Noble, But Also Tame

On Noble Beast Andrew Bird has toned down and pulled it back and I don't quite know what to make of that.

The melodies are all there, the whistling too. The lyrics are still winningly peculiar, playing as much with rhyme as with the way words sound and mean differently. It's a very pleasant listen, but it seldom jumps up out of the speakers at you, as I think several moments on his last full length album, Armchair Apocrypha did.

Every Andrew Bird album can be a bit samey and can have a kind of soporific effect, but Noble Beast is especially low-key throughout with really only one song ("Fitz and the Dizzyspells") to leaven the mood.

I heard a radio interview with Mr. Bird where he talked about the recording of Noble Beast. He said they started in the studio with the vocals and worked their way down (or up, depending) from there - and that's exactly what this album sounds like from time to time: like the rhythm tracks were the afterthoughts. It isn't that this quality makes the album especially one thing or another, but it has moments of bloodlessness that have me feeling it will fade in my memory.

I also felt that way about swaths of Bird's album Weather Systems, and to no surprise, this record was produced by the same guy.

Maybe it is only because of world events, or the season, but I find myself wishing for an album of more jagged, angular indie-folk. It isn't fair, I suppose, to impose some kind of particular expectation on the album; I ought just accept it for what it is and enjoy it.

And I am, mostly - the first half of the album especially. "Oh No" and "Fitz and the Dizzyspells," especially, are instantly memorable and chug along nicely. It went well with a glass (or three) of port and a well-stoked fire last night - but I'd be hard pressed to recall more than two or three of the fourteen tracks.

I will tell you this much: I went to see The Shins, Belle and Sebastian, and Andrew Bird at the Hollywood Bowl and Andrew Bird was the best of the lot by far. If you get the chance, go see him and his ridiculous live multitracking - its a lot of fun watching a man juggle a violin, a guitar, a xylophone, and a microphone all at once and still make really lovely music in the process.