Andrew Bird

[Josh]

I had never heard of Andrew Bird until yesterday.

His new album is called The Mysterious Production of Eggs. Wow... what a bizarre title.

But don't write it off yet... PASTE gives the album a whoppinh 4.5 out of 5 in their new issue, which is, I think, the highest rating they've given out to any album released this year.

And AMG gives it the exact same rating.

Oh... and one of these songs appears on the new PASTE sampler, and it does indeed kick serious booty.

Needless to say, this album has immediately shot to the very top of my must-hear list.

[Josh]

Pitchfork likes it, too.

[Josh]

Listen to a live set on Morning Becomes Eclectic.

[Josh]

I heard this album today and lurved it.

The Mysterious Production of Eggs is as imaginitive, as creative, and as whimsical as any record I've heard all year. It's a warm, loose, infinitely enjoyable record in which every melody is memorable, every lyric is immensely clever, and every song feels like an adventure.

Vocally, Bird reminds me a little bit of Ed Harcourt, Jeff Buckley, and Ron Sexsmith, but his music defies comparison. It's highly melodic, improvisational chamber pop, at times reminiscent of The Shins, Sam Phillips, Ron Sexsmith, even Joe Henry, but ultimately it's entirely unique and wonderfully imaginitive.

The lyrics are delightful, full of mystery, whimsy, and humor. These songs are all about the power of the imagination, the innocence of childhood, the nature of creativity, and the shadowy forces that wish to quantify and explain all of life's mysteries.

I am immediately a fan, and I suspect that most of you will like it as well. Dv, bloop, DGP, murlough... you all need to hear this record. And that goes for the rest of you, too!

[bloop]

You know I'll check this out, especially with a cover like that.   =D  

[dgp11776]

Right now, I'm checking out The Decemberists, but this is next on my list.

[Josh]

Check out my music journal. I have a new favorite album for 2005!

[Josh]

Bumped my rating from an A to an A+, making this the first bona fide masterpiece of 2005 in my book. This record just gets better and better with every listen; the lyrics have layer upon layer of humor and meaning to explore, and the compositions are surprisingly complex on some tracks.

I am head-over-heels in love with Andrew Bird.

[dgp11776]

'Tis in my CD player as I type.  Me-dig.

[oneafroboy]

Sounds interesting. I like good melodies. I liked good lyrics. I like complexity. I have to go to the bank today anyway, so I'll swing by the local CD store and see if I can pick it up.

[Josh]

For those who still haven't heard this album-- fools!-- I have uploaded a couple of my favorite tracks to the Pub.

[bloop]

He has a music shortlist up at Pitchfork.  Linky.

[Josh]

Pitchfork also did a track review of "Fake Palindromes":

Track Review of "Fake Palindromes": This short track from Andrew Bird's latest LP rocks, but not in any conventional sense: There are no distorted guitars or cracking snares; instead, it explodes with orgasmic violins and rides a rhythm comprised of nothing more than a thumping, accelerating, heartbeat-like pattern and some tambourine. The drums fit nicely with those violins between verses, and give the song the feeling of perpetual motion, as if it's gathering steam and venting pressure and doing so more violently with each cycle.

Bird develops the lyrics and melody in similar ways, drawing out lines with repetition and little fall-off phrases that stoke the song's emotional weight-- check how he adds a little "shoulda died" to the end of the line, "Jesus don't you know that you coulda died." And even as the morbid imagery and non-sequiturs start to pile up, it's difficult to imagine a line like, "She says I like long walks and sci-fi movies" leading to: "Some lonely night we can get together/ And I'm gonna tie your wrists with leather/ And drill a tiny hole into your head". In the end, the violins and drums explode once more, but the song comes to a staggeringly abrupt halt, snuffing itself out as soon as the story is told. I'm not sure if there's a name for the type of music Bird is making, but whatever it is, it's beautiful and new and I love it. -Pitchfork, 3/18/05

Incidentally, that's one of my favorite songs on the whole album, at least from a musical standpoint. (The lyrics are keeping me at a distance right now because I have absolutely no idea what they mean). It's almost sure to end up as 2005's quirkiest, most unusual rocker.

[oneafroboy]

Picked it up yesterday. I'm going to wait though before weighing in with my opinion.  

[dgp11776]

So I have a new member of my top five, too.  I didn't quite feel an A+ on it, but I was close (hence an A, duh).  Thanks for the heads-up, Josh.  Your descriptions of the album earlier in the thread were pretty much dead-on.

[Josh]

Excellent. I honestly can't imagine anyone NOT loving this album; as bloop mentioned in another thread, it's highy original and experimental, but also incredibley hooky and easy to listen to. I doubt there'll be a more enjoyable album all year.

