Review: Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

I tried waiting it out, but I couldn't resist. I snagged a leaked copy of Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha and I am so glad that I did.

Armed with his arsenal of instruments, foot pedals and genius song-writing prowess, Bird delivers a solid album chock-full of playful pizzicatos, colorful arcos and intricate melodies/riffs that out-performs his last album, Mysterious Production of Eggs.

He is arguably one of the best violinists that has dedicated themselves to non-classical music today and the variety of sounds he milks from the small wooden box and bow is testament to that. According to his bio, Andrew Bird said, “At this point the violin just happens to be the instrument I have on hand to make the sounds that I hear. I like to abuse it and pull as many sounds out of it as I can.”

One of my favorite tracks on the album is "Yawny at the Apocalypse." It is three minutes and thirty-nine seconds of a drifting, hi-register violin stream of consciousness (if you can call it that) layered on top of deep, ethereal arcos that create such rich colors and textures.

Other standouts include "Imitosis," which borrows the sophisticated pizzicato riffs from Weather Systems', "I." "Heretics" (MP3 below) is reminiscent of Mysterious Productions' "Fake Palindromes" for the violin's Eastern-influenced melodic qualities.

The one flaw on the album, for me at least, is "Simple X." It is obviously heavily influenced by his percussion muscle, Martin Dosh, but the track should have been purely instrumental.

All in all, Armchair is a force to be reckoned with in 2007. I mean, Arcade Fire who? hahah... jk jk. You know what I mean.

Tracklisting:
1) Fiery Crash
2) Imitosis
3) Plasticities
4) Heretics
5) Armchairs
6) Darkmatter
7) Simple X
8) The Supine
9) Cataracts
10) Scythian Empires
11) Spare-Ohs
12) Yawny At The Apocalypse

Armchair Apocrypha is in stores 3/20 on Fat Possum.

DOWNLOAD: Andrew Bird - "Heretics" (MP3)