arbor, Michigan, US) is an American musician and composer. He was the tape manipulator and sound engineer for the Boston-based postpunk band Mission of Burma from 1979–1983, when they split up due to lead voc ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, percussion ;Production and additional personnel * Richard W. Harte –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Tony Volante –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Release history

References

External links

''Beat of the Mesozoic''
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

(list of releases) {{Authority control 1985 EPs Birdsongs of the Mesozoic albums