A review from a friend over at TINYV... Cheers.
Keep your junk in your pants indie geeks. Andrew Bird is back and better than ever. This master of the strings puts on a sonic clinic in his fifth solo album Noble Beast. And oh what a beast it is. When this guy gets too drunk he literally pukes talent and intelligence. As usual, his pitch-perfect (though seemingly effortless) vocals dance across uber sharp lyrics while a barrage of stringed instruments are held together by loosely tuned drum percussion. A classically trained violinist, Bird plucks and bows with the precision of a minstrel. The album is both bright and dark, uplifting and humbling, simple and complicated. This is the kind of music that makes pitchfork media J in their pants…but liking it doesn’t make you a completely demeaning dickhead (personal opinion toward pitchfork aside). Though the plethora of tone shifts, key changes, time changes, and even style changes may require you to fasten a safety belt during the first listen, its intense and incredibly thick beauty will soon rear its pretty head…and suddenly all the world’s problems disintegrate. Poof. To whatever aliens created this guy, I am ready and willing to visit your planet.
Noteworthy moments:
Track 2 - Masterswarm: This is an example of perfect chord structure. End of story.
Track 10 - Anonanimal: Brilliant meloncholy beginning. Nasty time signature change in the bridge. And a final plunge into a murky and messy guitar driven finish. Goes down smooth.
If you dig this album, give a spin to Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes and/or the new Bon Iver EP - Blood Bank. Both are along the same lines and tasty. Reviews to follow.
Cheers.
(via ThisIsNotYourVoice)
Posts
