Original first press + insert sheet Original insert inner sleeve / gatefold cover stereo 2 LPs 300 PRESSEDPersonnel: Erik Wivinus (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, E-bow, dulcimer, organ, sampler), Sean Connaughty (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, shanai, percussion, loops); Doug Morman (electric bass).Recording information: 12/19/1998-12/20/1998. The third and last album from Salamander's first outburst of activity, Birds of Appetite first came out as a double LP in 2000. It was reissued on a single CD in July 2003 in conjunction withthe group becoming active again. The lineup remains the same except for drummer Matthew Zaun (also in Skye Klad withguitarist Erik Wivinus) replacing Bryce Kastning. The previous two albums were culled from a number of sessions, but thisone was recorded over only two days, in December 1998. Salamander is a jam band, first and foremost. Each track has been improvised in the studio. Some are actually edits from longer jams, others have overdubs -- for "Trench of Fire," thegroup overdubbed a second improv and mixed the two passes. That track, 20 minutes long, is the album's magnum opus.It presents a nice balance of atonal spatial explorations and hypnotic acid grooves -- much better than the live renditionrecorded four years later for the LP Live at Soo Gallery 05.20.02. The first half of the album is dominated by acousticguitars and a slightly more psychedelic mood. "Vessel Is Vacant," with its trippy strummed chords and hand drums, is thestandout track. The second half is much more electrified. Besides the aforementioned "Trench of Fire," the best momentcomes in "The Wreck of Old 99," a jam scripted over radio transmissions between a railroad control tower and a train engineer in 1948. The piece is very cinematic (including crossroad bells and runaway climax) and features Wivinus deployingthe fabric of space through a Vox organ. It brings the album to a delightful end and erases in its wake the memories of a coupleweaker tracks. Recommended. ~ François Couture.