(News) Vans Warped Tour [ tickets ] organizers have announced dates for the 2010 edition of the traveling punk-rock festival/carnival, but fans will have to wait a bit longer to find out what this year’s lineup will look like…. continued
(News) Power-pop act We Three Kings tops the bill for next year’s edition of the Take Action Tour, which aims to raise funds and awareness for a number of non-profit organizations….
(News) British electro-rock duo The Big Pink will set out on a North American headlining tour early next spring in support of the band’s debut studio album, “A Brief History of Love.”…
(News) Instrumental rockers Sound Tribe Sector 9 will launch an early 2010 raft of headlining shows to follow the release of the band’s latest studio effort, “Ad Explorata.”…
(News) French outfit Nouvelle Vague has plotted a winter trek of the US behind the band’s latest album, this year’s “3.”…
(News) Elvis Costello and The Attractions’ legendary 1978 show at Hollywood High will surface on CD next month, marking the first time the performance has been available in its entirety….
(News) Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley–wife and daughter of the late –will mark what would have been the late music legend’s 75th birthday next month during the opening days of what is to be a year-long observance of the milestone…
(News) In 2007, Michael Angelakos is said to have written a few songs for his then girlfriend as a Valentine’s Day present, thus planting the seeds his band Passion Pit
(News) Punk-rocker Jay Reatard got more than he bargained for during his stop in Austin, TX, Wednesday (12/9) night when not one, but two audience members charged the stage in an apparent attempt to assault him….
Andrew Bird has done it again. Bird’s 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha was widely hailed as one of the best albums of that year. It’s almost a sure bet that his newest release, Noble Beast, will go down as one of the finest albums of 2009. I’ve had the album on a near loop for days, and it’s a grower - the more I listen to it, the more I am sure it will probably remain on my essential albums list years from now.
Bird, who is currently on tour, really expands as an artist on Noble Beast and yet manages to perfect the framework that made him famous and keep his compositional idiosyncrasies that so many fans treasure still interesting, such as his signature whistling.
Few artists can get away with as much whistling as Bird spreads throughout this work because it is always appealing and woven in with the music just perfectly. For example, on the track “Take Courage” Bird whistles like a musician, not just some guy walking down the street.
There is a limited edition double CD version called Useless Creatures, a collection of new instrumental works. Orders for the limited edition are being taken at http://fatpossum.com.
Please note: I have not heard the bonus CD except for one ten-minute track titled “The Barn Tapes”. Let’s just say that song is not a keeper - an unusual occurrence with Bird’s music catalog.
It must also be noted that some critics will argue Noble Beast is not as ground-breaking as Armchair Apocrypha, or as accessible, but the overall collection of songs on Noble Beast is a solid follow-up to AA and will easily survive any nit-picking.
“Tenuousness” by Andrew Bird from Noble Beast
Stream songs from Noble Beast at Andrew Bird’s MySpace page.
Get Noble Beast at Emusic.com or iTunes
Official Release for Europe: Feb. 15 (how romantic)
Bird is performing Monday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City Wednesday night.
With the exception of a two-week break in early March, Bird will be touring until the end of April. Chances are he will sell out just about everywhere he plays, especially as word about his newest release spreads.
Powered by Your Free Picture