Hello, again, dear friends.
Andrew Bird is simply fantastic, isn't he?
I came late to the party in 2008, when I was visiting a friend on a cold spring night. We were just kind of bumming around and had been talking about music when I moaned "I'm so tired of everything I have, I feel like I haven't heard anything good in a while." A ridiculous blanket statement to make when one considers that at the time my itunes library was somewhere around the 11k mark, but still, who doesn't feel that way about their music collection at some point? Anyway, Rizzo is the kind of friend who immediately offered to throw some files my way, eagerly sifting through his own hard drive to see what he could recommend. Among other things were a couple of albums by Bird, Armchair Apocrypha and Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs. While I do enjoy Armchair, Eggs is far and away my favorite work of his. Being the second album into his solo career, it's generally acknowledged as the record where Bird found his voice and hit his stride.
That this album still has such a great reputation makes me very happy. It's a lush work of art, full of rich tones and sweeping, natural sounds that feel both nervous and relaxed at times, a sign of Bird creating music from different sources of inspiration but coming from the same perspective. I absolutely adore the way the album begins, with a growing set of violin notes repeating and rising, like an animal waking for the day. The way the short intro track segues into the first proper track, 'Sovay', is so easy and soothing that they could easily be one track. 'Sovay' is a serene, soothing song that floats the listener along on gentle waves, with vibes chiming along like little waves lapping at the side of a row boat. Bird's voice is so warm and full, a wonderful compliment to his playing and writing style. Bird's quirkier side starts to make appearances slowly, first popping up in the low-key but just-slightly-edgy 'A Nervous Tic Motion of The Head To The Left'. The song is a meandering bit of breezy melody and plucked violins working in conjunction to make a snappy but relaxed take on the absurdities of life. The manner in which Bird is able to switch gears is effortless and almost unconscious, rarely missing a beat to change pace.
Similar in mood to this is the off-kilter 'Skin Is, My', in which Bird makes an unusual rhythm and central theme wrap quite well around the lyrical ideas of numbness and its equation to the corporate world. Another example of parallel songs is that of 'Measuring Cups' which feels like a bleaker extension of 'Sovay'. It sails along on a similarly relaxed wave of melody and breezy, sing-songy relaxed approach, but the subject matter is quite different. Instead of dreamy and ethereal, 'Measuring Cups' is an eerie and sad, but above all, beautiful look at the way the school system can negatively impact the lives and happiness of children. The themes in this moving song are not unlike those in Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall' only delivered in Bird's quirky and charming voice.
One of the best tracks on the album, and certainly one of the best songs I have heard in a while, has to be 'Fake Palindromes', a song with a poppy, mainstream approach to compliment Bird's unique delivery. The central theme, played by the violins here, is simply gorgeous. An instantly memorable yet familiar theme that plays with our perception of novelty, the song sounds both new and old, as if we'd heard it before but only briefly. This effect gives an emotional weight to the track that simply tugs at your heart when it revs up. The verses are great examples of song-writing at its best, starting tight and quiet, growing with each line and circling back effortlessly to the central violin theme. It's made all sorts of best-of lists, and just one listen will make it abundantly clear why. As my better half summed it up - "It sounds like it should be the soundtrack to an indie-movie montage." Pretty much.
Even at its most neurotic or verbose, I still find Andre Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs to be a wonderfully relaxing and breathtakingly lush album. The way Bird layers his tunes with different but complementary stringed instruments and little bells and chimes creates such a an amazing atmosphere. I have found, in the ensuing years since being given it, that this album has an astounding tranquillizing capacity. Maybe it's his voice or his creative choices, but there is just something about it, that when I listen to it, I forget my troubles and just focus on listening. I need to find more music like this.
Andrew Bird is simply fantastic, isn't he?
I came late to the party in 2008, when I was visiting a friend on a cold spring night. We were just kind of bumming around and had been talking about music when I moaned "I'm so tired of everything I have, I feel like I haven't heard anything good in a while." A ridiculous blanket statement to make when one considers that at the time my itunes library was somewhere around the 11k mark, but still, who doesn't feel that way about their music collection at some point? Anyway, Rizzo is the kind of friend who immediately offered to throw some files my way, eagerly sifting through his own hard drive to see what he could recommend. Among other things were a couple of albums by Bird, Armchair Apocrypha and Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs. While I do enjoy Armchair, Eggs is far and away my favorite work of his. Being the second album into his solo career, it's generally acknowledged as the record where Bird found his voice and hit his stride.
Even at its most neurotic or verbose, I still find Andre Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs to be a wonderfully relaxing and breathtakingly lush album. The way Bird layers his tunes with different but complementary stringed instruments and little bells and chimes creates such a an amazing atmosphere. I have found, in the ensuing years since being given it, that this album has an astounding tranquillizing capacity. Maybe it's his voice or his creative choices, but there is just something about it, that when I listen to it, I forget my troubles and just focus on listening. I need to find more music like this.
