Editing Bird Noises

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Bird Noises
| type       = EP
| artist     = [[Midnight Oil]]
| cover      = MidnightOil_BirdNoises.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = {{Start date|1980|11|24|df=y}}
| recorded   = 21–22 July 1980
| venue      =
| studio     = [[Music Farm Studio]] ([[Byron Bay, New South Wales|Byron Bay]])
| genre      = [[Post-punk]]
| length     = {{Duration|m=15|s=17}}
| label      = [[Powderworks Records|Powderworks]], Sprint Music, [[Columbia Records|CBS/Columbia]]
| producer   = Leszek Karski
| prev_title = [[Head Injuries]]
| prev_year  = 1979
| next_title = [[Place without a Postcard]]
| next_year  = 1981
}}

'''''Bird Noises''''' is the first extended play by [[Australian rock]] group, [[Midnight Oil]], which was released on 24 November 1980 under the band's own independent label, [[Powderworks Records]] / Sprint Music. It was produced by Leszek Karski and manufactured and distributed by [[Columbia Records|CBS/Columbia]]. ''Bird Noises'' reached the Top&nbsp;30 on the Australian [[Kent Music Report]] Singles Chart.

==Background==
On 24 November 1980, Australian rock music group, [[Midnight Oil]], released their first four-track extended play, ''Bird Noises''.<ref name="McFarlane">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofau00mcfa |last=McFarlane |first=Ian |author-link=Ian McFarlane |publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]] |year=1999 |chapter=Encyclopedia entry for 'Midnight Oil' |isbn=1-86448-768-2 |accessdate=23 July 2013 |url-status=dead |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020908085403/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=284 |archive-date=8 September 2002 }}</ref><ref name="Holmgren">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927020538/http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/m/midnightoil.html |url=http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/m/midnightoil.html |title=Midnight Oil |last1=Holmgren |first1=Magnus |last2=Stenerlöv |first2=Carl-Johan |publisher=[[Australian Rock Database]]. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren) |archive-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=usurped |accessdate=12 February 2014 }}</ref> At the time Midnight Oil consisted of [[Peter Garrett]] on lead vocals and [[harmonica]]; [[Peter Gifford]] on bass guitar and backing vocals; [[Rob Hirst]] on drums and backing vocals; [[Jim Moginie]] on lead guitar and keyboards; and [[Martin Rotsey]] on lead guitar.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Holmgren"/> It was the first recording by the band to feature Gifford who had replaced the band's earlier bass guitarist, Andrew James.<ref name="ODonnell">{{cite book | title = [[100 Best Australian Albums]] | last1 = O'Donnell | first1 = John | author1-link = John O'Donnell (music journalist) | last2 = Creswell | first2=Toby | author-link2 = Toby Creswell | last3 = Mathieson | first3 = Craig | author-link3 = Craig Mathieson | publisher = Hardie Grant Books | date = October 2010 | location = [[Prahran, Victoria|Prahran, Vic]] | isbn = 978-1-74066-955-9 | chapter = 1: Midnight Oil – ''Diesel and Dust'' | pages = 14 }}</ref>

It was produced by former [[Supercharge (band)|Supercharge]] band member Leszek Karski for [[Powderworks Records]] and Sprint Music label at [[Music Farm Studio]]s in [[Byron Bay, New South Wales|Byron Bay]] and distributed internationally by the [[Columbia Records|CBS/Columbia Records]].<ref name="Holmgren"/><ref name="BirdEP">{{cite AV media notes |title=Bird Noises |others=[[Midnight Oil]] |year=1980 | publisher = [[Powderworks Records]] |id = MSPD 462 }}</ref> The track, "Wedding Cake Island", refers to the [[Wedding Cake Island|island of the same name]] off [[Coogee, New South Wales|Coogee Beach]], Sydney. In 1990 the EP was re-released, on CD, in the United States by Columbia Records.<ref name="Ruhlman"/>

