Andrew Bird- Noble Beast (and Useless Creatures)

Probably all the people who've fallen in love with Andrew Bird's music because of his last two albums (2005's The Mysterious Production Of Eggs and 2007's Armchair Apocrypha) will buy Noble Beast, listen to it a few times, decide that it's just not as good as those two albums, and never listen to it again. Such is the fate of the rising-in-popularity artist who zigs when the audience expects him to zag. Except that the people who end up not liking this album won't really understand why, won't realize any zigging took place. Noble Beast isn't as good as Armchair Apocrypha, but it's going for a different thing. And this difference is responsible for why people will disappointed-ly listen to Noble Beast.

The difference?? Well, Armchair Apocrypha and to a lesser extent The Mysterious Production Of Eggs were all about the full sound a studio could provide; Armchair in particular had huge, majestic songs that crested and peaked, arrived at thrilling choruses with instruments piled all over the place. In comparison, Noble Beast focuses on extending Bird's gift for brainy wordplay and rich, patient songwriting. No other album in his career is filled with such explicitly complex and witty lyrics, offering all sorts of tongue twisters and obscure words/references. While it's true that Noble Beast has its share of songs that match Armchair's ability to be both catchy and seemingly epic--in particular, 'Anonanimal' and 'Fitz & Dizzyspells'--the majority of the tracks are given over to mid-tempo paced, mellow material that emphasize Bird's way with words and his extensive use of stringed instruments, specifically violin and acoustic guitar. It's a perfectly good album assuming you're the sort of listener who will patiently dissect the lyrics and sip the fine wine of the song structures.

In an interview with The Onion's A.V. Club a week or so ago, Bird suggested that his next album might be a 'band album', referring to the threesome he tours with. In addition, he posits that Noble Beast hearkens back to the sound of Weather Systems, his first 'solo' album, recorded during the long birthing process for The Mysterious Production Of Eggs. Weather Systems has a similar sound to Noble Beast though I wouldn't make too much of a connection since they were recorded so far apart. What I do want to connect here is that an album recorded with his touring band would be a thrilling thing given the evidence of both Noble Beast and its 'companion' disc, Useless Creatures. Only available in the deluxe edition of Noble Beast, Creatures is an all instrumental album that pushes Bird's music to its most fascinating and experimental state yet. For those not aware, Bird often employs live looping in his performances, using various electronics and stompbox pedals to create loops of guitar, violin, vocals, and his (in)famous whistling, building songs piece by piece. Useless Creatures is the most pure version of this yet. Though mostly solo, he is occasionally joined by Glenn Kotche on percussion (of Wilco fame) and Todd Sickafoose on double bass (a jazz bassist in his own right, but perhaps best known for working with Ani Difranco and on Trey Anastasio's Bar 17 album). Useless Creatures is like some strange mash up of indie rock, modern classical music, jazz, and experimental music. Bird loops and distorts his violin, whistles, and acoustic guitar in some fascinating ways here, and his solo improvisations as well as group interplay reveal him to be a potent musician in addition to the witty, intricate songwriter we've always known. Were Bird to somehow apply these kind of textures, melodies, and rhythms to the sort of songs on Noble Beast, he would really have something transcendent on his hands.

As a total package, the deluxe edition of Noble Beast that includes Useless Creatures is excellent and a must hear for fans of Bird's music. However, as a standalone entity, there's no getting around the fact that Noble Beast isn't as good as Armchair Apocrypha. It's a different kind of album, yes, but even by it's own standards Noble Beast is no masterpiece. I must stress, however, that Noble Beast is far from a let down, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to fans, particularly if they're willing to splurge for the deluxe edition with the fascinating Useless Creatures.

Album of the Week: Andrew Bird- Armchair Apocrypha

The cover of Armchair Apocrypha is some kind of bird, though all you can see is its back. You can't detect any wings, any facial features, the claws, etc. It's as if you're wandering through a grandparent's attic, seeing all kinds of strange and seemingly foreign things from years past via only one angle--you do a doubletake and either look closer or turn the object over before you realize what it is. This is more or less what listening to the album is like. The songs seem familiar to you but you aren't quite sure what they are until you give them closer inspection.

Andrew Bird is one of those American musicians who you're almost sure can't be an American because he seems so multicultural. The phrase "citizen of the world" comes to mind because his songs seem shot through with imagery and words from across the world. There's something of a worldly 19th century European aristocrat vibe going on, too, from his violin/stringed instrument mastery to his highly skilled whistling to his voice pitched somewhere between the operatic ecstasy of Rufus Wainwright and the sensitive-but-full-bodied Jeff Buckley. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but combined with his lyrics--filled with words, places, and people you'd only expect to hear in various history or sociology courses in college--Bird really seems like a truly intelligent person who knows a lot about everything. A Renaissance man, basically.

The true accomplishment of Armchair Apocrypha is not its intelligence, though. Like other brainy indie rockers such as the Decemberists, you don't need a Bachelor's degree to appreciate the album. That's because with songs like 'Imitosis', 'Plasticities', and 'Scythian Empires' Bird has proven himself a genius of pop songwriting. Though these three songs are too long and nuanced to work as radio smash hits, they are as catchy as catchy can be. Like Sufjan Stevens, Bird is able to write infectious and memorable songs utilizing a vast array of instruments. Also similarly, those songs can be about unconventional subjects. Where Stevens has released two albums that are ostensibly "about" the states Michigan and Illinois, Bird's songs can be about, well, the Scythian Empire and heretics; however, it's also true that Stevens and Bird's songs are not just about these topics. They're often used as metaphors or red herrings for the true meaning, which is usually left up to the listener to decide.

I feel like I should have more to say, but other than "the lyrics are really good, too" nothing comes to mind. Perhaps that's the point. This is one of those albums that people simply have to experience themselves, have a reaction to emotionally/intellectually, and return to often for ever-richer enjoyment. I can't fully explain to you what the title of the album means to me, or what I feel when the intro to 'Plasticities' starts and Bird materializes with the line "this isn't your song/this isn't your music." But you wouldn't, and shouldn't, understand even if I tried to. So. Get this album.