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Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
Released: Feb 8, 2005
Label: N\A

It seems there is always a sort of acceptance of an artist's stability when the fifth album is displayed for the public, oftentimes displaying that artist's graduation from an extended... Continue[+]

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It seems there is always a sort of acceptance of an artist's stability when the fifth album is displayed for the public, oftentimes displaying that artist's graduation from an extended flash-in-the-pan to a full-fledged institution, but when this time came with Chicago-based violinist {$Andrew Bird}'s {^Mysterious Production of Eggs}, it was difficult to apply these adjectives to his career. It was not because {$Bird} hadn't staked out his territory and proved his resilience in an industry that so quickly disposes and wears out its work force, but because over five albums, {$Andrew Bird} has frantically, and capably, tackled different genres, giving his career over five albums the illusion of three careers.
{$Andrew Bird} established himself as an expert within the {\retro-swing} movement in the mid- to late-'90s with both his debut album, {^Thrills}, and its follow-up, {^Oh! The Grandeur} but when he released {^Swimming Hour}, it was almost to say, "Oh what a fool I've been, backing myself into this {\retro-swing} corner." That album mixed {\Memphis soul} and lush {\pop} with hints of radiating {\progressive folk} and straight-up {\rock & roll}, and likely destroyed, or at least completely boggled, much of the fan base he had built up, but a new direction, filled with open opportunity was set. It was as if {$Bird} gave himself a "do-over" and debuted all over again. When he dropped both his band and his label for the introspective and beautiful {^Weather Systems}, it was hard not to think of the album as something of an experiment. Not only did he turn away from all the new possibilities to which he had hinted with {^Swimming Hour}, but he uncovered even more new possibilities for his musical path by truly making an album that sounded like nothing else. It was yet another kind of debut, one that truly excited fans and critics, but one that made {^Thrills} and {^Oh! The Grandeur} feel as ancient as the time period they mimicked, and {^Swimming Hour} feel like an abandoned island rich with forgotten fruit, waiting to fall and rot.
It was with all of this in mind that made the coming release of {^Mysterious Production of Eggs} both exciting and terrifying. It is an album which mines similar veins as the deepest self-exploration of {^Weather Systems}, even making references to that album. Most obvious is the fleshed-out version of {&"Skin,"} this time with vocals and retitled {&"Skin Is, My."} It is an album which takes some of the lush-{\pop}, full-band feel from {^Swimming Hour} and expands on that. Even more so, as damning as this may be to write, it is on this album that {$Bird} seems to have found his comfort zone, his first fully realized album in concept and sound and even in the remarkably well-conceived artwork by {%Jay Ryan}. It is his first album which sounds completely like an unfettered, consistent, and unforced journey, or rather his first album that displays these amenities so well that it enables the listener to hear his previous albums with a newer, higher standard, bringing out the previously unnoticeable, though minute, flaws of those albums.
As always, {$Bird} has enlisted the help of drummer {$Kevin O'Donnell} and vocalist {$Nora O'Connor} (the remnants of {$Bird}'s backing band {$Bowl of Fire}) throughout, as well as a few guests here and there, but as stated, {^Mysterious Production of Eggs} does reinstate some of the full-band feel showcased on {^Swimming Hour}. The majority of this comes from {$Bird}'s exploration of the guitar, an instrument until now he had yet to record himself playing. The most noticeable influence of this is the opening vocal track, {&"Sovay,"} which contains almost no violin adornment at all in exchange for a pair of finger-picked acoustic guitars, Rhodes, vibraphone, and drums. For the most part {^Mysterious Production of Eggs} remains as a very laid-back affair, save the few explosive moments of tracks like {&"Fake Palindromes"} and {&"Opposite Day,"} both ultra-compressed and urgent numbers alluding to something {$the Flaming Lips} could have stumbled across at a practice session. Also exciting about {^Mysterious Production of Eggs} is {$Bird}'s first hearty employ of vocal multi-tracking, an unsurprising update considering {$Bird}'s and {$O'Connor}'s amazing vocal abilities and instinctive interplay. The result is an utterly mesmerizing and magnetic album, almost unfair in how incredibly ambitious and impressively pulled off the whole thing is. Of course, the release of {^Mysterious Production of Eggs} brings to mind the unfair question, "What could possibly come next?" before the album has had the chance to even completely sink into its own place in {$Andrew Bird}'s baffling catalog. ~ Gregory McIntosh, All Music Guide

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Weather Systems
Released: Apr 1, 2003
Label: N\A

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... Continue[+]

