Andrew Bird seeming to be about as good as it gets

[thousandfold]

New Live Andrew Bird Songs - Video - Stereogum

 

[u2popmofo]

Andrew Bird to Unleash Noble Beast on New Album | Pitchfork

Know who's especially excited for the new Andrew Bird album? Some dude named Andrew Bird. Back in June, the songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/blogger noted in the New York Times' Measure for Measure, "I listened to my record recently and I'm concerned about how much I like it."

But despite those fears, Bird's got his follow-up to last year's Armchair Apocrypha in the can.

The disc's called Noble Beast, and it's due from Fat Possum January 27. You can get your first earful of leadoff track "Oh No" over in Forkcast right now. And yes, there is lots of whistling.

Bird also has a new live album available right this instant through his webstore. It's called Live in Montreal, and it was recorded at the city's La Tulipe in September of last year with Martin Dosh and Jeremy Ylvisaker backing up Bird.

Noble Beast:

01 Oh No
02 Masterswarm
03 Fitz and the Dizzyspells
04 Effigy
05 Tenuousness
06 Nomenclature
07 Not a Robot, But a Ghost
08 Anonanimal
09 Natural Disaster
10 Confess
11 Souverian
12 On Ho!

Live in Montreal:

01 Intro
02 Why?
03 Opposite Day
04 Simple X
05 Cannonade
06 Imitosis
07 Spare-Ohs
08 Skin Is, My
09 Darkmatter

 

[got_edge]

 

[u2popmofo]

On Ho!

Perv.

 

[Dalton]

I don't know if I have said this in here before, but Imitosis is one of my top 10 favorite songs .... of all time.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I'm so excited to see him tonight!

 

[u2popmofo]

Andrew Bird Changes LP Release Date, Adds Bonus Disc | Pitchfork

Andrew Bird will unleash the Noble Beast earlier than expected. Bird has moved the North American release date of his new album from January 27 to January 20 via Fat Possum. Bella Union/Cooperative will release the album in Europe on February 2.

The first pressings of Noble Beast will include a bonus disc of new instrumental pieces titled Useless Creatures.

Useless Creatures:

01 Master Sigh
02 You Woke Me Up!
03 Nyatiti
04 The Barn Tapes
05 Carrion Suite
06 Spinney
07 Dissent
08 Hot Math
09 Sigh Master

Andrew Bird:

01-28 New York, NY - Carnegie Hall *
01-30 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre ^
02-03 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ^
02-04 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse ^
02-06 Orlando, FL - The Plaza Theatre ^
02-07 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues ^
02-12 Austin, TX - Paramount Theater ^
02-13 Albuquerque, NM - El Rey ^
02-14 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater ^
02-15 San Diego, CA - SOMA ^
02-18 Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre ^
02-19 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore ^
02-20 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore ^
02-21 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater ^
02-23 Seattle, WA - The Moore Theater ^
02-24 Boise, ID - The Knitting Factory ^
02-25 Murray, UT - The Murray Theater ^
02-26 Denver, CO - Ogden Theater ^
02-27 Omaha, NE - Slowdown ^

* with Dosh
^ with Loney Dear

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Mark me down as a big fan of that album cover.

 

[cdisantis83]

Yet another 2009 release worthy of anticipation. Armchair Apocrypha was bloody excellent, as was the Soldier On EP.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Useless Creatures features appearances by Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and jazz bassist Todd Sickafoose. You can pre-order the double-disc deluxe version from Fat Possum now. It's $26, which is a little much in my opinion, but Andrew Bird is one of my favorites, and the songs I heard from the album when I saw him in October were great.

The deluxe edition also features different art for the cover and in the CD booklet:

I unfortunately can't swing any of the northeast dates, but I'm hoping to catch him at some point next year, because he puts on a great show. He's also a really nice guy, for what it's worth.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Sorry that's gigantic

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm pretty excited about this album. I've only heard The Mysterious Production Of Eggs, but that album is amazing.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I recommend Weather Systems if you don't have it.

 

[cdisantis83]

I recommend Weather Systems if you don't have it.

Weather Systems is excellent. I would suggest Armchair Apocrypha as a starting place; it is in my opinion his most consistent and fully-developed album - delightfully eclectic yet still somber and atmospheric.

 

[LemonMelon]

Exclusive First Listen: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast' : NPR Music

Noble Beast is streaming on NPR. Not the best quality in the world, but if you absolutely must hear it right now, there you go.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Both the album and the Useless Creatures bonus disc are out there, for anyone who's interested. I have my copy preordered and it will ship next week, so I figure I can hold out a little longer

 

[gump]

I'm pretty excited to get this album but I am waiting to get my copy. I've only heard Oh No when Pitchfork was streaming and loved it. Here's hoping there will be a lot of whistling in this album!

 

[Elvis Presley]

I'm currently enjoying Masterswarm, which is a song about old timey flea circus masters who would allow the fleas to feed from their arms on special occasions.....

 

[Dalton]

I dig the Noble Beast. I'm not sure if I like it as much as AA, but it is worthy.

 

[u2popmofo]

Waiting to hear it in decent quality the first time.

 

[Dalton]

I'm waiting for you to shut your damn mouth.

 

[u2popmofo]

I typed all of that with my mouth closed.

 

[u2popmofo]

I think this is the first "official" review I've seen for this yet, it's less than glowing.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/69122-andrew-bird-noble-beast-useless-creatures/

Generally speaking, Popmatters is usually more lenient and positive than a lot of sites, so I'm not sure what to think. I have to admit, I've only heard 'Oh No', and I was less than impressed on that one. Than again, I thought Armchair Apocrypha was crap for nearly a year until I started liking it.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I'm assuming my copy will be waiting for me tomorrow when I go pick up my mail at the post office tomorrow. At this point, I'm more excited for Useless Creatures than I am for the actual album, mostly because I've been listening to a lot of instrumental music lately.

 

[u2popmofo]

I wanted to point out that the reviews from Allmusic and Pitchfork were both far more glowing than the Popmatters one:

allmusic ((( Noble Beast > Overview )))

Noble Beast | Pitchfork


The deluxe edition's packaging is absolutely beautiful, they did a great job with it. I've only listened to 3 songs, but I like them all: Oh No, Fitz and the Dizzyspells, and Tenuousness. Fitz and the Dizzyspells is easily my favorite, it's got all the classic Andrew Bird things you expect (whistling, etc). I didn't like Oh No at all the first time I heard it a month or so ago, I really liked it this morning though.

 

[impy13]

Wait till you listen to "Anonanimal."

 

[cdisantis83]

I'm looking forward to receiving this album. I read an interview with Bird in The Onion the other day, where he expressed some interesting views regarding the "Indie" scene. I would recommend looking into it.

 

[u2popmofo]

Wait till you listen to "Anonanimal."

I believe he played this at the show I saw him at this summer, it sounds semi-familiar.

 

[Dalton]

I plan to illegally downloading this album tonight.

 

[joyfulgirl]

He's playing here next month. I have resistance, I'm not sure why. I think I've only heard a couple of songs and I wasn't crazy about them but I haven't actually given him a serious listen.

My question is: will there be whistling?