Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and lyricist Andrew Bird picked up his first violin at the age of 4. Actually, it was a Cracker Jack box with a ruler taped to it, and the first of his many Suzuki music lessons involved simply bowing to the teacher and going home. He spent his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear so when it came time for a restless teen-ager to make the jump to Hungarian Gypsy music, early jazz, country blues, south Indian etc., it wasn't such a giant leap. I   [ read more ]

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The recording sessions for Eggs saw Bird scrap the album three times and travel between studios in Chicago, Los Angeles and his own home studio on a farm in Northern Illinois. The album took final shape with the production help of David Boucher whose credits include Randy Newman and Paul Westerberg. The record deals with nothing less than the mysteries of childhood, creativity and modern science - epic in scope and minute in detail. It is accompanied by artwork and illustrations for every song by acc   [ read more ]

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Listening to Swimming Hour is like taking a walking tour through 20th century musical history. Andrew Bird, a major contributor to nouveau-swing band the Squirrel Nut Zippers, mixes numerous styles and genres such as classical, Latin, and gypsy music, among others. The song "Why" feels like a jazz song from a 1950s film noir soundtrack, and "Satisfied" blends gospel with straight-ahead rock & roll. Also impressive is Bird's cover versions of the Mississippi Sheiks'    [ read more ]

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DELUXE EDITION. Swiftly picking up popularity with his fifth album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird then signed with Fat Possum Records for his 2007 highly anticipated follow-up record Armchair Apocrypha. Now he stands poised with his new record Noble Beast which he spent most of 2008 working on.

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Swiftly picking up popularity with his fifth album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird then signed with Fat Possum Records for his 2007 highly anticipated follow-up record Armchair Apocrypha. Now he stands poised with his new record Noble Beast which he spent most of 2008 working on.

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Music from & inspired by a dance piece by Molly Shanahan. Track 1,2, 3 & 10 written, performed & produced by Andrew Bird. Tracks 4 & 5 by Mark Booth using various objects including a latte foamer, KitchenAid Classic mixer bowl, ebow & rice paper. Tracks 6, 7, 8 & 9 by David Pavkovic using an IBM T42 laptop. All tracks are instrumental w/ the exception of track 10.

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This is a hybrid of music from the first half of this century, with a heavy influence from the brooding Weimar era of Weill and Brecht. It comes on the heels of Marianne Faithfull's dark and ultra-heavy but stunningly done 20th Century Blues. This is an eccentric collection of a wide variety of influences from that era -- think of Django Reinhardt, Fats Waller, Brecht, Stephane Grappelli, and maybe Tom Waits' voice, with a New Orleans sensibility, and you have a starting point for   [ read more ]

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Andrew Bird's second album Oh! The Grandeur reunites him with his Bowl of Fire counterparts, as well as some special collaborators like the Squirrel Nut Zippers' James Mathus. Recorded in New Orleans, the album builds on the hot jazz/Brecht vibe that Bowl of Fire pioneered on their first album Thrills, but focuses more on Bird's witty lyrics and deadpan delivery, as tracks like "Tea & Thorazine" and "The Idiot's Genius" display. Musically, Oh! The Grandeur keeps the li   [ read more ]

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With Weather Systems, violin virtuoso Andrew Bird took another conscious step to broaden his career when he moved out of Chicago to a farm in northwest Illinois, renovated the barn into a recording studio, and left the Rykodisc label for the small indie Grimsey (the album was later licensed to Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe label) to create his most distinct recording to date. Only two of the Bowl of Fire members lend their abilities here (hence the billing of the record as a solo ventur   [ read more ]

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With Armchair Apocrypha, Andrew Bird takes another developmental departure from his previous works, though not nearly in as drastic a fashion as his previous album-to-album jumps in style. This has become expected of Bird and is one of the merits that make each of his releases highly anticipated. Where in the past Bird has impressed listeners with his violin artistry and vocal delivery, and later his use of electronic looping and whistling, with Armchair he allows the songs to breath more    [ read more ]

CD $41.78