Andrew Bird seeming to be about as good as it gets

[got_edge]

Fuck this.

 

[corianderstem]

Um ... indeed.

 

[zoney!]

 

[got_edge]

New album is out today


From the newsletter:

Mr. Bird and band will perform on the DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW on April 10. Yes, that David Letterman. April 10.

And it looks like he added a few dates to his Armchair tour... just not in the states

 

[zoney!]

bought it tonight...just haven't given it a listen yet....

 

[Regina Filangie]

Was listening to it this morning while getting ready for work.
Great stuff.

 

[got_edge]

Andrew Bird and Martin Dosh were on Letterman last night: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ktxy7ikUKjM


ray: ray:

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I was a little hot and cold about this when I first got it, but there are some songs on there that I really love.

 

[got_edge]

Last but not least [Andrew's] dear bandmate and buddy DOSH has a new record, Wolves and Wishes, coming out May 13 on Anticon! – Go catch him on tour!

He’ll be playing a special World of Dosh show featuring special guests Andrew Bird, Jel, Jeremy Ylvisaker, Andrew Broder, Mike Lewis and others in Minneapolis on May 3 at the Walker Art Center.

DOSH tour dates are thus:

5/03; Minneapolis, MN – Walker Art Center
5/16; Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
5/19; Toronto, ON - El Mocambo
5/21; Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
5/22; Cambridge, MA - Middle East
5/23; New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
5/24; Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
5/25; Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks
5/26; Akron, OH – Musica
5/29; Chicago, IL – Subterranean
6/06; Omaha, NE – Slowdown
6/07; Denver, CO - Hi Dive
6/09; Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
6/11; Seattle, WA - Nectar Lounge
6/12; Portland, OR - Doug Fir
6/14; San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
6/15; Los Angeles, CA – Spaceland
6/16; Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
6/17; Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
6/19; Austin, TX - Emo's
6/20; Dallas, TX – TBA

I hate my life.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

He'll be opening for (and presumably making an appearance with) Wilco in Lenox, MA, on August 12.

 

[got_edge]

Damn you for being so easygoing

The last of the tour dates for Armchair Apocrypha were announced recently... I'm never going to see Birdy live

 

[u2popmofo]

I had enough fun at the free show to make up for you never seeing him.

I'm sure he'll go on a larger tour once the new album is out, so there's still hope. There's always hope. Did you learn nothing from Gandalf?!

 

[got_edge]

Soldier On?

You can stream the track "The Trees Were Mistaken" on Last.fm -- it's amazing

 

[No spoken words]

Where would I start if I wanted to sample Mr. Bird's work?

 

[got_edge]

The Mysterious Production of Eggs and Armchair Apocrypha are available to stream on Last.fm.

Start with the fuller Armchair

 

[No spoken words]

The Mysterious Production of Eggs and Armchair Apocrypha are available to stream on Last.fm.

Start with the fuller Armchair

Thankee.

 

[u2popmofo]

I probably prefer Production of Eggs, but both are fairly equal in reviews:

http://www.metacritic.com/search/process?sort=relevance&termType=all&ts=Andrew+Bird&ty=2&x=0&y=0

 

[No spoken words]

I probably prefer Production of Eggs, but both are fairly equal in reviews:

http://www.metacritic.com/search/process?sort=relevance&termType=all&ts=Andrew+Bird&ty=2&x=0&y=0

Who do you think I'm going to listen to? You or her?

 

[u2popmofo]

I don't really care, just trying to contribute. I like both albums, so whatev. A lot of the "Production of Eggs" fans were disappointed with "Armchair", myself included, but I like them both quite a bit now.

I've never even heard the other albums.

 

[No spoken words]

I don't really care, just trying to contribute. I like both albums, so whatev. A lot of the "Production of Eggs" fans were disappointed with "Armchair", myself included, but I like them both quite a bit now.

I've never even heard the other albums.

Was just joking, dude.

 

[u2popmofo]

 

[got_edge]

I don't really care, just trying to contribute. I like both albums, so whatev. A lot of the "Production of Eggs" fans were disappointed with "Armchair", myself included, but I like them both quite a bit now.

I've never even heard the other albums.

I've warmed up tons to Armchair since I first heard it... but I will always prefer Prod of Eggs. Still, I would recommend Birdy's latest release to a first-time listener.

You should get Thrills and the first Fingerlings compilation.

 

[u2popmofo]

Which is the one with Lull on it? I like that song.

 

[got_edge]

That would be Weather Systems. Also contains the first drafts of Skin Is My ("Skin") and Imitosis ("I")

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I saw him open for Wilco last week and really enjoyed his set. I'm really looking forward to seeing him solo in October.

I got a few pretty good pictures of his set:

I also got the chance to meet him after the show. He's a nice guy, very soft-spoken and nice. He was struggling to open a beer that wasn't twist-off, I happened to have a bottle opener in my purse and let him use it--it was a random, funny moment

 

[got_edge]

Andrew Bird vs. Youngbloodz - The Trees Were Presidential

 

[elevation2u]

interesting...

 

[got_edge]

This is from June but it's (good) news to me!:

June 21, 2008, 3:30 pm
Without Words

By Andrew Bird

I listened to my record recently and I’m concerned about how much I like it.

This has never happened to me at this stage of making a record. Right about now is usually when I want to scrap the whole thing and start over. In fact, scrapping whole records has become par for the course for me when recording.

[...]I’m especially happy with how “Oh No” — the song I introduced in my first post — turned out, now that I’ve sat on it for a few weeks. When the drums switch from the rumbly toms to the tight “Fleetwood Mac-style” beat and we sing “Oh no, you’re deep in a mine,” I can’t help but jog in place and pump my fists — a response preferable to scrutinizing how my voice goes a little flat on the third bar of the verse. And isn’t it great that a song about crippling self-repression and the envy of childhood expressions of fear and sorrow can be so joyous?

It’s also been interesting to see how adding drums to fairly complete songs can cast such a different light on their feel and character.

[..]I’ve been meaning to mention that I’ve been working on another record at the same time as this one. It’s supposed to be an instrumental record and I’ve been switching between sessions of the “song” record and this more indulgent ambient experimental record. I recently spent another week at the Wilco loft playing with percussionist Glenn Kotche of Wilco and Todd Sickafoose, a brilliant upright bass player from Brooklyn. I just thought, let’s put us all in a room and see what happens. These guys are some of the most virtuosic, thoughtful musicians I know, in keeping with my vow to only make music with really good people.

I’ve also been trying to write some lyrics for a Martin Dosh tune called “First Impossible,” from his new record, which has one of the more undeniable beats I’ve heard in a while — one that I’m sure Missy Elliot would lift in a heartbeat. Sometimes I like to try reversing the process with some of Dosh’s instrumentals and write lyrics for pre-existing music. This is hard because the process is more deliberate than the way my songs tend to rise to the surface when they are ready. It worked surprisingly well with a tune called “Simple X” on the last record, “Armchair Apocrypha,” and sounds strikingly different than the other tracks.

So this instrumental record is full of homeless melodies, polyrhythmic pizzicato, Debussy-like, minimalistic string passages thrown from a rotating speaker, and lots of really inventive percussion. I just want to make sure it’s engaging enough to warrant the packaging involved in a separate record.

[Full article]

 

[u2popmofo]

When I saw him last month, the new songs were honestly just as enjoyable and entertaining as any of the work I was already familiar with. I'm looking forward to this one.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

It's set for a January release, I think. He only played one new one a few weeks ago when I saw him, but I really liked it.