Andrew Bird--c/d?

Maybe because it is really quite good? His whistling impresses me.

Alex, I haven't heard that one. I have The Swimming Hour, though, which rocks and cloys intermittently.

OTM

I really, really like the new record. Really. A lot. And I'm surprised that it's better than Weather Systems. This guy keeps surprising me. Every record is better than the last.

And yes, please see him live, k thanks.

I have the same problem with him as I have with them, although less so. The SNZ just aren't good technical musicians - they can't really solo. They do the pop-swing thing really well though, and write great catchy tunes that I enjoy listening to despite the lame soloing. It's "pop" I guess.
I sortof feel like there's a certain "inauthenticity" to what they do, although they get a lot of the sound and feel really well. But I tend to worry that Andrew Bird is a bit like that too. Thus "cloy" is indeed OTM, and a certain feeling of "yes, but listen to the original stuff and that's where the shit is really at".

Still, I haven't heard the latest and am certainly keen!

Yeah, someone kicked up the marketing, but maybe the album's also more accessible to the adult alternative set (less eclectic, more tuneful)? Whatever it is, he definitely took off.

Re: the swing years, he's a much better musician than anyone in SQZ, and his Bowl of Fire was a stronger and more entertaining band. Thrills, his first record (aside from a self-released solo disc) is underrated and definitely stands on its own, swing revival or not - it's vital and innovative hot jazz and it doesn't lean on nostalgia. Check out "Glass Figurine" for an example. Also, recording straight to two RCA mics just sounds good.

Sorry, I'm going to Out Hud!

i was thinking the same thing.
Weather Systems had some good songs. The best WS song returns on the new album (Sovay) I like the first 5,6 songs of the new one, but then it gets incredibly boring.

I can't seem to find any evidence that he is coming to NY. Anyone heard otherwise? Does he usually stop by when he releases a new album?

I know this stuff has an audience, and he obviously has talent with a fiddle. But ultimately, his albums and live show bore me.

good luck in austin, OTM. I was was pleasantly surprised to find that he'd dropped the quirkiness of "Oh the Grandeur" in favor of lush, well-written pop songs. I like that sort of thing, of course. I'm also all "Sing out, Louise!" and I'm very, very happy when singers don't just mumble the lyrics. (I probably shouldn't admit to such things on ILXOR). I guess it probably helped that he is well-loved in Chicago and the crowd was all hype.
One more thing. Man can whistle.

His song Oh No, is quite excellent - I'm quite looking forward to his new album
Noble Beast is set to drop on January 20th on Fat Possum in the U.S. and on February 2 on Bella Union in Europe

I really like this video for Nervous Tic Motion (not from the upcoming album)

Noble Beast is great!

Bird's last was one of my very favourites of '07. 'Oh No' is a pleasant Wednesday surprise! Thanks.

I just hope "Effigy" (from the projected tracklisting) is a CCR cover.

Noble Beast is another typical Andrew Bird records as far as I'm concerned - a couple great tunes ("Oh No" and "Effigy"), a couple loose sketches, and a lot of just "decent" stuff. The instrumental bonus disc, Useless Creatures, is fantastic.

this was on in the record store yesterday. i am going to rock a cliche right now but he makes the shins sound like disfear.

Your cliche was top notch!

Pop White People Like

He was awesome at the Big Shoulders Inaugural Ball at the Black Cat in DC Monday night.

He's awesome live, just pretty good on record. I'd go see him in a sump pit.

he is right now doing an "Sirius XMU session."

it is sounding pretty cool!

it's now over, they only gave him a half an hour? anyways you can here it replayed tomorrow at 6 AM Pacific Standard time.

http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Andrew-Bird-Break-It-Yourself-cos.jpg

i had no idea this guy had a new album coming out today, hope it's on Spotify.

New album is terrific.

It is pretty good. I'd really tired of his schtick on the last couple, but this one was pretty enjoyable to sit through. I'm still not 100% a stan and I think this meanders at times, but it was enough to respark my interest in him.

this one is a bit more rough around the edges than the previous bunch. it's weird, but i like that he sounds like he's straining his voice on some songs. he was venturing too far into "pleasant" territory, and this seems like him fighting back a bit.

Saw the "Fever Year" documentary the other night. Makes me want to check out some of his stuff. (I only knew Bird as the guy who does "that peppy whistling song" that gets played on the radio from time to time.)

I've loved every proper album from Mysterious Production of Eggs through Break It Yourself. But I haven't felt super enthused to buy the two most recent releases, which both feel like they're just filling time until a real record. Hands of Glory has some decent stuff, and so does this new Handsome Family covers record—but they're not special enough. The Handsome Family thing in particular feels a little lifeless.

Did you get/hear the EP (I Want to See Pulaski at Night)?

Oh I forgot about that one. Nice song but it kind of passed me by.

That's the only proper song on the EP; the rest of it more loop station doodle-y stuff along the lines of Noble Beast.

Worthwhile.

Just now getting caught up to his release from earlier this year ('Echolocation: Canyon'). It's solo instrumental violin/loop station/whistling doodlery. Very loverly.

