Andrew Bird Discography Reviewed

K

kaitlyn lindsay

New member
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I absolutely adore this man. I think he is unbelievably talented and he's one of my favorite current artists, so I've decided to review his discography. He is a classically trained violinist, which is the center instrument for most of his music, but he is also proficient on the guitar, glockenspiel and whistling. He started out playing less contemporary folk and jazz music and has progressed to alternative/indie and experimental music.

His discography consists of:

Self-released:
Music of Hair (1996)

with "Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire"
Thrills (1998)
Oh! The Graneur (1999)
The Swimming Hour (2001)

Solo Career:
Weather Systems (2003)
The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
Armchair Apocrypha (2007)
Noble Beast (2009)

Three Live Albums:
Fingerlings (2002)
Fingerlings 2 (2004)
Fingerlings 3 (2006)
 
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - The Swimming Hour (2001)

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1. Two Way Action
2. Core and Rind
3. Why?
4. 11:11
5. Case in Point
6. Too Long
7. Way out West
8. Waiting to Talk
9. Fatal Flower Garden
10. Satisfied
11. HeaRABoak
12. How Indiscreet
13. Dear Old Greenland​

Something new! With The Swimming Hour, Bowl of Fire mark an extreme departure from their old sound and take on a new sound creating the most eclectic record released by Andrew Bird. This album defines the word eclectic; there is elements of pop, swing, jazz, classical, folk, and rock. Bird has referred to this album as his
 
Nice review :)

I think I've got just about his whole discography, but I've yet to get familiar with most of his albums. I discovered Andrew Bird because of my interest in Squirrel Nut Zippers and my entry point was "Thrills" (which also features members of SNZ) which has quite a few songs I like.

Looking forward to the rest!
 
Andrew Bird - Weather Systems (2003)​

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1. First Song
2. I
3. Lull
4. Action/Adventure
5. →
6. Skin
7. Weather Systems
8. Don't Be Scared
9. ←​

Andrew Bird had booked a gig in Chicago to open for a band but when the rest of Bowl of Fire couldn
 
Andrew Bird is a genius and a virtuoso on violin. J loren of HURT ( who was a classically trained violin player ) once described Bird as one of his influences. Not too many people are familiar with him and his music is not really 'mainstream' that is why I was thrilled to see this review here! Kudos to you for writing this for us! Who here remembers the Squirrel Nut Zippers?

I appreciate your passion for ecentric artists and for the courage to expose listeners here to music that may be out of their "comfort zone." Well written review. Thank you. :-)
 
I'm pretty sure that so far, I'm the only one who has reviewed a SNZ album (on my journal) .. Other than that, I think there's just the rare occasional mention here on MB. More people should check them out!
 
Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)​

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1. /=/
2. Sovay
3. A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
4. Fake Palindromes
5. Measuring Cups
6. Banking on a Myth
7. Masterfade
8. Opposite Day
9. Skin Is, My
10. The Naming of Things
11. MX Missiles
12. /=/=/
13. Tables and Chairs
14. The Happy Birthday Song​

The Mysterious Production of Eggs was released in 2005 on Righteous Babe RecorRAB, with the same band line-up as the previous record. With this album, Bird has finally finished his sound that he will stay with for the next few releases. Moving away from the more unconventional music in Weather Systems, Bird has created a stylistic blend of folk, alternative rock, and baroque pop, which makes this his most accessible record. Though this album is a bit more guitar driven, the violin and whistling is still featured prominently, creating a layered sound with loops of violin samples harmonizing with the guitar. The lyrics on The Mysterious Production of Eggs show an advancement in Andrew Bird
 
This discography would be a great tool to expand my comfort zone. Iv'e been listening to a few songs from each album on Playlist.com for about an hour: He's for sure a variable sound, but I do appreciate the violin.
 
I really like your tastes in music. That is refreshing to see! So many of the people that I know are trapped inside a genre or band for life...acceptable if that band is Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd but completely unacceptable to me if it's Fall Out Boy or Nickelback.
:-)
 
Nice work manny : )
Unfortunately I don't very much enjoy mr. bird but after you're a few albums in, I'll check back and read a few of those reviews. Maybe ill find something interesting.
 
Thanks for the input! You can expect the coming to reviews to be a little more in depth as there is not much to be said about Music for Hair.

I have two Squirrel Nut Zippers albums and they're such fun albums. I love the "swing revival" thing they have going on, it makes you want to get up and dance.
 
Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire - Thrills (1998)

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1. Minor Stab
2. Ides of Swing
3. Glass Figurine
4. Pathetique
5. Depression-Pasillo
6. 50 Pieces
7. A Woman's Life and Love
8. Swedish Wedding March
9. Eugene
10. Gris-Gris
11. Cock o' the Walk
12. Nuthinduan Waltz
13. Some of These Days / Chinatown My Chinatown​

Andrew Bird started his band Bowl of Fire by teaming up with drummer Kevin O’Donnell and bassist Josh Hirsch of Charlie Nobody. Katharine Walen (singer) and guitarist James Mathus of Squirrel Nut Zippers also appear on this album. Bird’s new band signed with the Rykodisc record label to release their first album Thrills in 1998.

Thrills takes us back to pre-war jazz and swing. There is some gypsy-jazz and Django Reinhardt influence on several tracks with Stephane Grappelli–esque violin work by Bird. The album consists of all original songs composed by Andrew Bird save for the fifth and last track. The album opens with a melancholic jazz song that sounRAB like it would suit the streets of New Orleans. Jack Fine’s wailing trumpet and Bird’s somewhat angry vocals make Minor Stab one of the best tracks on the album. Idles of Swing is a laid back swing-jazz song that could fit right in with Django’s work. The next track is another swing song that is one of the more upbeat tracks of the album. Glass Figurine is a fun song with some excellent harmonies between the guitar and violin. Bird revisits a song from Music of Hair with Pathetique but it does not add much to the album. Depression-Pasillo is another high point of the album. It is an up-tempo track lead by a wonderful violin solo. Bird takes control of this track and completely leaRAB the band with his violin solo. The next two tracks, 50 Pieces and A Woman’s Life and Love are again swing songs with gypsy jazz elements. Katharine Walen delivers some smooth jazzy vocals on the latter.

The second half of the album is not as strong as the first. So far the album has been an interesting and entertaining mix of laid back and upbeat swing songs with some gypsy jazz influence but the music eventually becomes a bit repetitive. Swedish Wedding March is a medieval sounding melody played by the solo violin. The next three tracks are some more upbeat swing songs. Bird again revisits a song from Music of Hair, Nuthinduan Waltz but this folk song sounRAB somewhat out of place. The last track is a well known bluegrass song on the guitar and violin pleasantly sung by Bird. There is a hidden track that is a long swing jam session to finish off the album.

This album is definitely not contemporary music but it is still an enjoyable and fun album. It is apparent that Bowl of Fire is a talented band and they are more versatile than their counterpart, Squirrel Nut Zippers. Bird demonstrates more of his violin virtuosity in this area of swing and jazz music. Bird’s vocals are not nearly as brilliant as his violin but that is soon to change. Thrills is a solid, fun album and somewhat of a warm up album for the masterpiece, in my opinion, that is Bowl of Fire’s next and final album, Oh! The Grandeur.

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(poor quality, only video I could find of a Thrills song)

B-​
 
Thanks for the input guys. If you're looking to get into him, I'll probably post a compilation after two more reviews, to introduce you to his music.
 
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - Oh! The Grandeur (1999)

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1. Candy Shop
2. Tea & Thorazine
3. Wishing for Contentment
4. Wait
5. The Idiot's Genius
6. Vidalia
7. Beware
8. Dora Goes to Town
9. Feetlips
10. And So...
11. Coney Island Shuffle
12. Respiration
13. (What's Your) Angle?
14. The Confession
15. Beware (Reprise)​

Oh! The Grandeur consists of similar music to Thrills, but this time the band has perfected their sound. With their base still being in swing and jazz there is also a sense of some alternative rock in several tracks on the album that give this a more contemporary feel. One thing that makes this album far superior to Thrills is that it never becomes repetitive. By not relying on the upbeat swing songs Oh! The Grandeur is an interesting listen from beginning to end. In my opinion this album is a masterpiece by Andrew Bird. The band line up is the same as the previous album: Andrew Bird – vocals, violin. James Mathus – guitar. Josh Hirsch – bass. Kevin O’Donnell – percussion. It was released in 1999 by Rykodisc record label.

The Bowl of Fire perfect what they attempted on Thrills with this album. The album is based in the similar swing and jazz of Thrills but there are no tracks that are lacking in anyway. The entire band delivers on swing tracks like Candy Shop and Coney Island Shuffle. There is some excellent drumming from O’Donnell on these songs. They are not contemporary but if this album came out when swing music was at its height I am sure Candy Shop would be a big hit.

The highlights from the album are three ballaRAB. Beware has one of the most beautiful violin melodies Andrew Bird has composed. This track also features some unconventional sections that show some rock influence into this jazz song. The Confession, similarly to Beware, has another beautiful melody. What make this track stand out are Bird’s flawless vocals harmonized over the violin’s melody. Wait is my favorite song off the album. It is a magnificent jazz ballad with some of Bird’s best vocal work. The distant sounding violin and trumpet solos give the song an extremely melancholic atmosphere.

