Armchair Apocrypha : Andrew Bird : Review : Rolling Stone

Over his twelve-year career, vaguely retro vagabond Andrew Bird has been a hard guy to pin down, performing with everyone from Squirrel Nut Zippers and Candi Staton to Ani DiFranco and My Morning Jacket. On his seventh album, seemingly simple elements -- plucked violin, shuffling snare drums, chiming guitars, plinky piano, his spooky croon and magisterial whistle -- build into one heady, slippery whole. His lyrics mix the everyday and the catastrophic, lulling you into a false sense of security. On the opening track, "Fiery Crash," mundane airport imagery -- "Turnstiles on mezzanine/Jetways and Dramamine fiends" -- turns into terror: "A fatal premonition/You know you got to envision/The fiery crash." The effect can be both cozy and traumatic -- maybe Bird should have called this "Armchair Apocalypse."

DAVID SWANSON

(Posted: Mar 20, 2007)

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Review 1 of 2

5of 5 Stars

I completely agree with statelypenguin or whatever. Nice job Rolling Stone, with all the hype and trendyness you love to spread. Good job with Weezer's Pinkerton. Good job.

Anyways, this is album is one of the best albums this year (although we're only a third in). If you enjoyed Mysterious Production of Eggs, you'll love this.

Apr 11, 2007 15:02:21

Review 2 of 2

5of 5 Stars

Ain't no review, I'm just saying that it WAS going to be called Armchair Apocalypse. Do your research before you spit your twenty unreasonably influential words on an artist you likely up till now don't know anything about.

Remember when you said Pinkerton was the worst album of 1996? Then remember when somewhere in the 2002-2004 range you called it an 'essential album?' I do. I'll accept that you might change an album from being 'okay' to 'great' or whatever. But this was the worst release of the year, aka it shouldn't have been released. A few years later EVERYONE should have it in their collection. Maybe because all the other reviewers liked the album? I understand it wasn't well received by the masses, but you ain't the masses. You're the reviewer. You're the "expert" reviewer. It's your job to see through all the bullshit and decide how good an album actually is. Then remember when you gave Paris Hilton three stars (I believe) but deserving indie acts are lucky to get that? Unless of course, those indie acts are currently getting a lot of blog praise. Then you hop right on board.

Remember when Rolling Stone was the coolest magazine in music? Me neither I wasn't alive. But I've heard. Drop the super left lean and the ever popular Bush-hating and start saying something that matters. PLEASE. I want to like you.

Apr 3, 2007 22:50:12

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