I'm eager for him to do a new full-length of proper, original songs. He's done two instrumental releases and a covers record, all fine, but I'm ready for the real goods!

Well, with the flyer that came in the mail with Echolocations, it explicitly says, "NEW ALBUM IN 2016. . ." (yes, in all caps!) so we may get just that pretty soon.

oh good.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the themes from these last two instrumental releases get developed into whole songs. So, who knows, maybe we've already heard the new album in bits and pieces!

And here we go. . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5rqUYDl1U

Well this is quite lovely. <3 <3 Fiona

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0QjhPYC-LE

This is a great album — very streamlined and concise. Overall, probably his most song-oriented LP yet.

And yes, 'Left Handed Kisses' absolutely rules.

And hey, the bonus 7" that came with my version has two extra songs! The great as anything else on the album 'Shoulder Mountain' and a fancy new recording of 'Pulaski at Night' (retitled here just 'Pulaski'). Great bonus!

"Left Hand Kisses" is one of my favourite tracks this year. I wish Fiona did more but it makes anything she does somewhat of an event

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0424/6509/products/Echolocations_River_cover_21b12f92-907a-431f-9393-da77a0775cf3_grande.jpeg?v=1506007216

This is easily better than the first one. 'Down Under the Hyperion Bridge' is quite beautiful. Maybe even the prettiest thing he's ever done.

I guess this was just a one-off single released last year. I really like it.
I hardly know anything about this guy. He has a new album coming out in March.
I might check out an old album or two. I saw "Eggs" won the albums poll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEFLR2JnMd0

Eggs is his best. Start there and go forward.

He was my absolute favorite for a long time and I forever love the run from Eggs to Armchair to Noble Beast. The two that came after are also very good though i don’t think they necessarily offer something the others don’t.

I’m not super crazy about the songs I’ve heard from the new album but I’ll wait for the whole thing.

Break it Yourself is his best overall record.

New album is out today.

There are moments that jump out on first listen—“Cracking Codes” is an early highlight for me. Need to listen to the whole thing a few more times. He’s done other albums that I’ve been vaguely disappointed in on first listen and then turned out to be real growers.

I haven't cared about him in a while, but this latest album is sounding really strong on first contact. His sonic hallmarks haven't really changed but the songwriting sounds a lot sharper than it did on....whatever the last album I heard was

i put john coltrane on the stereo at my work. the middle aged woman i worked with after discussing the nuances of the swedish language (this is at a swedish museum) said out of nowhere- 'do you like andrew bird'? it was such a non sequitur that i said, 'i mean, yeah he's good... ummm... does he sing in swedish ever or something?' then she said, 'no, i'd just rather listen to that than this.'

classic minnesota passive aggressive

then she put on a Sami radio station and we listened to the Sami version of ICP for 35 minutes. anyway!

Armchair Apocrypha was the first that I heard and I fell in love with it. Kept trying other albums but nothing lived up to that one. "Dark Matter" rules.

Second time through and it is growing on me.

I admit to listening on earbuds but there is something about the production on this - like his vocals sound a little bit thinner than usual or something. I’m not sure what it is.

New album! I'm to the point where I don't anxiously anticipate his albums (there was a time when I did), but at the same time he rarely disappoints. I'm enjoying this on first listen. Sort of takes me back to Noble Beast era. It's very relaxed, lots of acoustic backing. Still very "Andrew Bird" through and through just a little less rocking than some of the more recent albums.

i need to go back to are you serious and figure out where he lost me. thank you for the revive + agreed with the assessment that he rarely disappoints.

Yeah in my mind I think less of Are You Serious and MFWY, but if I actually listen to them there’s not a lot to complain about.

I’ve now listened to this album a few times. No particular song has really jumped out at me yet; it’s all still a Birdian mush. And yet I find it all really joyous and wonderful. I’m feeling compelled to keep replaying it even as I’m not sure what it is that’s drawing me to it. I haven’t felt this way about a Bird album since Noble Beast or maybe Break It Yourself.

okay gave it a listen on our walk just now, and yeah, if you like andrew bird you'll definitely like inside problems. everything that sets him apart is here: charmingly dense narratives, big choruses, some pizzicato solos, all filtered through that undeniably genuine roots rock disposition. highlights for me right now are: "underlands", "atomized", and "eight." my main criticism remains what it was with are you serious?: he does nothing new. granted, everything here is good. i just feel like he's been repeating himself for over a decade at this point. that said, i would rather have him repeat himself with nice songs and enjoyable albums than total crap or (even worse) nothing at all.

a slight addendum and not really related at all to anything i just said: i want to see him do more duets with female vocalists. the ones on record in the past have all been highlights. i saw him in 2013 with tift merritt in tow and, of all the times i saw him, that was *easily* my favorite. anyway: yeah, i like andrew bird a lot and will always have time for him.

Haven't connected with anything he's made in a decade plus, but The Swimming Hour is well worth a revisit, particularly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tERk1weYeDc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9wGqYa7Q3A

waiting to talk was a reight track as well!

Andrew Bird & Madison Cunningham are covering the Buckingham Nicks album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co1tIcKlmH8

they performed it at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival the other weekend, it was v good!

classic