Andrew Birds Bowl of Fire's "The Swimming Hour"

[sebastian589]

It's easter weekend and unlike everyone else on campus I decided to stay for the weekend which leaves me alone with my newly configured headphone setup (not a bad companion really). I recently received a new Channel Islands DAC and Alessandro MS2's and saw the night as a golden opportunity to meet and greet my new arrivals. Anyways I recently bought Andrew Birds new CD (Armchair Apocrypha) which is pretty darn good, and decided to buy one of his older cd's with it to "save" by qualifying for free shipping. Having heard great things about "The Swimming Hour" I impulsively added that to my cart. Until tonight the poor disc had been sitting next to my CD player so I decided to pop it in and by the time I heard "11:11" I was sold. Sonically the album is astonishing, but musically its hellacious. Bird's keen sense of style is present and he tandems with a great drummer and a woman who pops in from time to time with magnificient backup vocals(both in "11:11"). To me this album is a masterpiece, pitchforkmedia.com made an analogy juxtaposing the way a cook blends ingredients with different identities into singular tastes into one and the way Andrew Bird blends the different stylings and instruments on this album and the analogy really works.

As i mentioned "11:11" gives me that tickle on the back of my neck reserved for only the most special pieces of music. While songs such as "Too Long" and "How Indiscreet" are kicking romps.

I strongly recommend this album to anyone who likes music

(joke...kind of). I just received my Alessandro's and I couldn't help but enjoy the music on this album rather than listening to how the music sounds, which is something I have a hard time doing with phones I've owned for months and the Alexandros are less than a week old . Truly a great album so buy it because I say so!

Aforementioned pitchfork review link
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...-swimming-hour

 

[jinp6301]

I think theres two camps for andrew bird fans

1. The Swimming Hour is the best album in the world
2. The Mysterious Production of Eggs is the best album in the world

which is to say...check out the mysterious production of eggs, its really good

 

[sebastian589]

Mysterious Production of eggs is what turned me on to Andrew Bird, more specifically the song "Fake Palindromes", and while I loved that album there were spurts were I feel the albums slow as molasses, I would say that I prefer Swimming hour to Eggs but I quite enjoy both of them

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebastian589 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mysterious Production of eggs is what turned me on to Andrew Bird, more specifically the song "Fake Palindromes", and while I loved that album there were spurts were I feel the albums slow as molasses, I would say that I prefer Swimming hour to Eggs but I quite enjoy both of them

I do not believe you have mentioned yet; how did you like "Armchair Apocrypha"?

 

[Davey]

Yea, love that one. I think the whole album is very good and was easily one of the best albums I heard that year, what was that, 2001? I read that before he recorded this one he went out and bought a bunch of albums to find out what was happening in modern pop, and one that really stuck was the Flaming Lips Soft Bulletin, which does show in the production elements that span the decades. I couldn't remember where I had read it so just did a quick search with Andrew Bird and Flaming Lips and it came right up. Pretty nice review too.

http://www.chicagogigs.com/reviews/swimminghour.htm

My favorite was always "Case In Point", but there's a few on there I like just as much. And I do love Eggs as well. Haven't heard the new one yet, but will soon.

 

[NightWoundsTime]

"Why?" into "11:11" is bloody brilliant. Pick up everything the dude has done, there are amazing moments on even the earlier swing discs. "Tea and Thorazine" from Oh the Grandeur is genius. For a taste of live Bird check out www.fabchannel.com. they have a very high quality video from a performance in the Netherlands.

That recording is also the only place where you'll find the original "Capital I". It appeared instrumentally as "I" on Weather Systems, and with revamped lyrics for Armchair Apocrypha as "Imitosis". The original version is still my favorite, but "We all live in a capital I" belongs to Sesame Street of all people, and they wouldn't let him use it.