Andrew Bird

HELLO FROM THE FUTURE

It’s time to get ahead on writing this blog. Gonna try and keep a strong update pace. There’s a virtue in steadiness and predictability, which will help me build an audience. Which I will absolutely fail to do because the blog is ofputting and strange, the music is unappealing, and I am blazingly inept at self-promotion.

HIT IT PLEXASAURUS REX!

Man or Astro-Man?, “U-235/PU-239”

A relative rarity here, with mostly instrumental surf/sci-fi rockers Man or Astro-Man? turning in some vocals. But it’s all reverbed out and the drums are echo-y, so it’s all good with me. I also just learned that they put out a record in 2013, time to go check that one out.

The Mr. T Experience, “I’m Like Yeah, but She’s All No”

Seems like we’ve had a lot of East Bay stuff recently. Or am I just imaginging things? Anyway, it’s welcome. I might have that impression because I was listening to Operation Ivy in the car earlier today, I guess. I’m highly suggestible.

R.E.M., “Half a World Away”

Folks, do you really want to hear my thoughts on the archetypical “college rock” band? You do not. They are vapid. My thoughts, not R.E.M.

Autolux, “Becker”

Hm. What is this? I like it! I don’t remember buying it, that’s all. I suspect I picked it up in a sweep of year end lists and then forgot about it. It’s good! Looks like there’s a connection with Failure here, but I don’t know if that’s why I got it. Anyway, enjoy!

Krallice, “Set”

This is from Krallice’s 2020 release Mass Cathexis. Cathexis is one of those words that must disproportionately appear in a metal context - it sounds badass and nobody knows what it means. I mean, I’ve never seen it outside of a metal context! But I must be misremembering things, it looks like only three albums with the word in it, and 12 songs, none of which I’m familiar with other than this album.

NoFX, “I Wanna Be Your Baby”

A misfire from this record, I just really don’t want to hear Fat Mike singing this, you know?

Unsteady, “Breaking Up”

A real treat! Unsteady put up a handful of unreleased tracks onto the web in 2001 or so, and I managed to grab them and hang onto them for forever. They never released a followup to their masterful Double or Nothing, so these four tracks are the only things we have. More than I think anybody else in the third wave, they’re the band that I wanted to hear more from. Alas.

Lambchop, “The New Cobweb Summer”

Aw, I just want to enjoy this. I’m not going to say anything!

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “She Said”

Plastic Fang is an album that feels a little bit unfocused to me. They’re experimenting with tweaks to their formula in a few different ways on the album, and I’m not sure it all totally works out. But that said, Spencer still writes some bangers on it, and this is one of the highlights of the record. Just a roaring groove in the mold of Orange.

Sicko, “An Indie Rock Daydream”

We all have those bands that are special to us. We discovered them on our own, at the exact right time in our lives, and that connection carries them with us always. Sicko is one of those special bands for me. I hit them at the perfect time, I never get tired of listening to them, and I probably never will.

Andrew Bird, “Capsized”

Are You Serious, Andrew Bird’s 2016 album, found him introducing some new sounds to his palette to go along with a new home, Los Angeles. This song could almost be described as slinky, with the sort of soul sounds that are rarely heard earlier in his discography. Some of that comes from some new collaborators as side players, and I’m sure some of it is just conscious decision to change up his sound. It’s not a full reinvention or anything, but it’s different from the preceeding albums, which were gradually getting more and more stripped down and folky.

Happy Halloween! Time for a spooky special!

Inter Arma, “Scarecrow”

Inter Arma released a covers album, Garbers Days Revisited, in 2020. This sort of thing is pretty traditional in metal, thanks to Metallica’s Garage Days Revisited. Inter Arma does nice work with their covers, as befits such a good band. This is a Ministry song here, so it’s supposed to sound like this.

Jake One, “Scared”

Seattle producer Jake One worked with a whole bunch of guest MCs on his album White Van Music, but thanks to being the product of a single producer’s vision, it still feels pretty coherent. There’s a lot of excellent stuff on this album, although its long running time kind of wears on you eventually.

It’s Megan’s birthday! Happy birthday! I picked a keyword today, can you figure it out?

The Budos Band, “Old Engine Oil”

The opening track of V, which I like a lot. This track in particular has a lot of classic rock vibes going, which go well with that big, brassy horn part.

The Beautiful South, “Old Red Eyes Is Back”

I adored the first Beautiful South record (Welcome To The Beautiful South), and was kind of disappointed with the followup (Choke). There just weren’t as many transcendent moments, there weren’t as many of the really acid moments in the lyrics, and it felt kind of rushed out. When 0898 Beautiful South came out, I was happy to hear it was closer to the first album. It’s still not quite as good, but it’s close, and it’s my second favorite album from them.

Andrew Bird, “Pathetique”

Bird Songs collects all three of Andrew Bird’s early records, when he was still recording as Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire. The first two records, Oh! The Grandeur! and Thrills, have a very old-timey feel, very similar to what the Squirrel Nut Zippers were making. The third record, The Swimming Hour, was really his breakthrough record, melding his older sensibility with more modern songwriting, with pretty special results. If you haven’t heard the records, this collection is a monster deal. If you, say, already have all three records and then pre-ordered this compilation without knowing what it was, it’s less of a bargain.

Andrew Bird, “You Woke Me Up!”

A companion piece to Noble Beast, Useless Creatures is an all-instrumental exploration which allows Bird to indulge his more exploratory impulses. As always, everything Bird does is interesting, but this is not one of his more loveable records.

Victoria Monét, “Experience”

Victoria Monét is primarily known for her work with Ariana Grande, which means I know zip about most of her music. I’m very out of touch! But I picked up this album (Jaguar) after it showed up on a bunch of year-end lists, and it’s very pleasant. I also enjoy the kind of electro-funk sounds on this track, I’ll take those any day.