So, after spending a couple of weeks with the album, I'm going to attempt to come up with a Top 5 songs list, which I'm sure will be in a state of constant flux:

1. Measuring Cups
2. Sovay
3. Banking on a Myth
4. Opposite Day
5. Masterfade
 

[Tom]

finally got a copy to listen to. reserving judgement until i hear the entire thing. but so far, i am quite impressed.

i'll say this much: it is reeling me in from the get go.

[DvChWi]

So, after spending a couple of weeks with the album, I'm going to attempt to come up with a Top 5 songs list, which I'm sure will be in a state of constant flux:

1. Measuring Cups
2. Sovay
3. Banking on a Myth
4. Opposite Day
5. Masterfade

My stab at a Top 5:
1. Measuring Cups
2. Fake Palindromes
3. A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
4. Skin Is, My
5. Opposite Day

[Tom]

i'm not picking favorites yet, but the songs that really hit me now are:

Sovay
A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
Measuring Cups
Masterfade
The Naming of Things

i REALLY like this album. Andrew Bird sounds a 'little' bit like a lot of my favorite male singer songwriters all in one: Damien Rice, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, Fran Healy, Damien Jurado.

he doesn't sound a lot like any of those guys; but he has nuances of them all. and he almost has the string arrangement skills of John Mark Painter.

thanks for the tip on this one Josh. my ears are happy.

[Aaron]

Excellent. I honestly can't imagine anyone NOT loving this album;

For the sake of discussion,  why do you think that everyone would like it?  If it's not their cup of tea, then they wouldn't like it.  So I'm not sure why you can't imagine someone not liking it.  Just wanted to hear your rationale behind the statement.

On the music, I like it.  Not sure if I'd buy the album yet, but the songs I've heard are enjoyable.

[bloop]

For the sake of discussion,  why do you think that everyone would like it?  If it's not their cup of tea, then they wouldn't like it.  So I'm not sure why you can't imagine someone not liking it.  Just wanted to hear your rationale behind the statement.

On the music, I like it.  Not sure if I'd buy the album yet, but the songs I've heard are enjoyable.

Well, I personally try to avoid statements like the one Josh made, but I will say that anyone who knows music is going to at least respect the album.  Whether they like it or not is a whole other issue.

[Aaron]

For the sake of discussion,  why do you think that everyone would like it?  If it's not their cup of tea, then they wouldn't like it.  So I'm not sure why you can't imagine someone not liking it.  Just wanted to hear your rationale behind the statement.

On the music, I like it.  Not sure if I'd buy the album yet, but the songs I've heard are enjoyable.

Well, I personally try to avoid statements like the one Josh made, but I will say that anyone who knows music is going to at least respect the album.  Whether they like it or not is a whole other issue.

That's what I am getting it.  I was just looking for clarification on his opinion.

[Josh]

For the sake of discussion,  why do you think that everyone would like it?  If it's not their cup of tea, then they wouldn't like it.  So I'm not sure why you can't imagine someone not liking it.  Just wanted to hear your rationale behind the statement.

On the music, I like it.  Not sure if I'd buy the album yet, but the songs I've heard are enjoyable.

Well, I personally try to avoid statements like the one Josh made, but I will say that anyone who knows music is going to at least respect the album.  Whether they like it or not is a whole other issue.

That's what I am getting it.  I was just looking for clarification on his opinion.

I was engaging in a bit of hypebole, trying to make the point that, even apart from its creative merits, it's just an immensely fun, pleasurable album. It's hooky, melodic, funny, touching... it's a delightful album, and very accessible, so I'd simply be surprised to find someone who didn't like it.

[Aaron]

So say, someone who doesn't like that style of music listens to Bird's album and doesn't like it, you'd be surprised?  

[Tom]

ok. i liked the library's copy so much that i went out and bought The Mysterious Production Of Eggs for myself. this album is fantastic.

i need to revise my 2005 music journal...

[Josh]

So say, someone who doesn't like that style of music listens to Bird's album and doesn't like it, you'd be surprised?

Yes, but not half as surprised as I'd be if you were to quit taking everything so literally.    Again, it was hyperbole... figurative language, if you will.

[Josh]

Jeffrey Overstreet discovers Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs. Which is still, by the way, the best dern album of 2005 in my book.

[-TheWanderer-]

Yes, but not half as surprised as I'd be if you were to quit taking everything so literally.    Again, it was hyperbole... figurative language, if you will.

hyperbole is a bitch eh? LOL



hyperbole is the death of critics...LOL

[oneafroboy]

I'm going to confidently raise my hand (or rather fingers) and say I don't like this album very much. And I don't think it's the best album of 2005.

I think that title goes more rightfully to the little project done on Illinois by Mr. Sufjan Stevens.

