The Pelican’s Perch

Andrew Bird “Armchair Apocrypha” Review
4/27/07

As most of you may or may not have known, last Sunday was Earth Day.  Instead of saving the Earth and doing my part, I spent nearly the entire day burning gas driving three hours up to Kansas City to pick up my sister, then two more hours to Columbia in order to catch what could very well have been my most anticipated concert in the last few years.  This concert was Andrew Bird at the Blue Note and, ironically enough, his latest tour was a “green” tour in which the tour bus burned only alternative fuels and posters were made from recycled materials, etc.  My slight feelings of regret for not attempting to save the Earth in any way that day were quickly overshadowed once the concert began and, dare I say it, it ended up being possibly the second best concert I’ve ever seen behind Sigur Rós in Lawrence, Kansas.

For those of you not familiar with Andrew Bird, it’s easiest to describe him as a violin virtuoso turned indie rocker that has mastered the use of loop pedals to create a one man full orchestra sound on stage and the result is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  Watching songs develop from a single violin line to five or six interweaving parts, coupled with guitar parts, whistling, and percussion by Martin Dosh, who is equally well known for his looping skills with percussion and electronics, resulted in one of the best live experiences I’ve had in a very long time.

This genius is found in every aspect of Bird’s music, from the amazing violin playing, the masterful use of looping, his calm and collected way of singing, and even his whistling, which is so good it’s an instrument in itself.  His newest album, Armchair Apocrypha, finds Bird content continuing with the sound he finally perfected with Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs.  Eggs was his masterpiece that capped of a career that evolved from writing string parts for the Squirrel Nut Zippers to the looped orchestral indie rock albums of today.

Bird’s shy, calm way of singing has always been a distinct part of his latest few albums and his singing finds some confidence on the latest album.  Bird’s lyrics often represent thoughts we often have that keep us up late at night and while we just nervously pass them off, Bird masterfully writes them down in prose that is unmatched by any singer/songwriter today.  Lyrics such as “Do you wonder where the self resides/Is it in your head or between your sides/And who will be the one who will decide/Its true location”, from the song “Dark Matter” is just one example of so many representing Bird’s lyrical genius, which I believe to be just as strong as his musical ability.

What many long time fans of Bird’s music will notice most about Armchair Apocrypha is its instant accessibility.  This is somewhat odd for Bird’s music, but possibly a sign that the genre defying Bird of his youth has simply grown up and decided to continue on the path he started with Eggs.  “Fiery Crash” begins the album with more guitar than usual, a trend Bird continues throughout the album, and is possibly the weakest song.  This is followed by “Imitosis”, which is an extended version of “I” from Weather Systems, and still feels unusually straight forward and lacks any feeling of orchestra over rock song fans are used to.

“Heretics” finally gives us a reason to breathe a sigh of relief with the return of sweeping violin and wailing vocals over Bird’s usual subdued yet witty lyrics.  “Dark Matter” follows as a haunting reworking of Fingerlings’ “Short Breads” and the brilliance of Andrew Bird just continues straight through to the end of the album.  “Armchairs” is Bird’s most interesting song to date starting with the controlled chaos of multiple strings sounding like an orchestra tuning, only to die out instantly into a guitar and piano led melody.  Nearly six calm minutes pass until the song reaches perhaps Bird’s greatest song climax yet.  A big reason I loved that Earth Day concert so much was getting to see “Armchairs” performed live as an encore with Bird alone on stage.  As implausible as it sounds, he was still able to match the song’s climactic intensity by himself, which is a feat no one but Bird could accomplish.

The rest of the album is dominated by the calm beauty found in songs such as the subtlety percussive “Simple X”, which was written by Martin Dosh, and “Scythian Empire”, which is Bird’s humorous response to the current war in Iraq.  Lyrics such as, “The five day forecast’s been black tar rains and hellfire / …the Halliburton attaché cases are useless / while scotch-guarded Macintoshes shall be carbonized / now they’re offering views of exiting empires / such breathtaking view of Scythian Empires”, go over most of our heads, but his comparisons to the fallen Scythian Empire is his way of saying even the mighty corporate giants like Halliburton will disappear with the world’s end, even if they brought it about themselves.

So while Bird’s latest album is less original than his previous nine albums, and starts off a bit weak, I still wouldn’t hesitate to rank this among the top five albums of the year, if not the best.  Andrew Bird is one of our best singer/songwriters today and he’s proven it time and time again with his beautifully diverse albums and masterful live shows and if you buy only a few albums this year, make sure one of them is Armchair Apocrypha.