Althouse: "A quirky mix of Gypsy ballads, jazz, folk and art-rock, with frequently whistled melodies."

January 8, 2009

"A quirky mix of Gypsy ballads, jazz, folk and art-rock, with frequently whistled melodies."

Andrew Bird.

16 comments:

Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I hear a little Bossa Nova myself.
There is a little of everything and yet not trying too hard.
He even sounds like Caetano Veloso.

I like it.; 1/8/09, 8:40 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Nice.

Made me think of the late puccalist Ron McCroby; 1/8/09, 8:41 PM
Zachary Sire said...: He's so great. His last album, Armchair Acrophylia (sp?) is fantastic.; 1/8/09, 8:44 PM
Zachary Sire said...: And note that the first track on his new album is called, "Oh no!", one of my favorite expressions that Althouse uses.; 1/8/09, 8:50 PM
Anonymous said...: I love Andrew Bird. Weather Systems is the most perfect thing he's ever recorded, but he hasn't made one naff song yet.

Squirrel Nut Zippers aside of course.; 1/8/09, 8:58 PM
IgnatzEsq said...: This has nothing to do with Andrew, but can music columnists finally ditch this "Classically Trained" phrase when referring to classical instruments? I can understand using it for piano or voice, but seriously, what does that add to "Violinist"?

Of course maybe my generation is the "Disney music trained" type given the repertoire we played in high school...; 1/8/09, 9:21 PM
Unknown said...: what does that add to "Violinist"?

Why, to distinguish them from this guy. Or maybe, this guy.; 1/8/09, 9:38 PM
Zachary Sire said...: This should be on the front page!

Oh No.; 1/8/09, 11:11 PM
reader_iam said...: I can understand using it for piano or voice, but seriously, what does that add to "Violinist"?

Sincerely, I do not understand,taken in its entirety, this sentence.; 1/8/09, 11:24 PM
pro said...: "jazz, folk and art-rock" are always the genres critics sling around haphazardly when they don't know what the fuck it sounds like. Bird kicks an insane amount of ass. His live performances are incredible.; 1/9/09, 12:40 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: I suppose "classically trained" violinist distinguishes the training from home-lernt bluegrass, calypso, zydeco, barn-yard square-dance fiddler. That's what it adds for me.

Much more tolerable and useful and inventive adjective than "this illegal" war, or that,"shredded" constitution, or "worst," "most ignorant," "most damaging presidency ever in the history of the United States" descriptors that begin so many posts and that will be taken to the graves of untold posters.; 1/9/09, 12:41 AM
Joe M. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/9/09, 1:29 AM
Joe M. said...: The NYT waxes Mr. Bird's car here.

Zachary, the album is Armchair Apocrypha.; 1/9/09, 1:45 AM
kjbe said...: I saw this thru another twitter, last night. Thanks for the reminder.

My daughter introduced me to him a couple years ago. Nice, yeah, think I'll get it.; 1/9/09, 8:20 AM
TJ said...: See him live.; 1/9/09, 8:28 AM
knox said...: He was a guest performer on one of my 3-year-old's favorite programs, Jack's Big Music Show. He played a character named Dr. Stringz. I was in the other room when he started playing, and I came running to see who it was I was hearing. It was delightful--and I never use that word. I saved that show on our dvr and it's still my kids' favorite episode.
Here it is if anyone's interested.; 1/9/09, 8:37 AM