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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 {$Bowl of Fire} members lend their abilities here (hence the billing of the record as a solo venture): longtime comrade {$Kevin O'Donnell}, with his fluid and melodic drumming, adds to much of the recording, as does vocalist/guitarist {$Nora O'Connor}, whose voice sounds like it was <i>made</i> to duet with {$Bird}'s. Contributions by {$Lambchop} collaborator {$Mark Nevers} on minimal guitar and production round out the cast on this moody and transfixing effort. The violin is the most prominent component by far; layer upon layer create beautifully complex string sections and saturate the soundscapes behind {$Bird}'s eloquent lyricism. This is nothing new, as evidenced on his astonishing predecessor, {^The Swimming Hour}, but his approach to the instrument -- a great deal of pizzicato, strumming, and liberal use of effects -- suggests that {$Bird} prepared not only for a unique advance on his songwriting, but also how he would pull off these songs in a live solo setting, which was partially documented on his live EP of 2002, {^Fingerlings}. An excellent display of this layering approach is the truly progressive title track -- one of the greatest moments in {$Bird}'s career. The entire track is assembled solely with multi-tracked violins fluttering in and out, one fingerpicked almost like a banjo roll, and at the three-and-three-quarters-minute mark, an octave pedal is applied to the pizzicato violin, pitching the notes down two octaves to provide a bassline underneath a vivid, cinematic, delicate, yet broad and sweeping choir of violins and whistling. Not to get too far ahead; the title track is not the first example of {$Bird}'s aptitude for whistling on {^Weather Systems}, or indeed for his entire catalog, but this recording (his fourth full-length) is the first to showcase his ability to do so, adding another dynamic to the talented vocalist. In fact, the opening track, aptly titled {&"First Song,"} begins with a whistled melody and {$O'Connor}'s guitar accompaniment, then breaks into a comfortable {\waltz} lyrically borrowing from and based on the {$Galway Kinnell} poem of the same title. The journey through the rest of {^Weather Systems} is just as relaxed, passing through {$Bird}'s most sinister composition, {&"I,"} with its slightly atonal and creepy, high violins; the {\pop} gem {&"Lull,"} guided by {$O'Donnell}'s shuffling drums and rhythmic vocal play by {$Bird} and {$O'Connor}; and an inspired take on {$the Handsome Family}'s {&"Don't Be Scared,"} which serves as the crescendo of the album. In the end, {^Weather Systems} is the kind of perfection any number of artists strive for; the performance is passionate, lucid, and engaging, and the recording has depth and warm ambience to the point that the room itself becomes an instrument (one can hear the creaking of the floorboards under {$Bird}'s feet on the title track). The album in its entirety achieves a rarity in {\pop} music where the production, performance, and sincerity -- with arrangements which never sound forced -- meet the quality of the songwriting, resulting in a timeless effort where the sum is greater than its parts. ~ Gregory McIntosh, All Music Guide

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Fingerlings 2
Released: 2004
Label: N\A

The second volume in {$Andrew Bird}'s self-issued {^Fingerlings} series solidifies the project's approach; More than just a hodgepodge of live recordings culled from appearances far and wide, these... Continue[+]

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Weather Systems - EUROPE
Released: February 2004
Label: N\A

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... Continue[+]

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With {^Weather Systems}, violin virtuoso {$Andrew Bird} took another conscious step to broaden his career when he moved out of Chicago to a farm in northwest Illinois, renovated the barn into a recording studio, and left the {@Rykodisc} label for the small indie {@Grimsey} to create his most distinct recording to date. Only two of the {$Bowl of Fire} members lend their abilities here (hence the billing of the record as a solo venture): longtime comrade {$Kevin O'Donnell}, with his fluid and melodic drumming, adds to much of the recording, as does vocalist/guitarist {$Nora O'Connor}, whose voice sounds like it was <i>made</i> to duet with {$Bird}'s. Contributions by {$Lambchop} collaborator {$Mark Nevers} on minimal guitar and production round out the cast on this moody and transfixing effort. The violin is the most prominent component by far; layer upon layer create beautifully complex string sections and saturate the soundscapes behind {$Bird}'s eloquent lyricism. This is nothing new, as evidenced on his astonishing predecessor, {^The Swimming Hour}, but his approach to the instrument -- a great deal of pizzicato, strumming, and liberal use of effects -- suggests that {$Bird} prepared not only for a unique advance on his songwriting, but also how he would pull off these songs in a live solo setting, which was partially documented on his live EP of 2002, {^Fingerlings}. An excellent display of this layering approach is the truly progressive title track -- one of the greatest moments in {$Bird}'s career. The entire track is assembled solely with multi-tracked violins fluttering in and out, one fingerpicked almost like a banjo roll, and at the three-and-three-quarters-minute mark, an octave pedal is applied to the pizzicato violin, pitching the notes down two octaves to provide a bassline underneath a vivid, cinematic, delicate, yet broad and sweeping choir of violins and whistling. Not to get too far ahead; the title track is not the first example of {$Bird}'s aptitude for whistling on {^Weather Systems}, or indeed for his entire catalog, but this recording (his fourth full-length) is the first to showcase his ability to do so, adding another dynamic to the talented vocalist. In fact, the opening track, aptly titled {&"First Song,"} begins with a whistled melody and {$O'Connor}'s guitar accompaniment, then breaks into a comfortable {\waltz} lyrically borrowing from and based on the {$Galway Kinnell} poem of the same title. The journey through the rest of {^Weather Systems} is just as relaxed, passing through {$Bird}'s most sinister composition, {&"I,"} with its slightly atonal and creepy, high violins; the {\pop} gem {&"Lull,"} guided by {$O'Donnell}'s shuffling drums and rhythmic vocal play by {$Bird} and {$O'Connor}; and an inspired take on {$the Handsome Family}'s {&"Don't Be Scared,"} which serves as the crescendo of the album. In the end, {^Weather Systems} is the kind of perfection any number of artists strive for; the performance is passionate, lucid, and engaging, and the recording has depth and warm ambience to the point that the room itself becomes an instrument (one can hear the creaking of the floorboards under {$Bird}'s feet on the title track). The album in its entirety achieves a rarity in {\pop} music where the production, performance, and sincerity -- with arrangements which never sound forced -- meet the quality of the songwriting, resulting in a timeless effort where the sum is greater than its parts. ~ Gregory McIntosh, All Music Guide

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Fingerlings
Released: October 2002
Label: N\A

Limited to just 250 copies, the self-released {^Fingerlings} documents {$Andrew Bird}'s electrifying live show, both in solo performance and backed by his {$Bowl of Fire}. Though no recording dates... Continue[+]

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Music of Hair
Released: 1996
Label: N\A

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Andrew Bird

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