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Ruhlman"/>
}}
''Bird Noises'' peaked at No.&nbsp;28 on the Australian [[Kent Music Report]] Singles Chart.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Kent">{{Cite book | title = [[Kent Music Report|Australian Chart Book 1970–1992]] | last1 = Kent | first1 = David | author-link1 = David Kent (historian) | publisher = Australian Chart Book Ltd | location = [[St Ives, New South Wales|St Ives, NSW]] | year = 1993 | isbn = 0-646-11917-6 }} Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until [[Australian Recording Industry Association]] (ARIA) created their own [[ARIA Charts|charts]] in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.</ref><ref name="AusCharts80">{{cite web | url = http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&search=Bird+Noises&id=27126&pages=#747595 | title = 1980 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts) | last1 = Ryan (bulion) | first1 = Gary | publisher = Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung) | date = 2 April 2009 | accessdate = 23 July 2013 }}</ref> According to Australian musicologist, [[Ian McFarlane]], ''Bird Noises'' "continued the development heard on ''Head Injuries'', with 'No Time for Games' and 'I'm the Cure' being particularly impressive. ''Bird Noises'' also boasted the anomalous, but delightful [[The Shadows|Shadows]]-like instrumental 'Wedding Cake Island'".<ref name="McFarlane"/> [[AllMusic]]'s William Ruhlman noted the group had tried "some musical variations after two albums of hard rock ... the music in fact was restrained, and the group tried acoustic instruments and a moody instrumental for an intriguing change of pace from their usual style".<ref name="Ruhlman">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r13025|pure_url=yes}} | title = ''Bird Noises'' – Midnight Oil | publisher = [[AllMusic]] | last = Ruhlman | first = William | accessdate = 23 July 2013 }}</ref>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing

| all_writing     = Garrett, Hirst, Moginie, and Rotsey<ref name="Discogs.com scans of vinyl labels with credits">{{cite web | publisher = Discogs | title = Bird Noises, Powderworks – MSPD 462 | url = https://www.discogs.com/Midnight-Oil-Bird-Noises/release/1350288 | accessdate = 24 March 2020}} Note: Click on 'More Images' to see photos of vinyl labels of both sides, confirming the songwriters.</ref>

| total_length    = 15:17

| title1          = No Time for Games
| length1         = 4:34
| writer1         = Hirst, Moginie

| title2          = Knife's Edge
| length2         = 3:39
| writer2         = Garrett, Rotsey, Moginie

| title3         = Wedding Cake Island
| length3        = 3:16
| writer3         = Rotsey, Moginie

| title4         = I'm the Cure
| length4        = 3:48
| writer4         = Moginie

}}

==Charts==
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
!scope="col"| Chart (1980/81)
!scope="col"| Peak<br>position
|-
!scope="row"| Australian [[Kent Music Report]]<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Kent Music Report|Australian Chart Book 1970–1992]]|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=[[St Ives, New South Wales|St Ives, NSW]]|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}} NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until [[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]] created their own [[ARIA Charts|charts]] in mid-1988.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 28
|}

==Certifications==
{{certification Table Top}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Australia|artist=Midnight Oil|title=Bird Noises EP|award=Gold|certyear=2014|refname="Single Certification"|access-date=31 December 2014}}
{{certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}

==Personnel==
===Midnight Oil===
* [[Peter Garrett]]&nbsp;– lead vocals, [[harmonica]]
* [[Peter Gifford]]&nbsp;– bass guitar, backing vocals
* [[Rob Hirst]]&nbsp;– drums, backing vocals
* [[Jim Moginie]]&nbsp;– lead guitar, keyboards
* [[Martin Rotsey]]&nbsp;– lead guitar

===Production work===
* Producer&nbsp;– Leszek Karski (for Instant Relief)
* Engineer&nbsp;–  Ross Cockle
* Mixer&nbsp;– Leszek Karski
* Studio&nbsp;– [[Music Farm Studio]], [[Byron Bay, New South Wales|Byron Bay]]; mixed at [[Studios 301]], Sydney.

<small>Credits:<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Holmgren"/><ref name="BirdEP"/></small>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.midnightoil.com}}

{{Midnight Oil}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1980 debut EPs]]
[[Category:Midnight Oil EPs]]
[[Category:Sprint Music albums]]