andrew bird is the word

andrew bird is outrageously talented.

his march release, armchair apocrypha, is easily one of my two or three favorite albums so far this year. except for a few songs, it's not an album that immediately grabbed me and refused to let me go. but that has nothing to do with the album's quality--rather, it is just so dense, so elaborate, and so intricate that you could not possibly hear everything there is to hear in one listen. so you listen to it twice and are amazed by the lyrical complexities ("turnstiles on mezzanine / jet ways and dramamine fiends / and x-ray machines / you were hurling through space / g-forces twisting your face"). and then you listen to it a third and a fourth time, and you hear the exquisite violin, guitar and glockenspiel. and soon you begin to develop a craving for a song that you don't even know the name of, so you turn the album on again and end up listening to the whole thing again. and then you see him live on the late show, and you remember everything about seeing him live--the artistry and flair; the instrumental virtuosity and the whistling--my god the whistling; and most of all, that outrageous talent.

andrew bird : "plasticities (live on the late show)" mp3
from the late show with david letterman (april 10, 2007)
from the lp armchair apocrypha (fat possum records, 2007)