 

[Aaron]

I'm going to confidently raise my hand (or rather fingers) and say I don't like this album very much. And I don't think it's the best album of 2005.

I think that title goes more rightfully to the little project done on Illinois by Mr. Sufjan Stevens.

I agree that Sufjan's album is better than Bird's.  In fact, there are a bunch of other albums that are better than Bird's album in 2K5: Beck, The White Stripes, The Mars Volta, Mars Ill, and a few others.  That being said, the Andrew Bird album is decent but it's nothing great.  I do find it catchy

[Josh]

Well, this album is in the canon as far as I'm concerned, and I maintain that it is, in fact, completely perfect. But, for the sake of discussion, what exactly do you pholks not like about it?

(FWIW, my full, track-by-track review will appear tomorrow at Reveal and Looking Closer.)

[Aaron]

to say it is perfect would be to say it's the best album EVER, and quite frankly, that's laughable.  and honestly, you really haven't said much to back up why you think it's the best album.  I've just read your initial emotional reaction to the disc and haven't really gotten those vibes.  Perhaps its because I don't go at albums from the same angle you do.  

[Josh]

Why does saying this album is perfect mean the same thing as saying it's the best album of all time? I think an album can be perfect without being the very best-- it just means that there's nothing I'd change about the album, that's all.

[Josh]

Josh Hurst and the Mysterious Production of Reviews.

[murlough23]

Wow, Josh, that was probably your most thorough review ever. (Not that they're all required to be; I'm just noting that you went over the songs in more detail this time. More Murlough style, I guess.)

Regarding an album being "perfect" - I'm of the viewpoint that no album is "perfect". I think that gives an artist nowhere to go but down, or at least somewhere completely different. I once said that my favorite album, Much Afraid, was "perfect", but I realized that if I'd had it my way, I'd have extended "Weighed Down" into more of a full song and shored up the gap between "Tea and Sympathy" and "Crazy Times", among a few other nitpicks. Mostly inconsequential things, but you know, if we're talking perfection...

There might be other albums that I honestly couldn't think of ways to improve, but just because I can't think of it doesn't mean it couldn't be improved upon.

NP: "Believe Me Natalie", The Killers

[oneafroboy]

I never think in terms of "perfect" when I think of albums. Pieces of songs, yes. (Like a specific arrangement might be perfect for the mood of a song or section.) But not whole albums.

And since I'm really picky about what I like and therefore what songs I like, it's rare that I even like most of the songs on an album. Heck, liking half is pretty darn good. But enough great songs on an album do it for me, and make an album great.

Yeah, I think in terms of good, great, sucky, mediocre, etc. when thinking about albums.

I haven't had a chance to re-listen to Andrew Bird's disc. In fact, I really have no desire to, which is part of my problem with it... So at the moment, I can't give specifics on what I don't like or rather don't think is awesome about the album. I like it okay, but it's nothing to wet your pants about. I think overall I would say the album doesn't really stick out to me. It's decent. But decent isn't good enough to be great. And perhaps even its "perfection" (which I think is debatable) isn't good enough to be great.

I'll take an album with half the songs on it great and the others so-so with seemingly no cohesion than an album with all-around okay songs that flow nicely together. (I'll listen to the former much more frequently.)

[murlough23]

I haven't had a chance to re-listen to Andrew Bird's disc. In fact, I really have no desire to, which is part of my problem with it...

Not that I know anything one way or another about this particular album, but I will say that some of my favorites albums fit that description exactly. I had no desire to re-listen after deleting them once. Over time, I came to realize that I might have just not been in the right mood, or that some albums just don't give up their goods the first time through. With most albums, it takes me at least 5 times through to get a solid grip on how I feel... unless it's just your basic pop/rock stuff with predictable lyrics.

[Josh]

Indeed, Andrew Bird's album is impossible to understand and appreciate after just one listen. It's a challenging piece of art, one that sometimes makes the listener work hard to glean its rewards. Each song is a small marvel of creativity and imagination, and it gradually reveals itself over time and with repeated listens.

I still haven't heard any actual criticisms of the album, so I'm sticking by my guns in calling it the year's best album, at least so far.

[oneafroboy]

I've listened to it more than once. What I mean is that at this point I don't feel like re-listening to it. (I gave the disc when I first bought it quite a few spins trying to see what all the fuss was about.)

A quick criticism that I remember having was that the string arrangements weren't very good. And I think the songs are kind of boring. But I'll try to listen to it again...  

[Josh]

Well, that's not a string quartet you're hearing-- it's just Bird and his violin. The fact that he makes his long instrument sound like an entire orchestra is, I think, a testament to his skills as a producer and an arranger.

Personally, I can't get enough of his violin. It gives such an aura of mystery to his songs, lifting them out of the realm of pop/rock and making them something utterly indescribeable.