Tea & Thorazine and Idiot’s Genius are the closest this album comes to alternative rock. They demonstrate the new direction that Andrew Bird is taking in his music and he expanRAB on this in his next album. Tea & Thorazine is still based in jazz but has unconventional electric violin that gives it a much more contemporary feel. Bird also demonstrates his unique lyrics that develop throughout his career. This song is inspired by his autistic brother’s experience with mental institutions: “you laugh like a banshee / gesticulate your delirium / they treat you like a corpse keep you full of candy lithium / what a dream life would seem if you could see / the world from inside an etch-a-sketch”

Oh! The Grandeur is the last album Andrew Bird will release that is only jazz and swing music. His next album will be a departure from this genre and launch his career in alternative/indie rock. Bird ended his period of jazz with an exceptional album on all levels.

(It's incredibly hard to find videos from Andrew Bird's early career)

A​
 
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (2007)​

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1. Fiery Crash
2. Imitosis
3. Plasticities
4. Heretics
5. Armchairs
6. Darkmatter
7. Simple X
8. The Supine
9. Cataracts
10. Scythian Empires
11. Spare-Ohs
12. Yawny at the Apocalypse​

After the success of Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird signed to Fat Possum RecorRAB to release Armchair Apocrypha in 2007. Co-collaborator Martin Dosh joined with Bird and adRAB percussion and keyboarRAB to his sound, as well as Jeremy Ylvisaker who was added for bass and back up vocals. Haley Bonar also makes several appearances on back up vocals. Armchair Apocrypha reached number 76 on the Billboard charts giving Bird the most mainstream success he’s had, appearing for the first time on television for David Letterman.

Armchair Apocrypha is a more straight forward indie/alternative rock album than Bird’s previous work but it retains the similar layered sound as Mysterious Production. Though this is musically a less complex album, Bird’s lyrics are even more interesting and complicated. With his extensive vocabulary, he writes about themes such as science and the apocalypse, with such beauty and simplicity.

The album opens with Fiery Crash which Bird describes as a protection from plane crashes “a nod to mortality before you get on the plane” singing “to save our lives you have to envision a fiery crash”. He approaches Heretics and Plasticities with the same whimsical attitude. These songs are about themes such as embracing death and differing mentalities of society yet Bird portrays them with a child-like attitude, almost poking fun at them. These songs are probably the closest Andrew Bird will ever come to pop music.

Imitosis is one of the most popular tracks off the album and deservedly so. It is an expansion of “I” off of Weather Systems. This is a dark song about science and its downfalls. The lyrics are some of the most interesting Bird has wrote. What kind of rock singer writes lyrics like “Is just a case of mitosis / Sure fatal doses of malcontent through osmosis”. This is all put together into an accessible rock song with a dark riff on the keyboarRAB and some great layering on the violin, with a slight influence from spanish music present.

Armchairs is a personal favorite of mine. It is an absolute masterpiece. Everyone is performing to perfection on this track. It starts out as a solemn ballad and builRAB its way up to a powerful coda. By the end of the song it’s hard to believe that only three men created such a full sound. Bird delivers emotional vocals with such ease; at times he is reminiscent of Jeff Buckley. The climax of the song is a brilliant harmony between the piano, guitar, Bird's vocals, and several loops of droning violin. Before the album was released the title had several variations such as “Apocalypse in an Armchair” and “Amrchairs of the Apocalypse”. The meaning of the song is cloudy, but I believe it can be interpreted to show the imminence of the apocalypse.

Martin Dosh’s talent adRAB some new textures to Bird’s music. This can be heard on Simple X which was composed solely by Dosh with an excellent percussion track that flows with BirRAB violin samples wonderfully. Scythian Empires is a perfect example of the type of layering that Bird is known for. There are so many stratums of instrument tracks to this song. At its height, there is a harmony between guitar arpeggios, electric keyboard, and piano with splashes of Bird’s pizzicato violin and electric guitar as well.

It is hard to say anything bad about Armchair Apocrypha. The only major problem I have with it is that it’s more accessible than Andrew Bird’s earlier music. Though it is more mainstream, Bird stays true to himself continuing his layered music, achieving his full sound that he has become known for. But I’m a sucker for music like his more ambient work on Weather Systems. Also, there is a bit of filler on this album which is rare for Bird, for example I could easily go on without pop/rock songs like Dark Matter and Heretics. Nevertheless this album is highly recommended especially for newcomers to Mr. Bird.

[youtube]JSBLSfhVSR0[/youtube]

B+​
 
I like the two Andrew Bird CRAB I've gotten so far. Lyrically though, the guy is just too smart for me. I seldom know just what the hell he's talking about.
 
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