Is it a complete cop out to write an album review and just say, “This is awesome; you should listen to it”? Not to be all self-deprecating, but I don’t feel like it’s fair for a guy like me, who doesn’t play an instrument and kinda just throws a bunch of words on a page to really quantify the music that Andrew Bird creates. Listening to him perform is an aural experience like none other, and once you see him perform live and watch how he beds everything together, I understand that well, I probably don’t understand. So here is my review: This is awesome; you should listen to it.
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Crap, I’m not going to be able to get away with writing a review like this, am I? Well, I don’t think it’s fair for me to jabber on about the way he effortlessly grafts multiple instruments together with the ease of a gifted surgeon. Or talk about how he makes me love the violin more than maybe any other classical stringed instrument, which is totally unfair to the cello. I don’t think I am even allowed to talk about how he blends pop rock, classical and even an occasional Middle Eastern influence, all while keeping a contemporary vibe to his music. I don’t feel qualified to talk about how his voice has the perfect blend of 70’s AM crooner, confident singer-songwriter and tortured, reluctant genius. Hell, I don’t even think I can mention his trademarked whistling, and I am one hell of a whistler.
But, I kind of have a personal word count goal I’d like to hit, so, what do you guys want to talk about instead?
NCAA Tournament is coming up. Iowa State vs Kentucky seems like an interesting potential second round match.
This is probably the longest I think we’ve ever gone without a clear presidential candidate for one party, that’s probably something we could chat about.
Do you guys like Justified? It’s a good show.
Damn, just a few more words. Here is an Andrew Bird story. I saw him perform at the first 80/35 here in Des Moines back in 2008. My now Brother-in-law was really hyped up to see him, and I had unfortunately never heard of him. I saw that he used to be in The Squirrel Nut Zippers, so I thought he would be kind of like that. But watching him perform for the first time blew my mind in a way I never expected. Even though several of my heroes were on that show, Black Francis, Flaming Lips, Jakob Dylan (shut up, I love The Wallflowers), the one that left the biggest impression was someone I had never heard before. I kind of have Andrew Bird to thank for my desire (my wife may call an obsession) to listen to every possible performer I can, because you never know when you’re going to stumble upon an Andrew Bird again.
In summation, Andrew Bird is awesome; you should all listen to this.
Boom! 500 words!
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Iowaves Music Blog 
[…] Sorry, I am very excited. So, along with Jimmy Cliff, that makes three acts that I am so very excited to see. Well done, Nitefall. If you missed it, here is my review of Bird’s album “Break It Yourself”. […]