Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself

[SteveO]

I have this one of Andrew Bird on my to listen to list ! His album The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005) is his tour de force. An interesting artist nevertheless.

online listen
must have got a lot of priase for his whistling as a kid
nice mixture of styles
folk/bluegrass/classical/indie
interesting but too laid back for me
1.4 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic

from the album - Lusitania
Andrew Bird & Annie Clark - Lusitania - YouTube

released Mar 6th, 2012



Bio - from allmusic

Chicago singer/songwriter/violinist Andrew Bird updates the traditions of small-group swing, German lieder, and New
Orleans jazz, mixing Gypsy, folk, and rock elements into his distinctive style. Bird's projects include his group
the Bowl of Fire (which also includes drummer Kevin O'Donnell, bassist Josh Hirsch, and guitarist Colin Bunn) and
performing as an auxiliary member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers; in turn, the Zippers' Katharine Whalen and James
Mathus appeared on the Bowl of Fire albums Thrills and Oh! The Grandeur. Bird has also recorded with artists like
Pinetop Seven and Lil' Ed Williams, teaches music at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and performed on the score
and soundtrack from the 1999 Tim Robbins film The Cradle Will Rock. His third album, 2001's The Swimming Hour,
surprisingly found the Bowl of Fire turning to pop music, and with excellent results. As bandmembers remained
active in their various other projects, the group continued, and work on a follow-up began in 2002. To tide fans
over, Bird self-released a limited-edition EP, Fingerlings, which documented live performances of some old and new
songs by the band and solo. Early 2003 brought the release of another LP, Weather Systems, on the independent
Grimsey label. Bird debuted on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe imprint in 2005 with Andrew Bird & the Mysterious
Production of Eggs. He switched to Fat Possum for 2007's Armchair Apocrypha and 2009's Noble Beast, both of which
were ambitious and eclectic albums even by Bird's standards. The latter of the two was also available in a deluxe
version that included a bonus CD of instrumental works. The second disc, dubbed Useless Creatures, was released
independently from its predecessor in October of 2010. The following year, Bird composed the score for Jonathan
Segal's independent coming-of-age film Norman. The film's score was released in October on the Mom + Pop label.
Bird's highly anticipated sixth studio album, Break It Yourself, arrived in March of 2012.

Album Review - from allmusic

After a long string of lush, intricately plotted collections of classically minded indie pop, crafty violinist,
minutia-loving songwriter and peerless whistler Andrew Bird offers up Break It Yourself, an intricately plotted
collection of classically minded indie pop that eschews the meticulous studio refinement of Armchair Apocrypha and
Noble Beast. Recorded mostly live at his studio barn in Western Illinois, Bird. drummer/percussionist Martin Dosh,
and guitarist Jeremy Ylvisaker have crafted a sunny, unpredictable set of tunes that reflects the pastoral
Mississippi river valley that birthed them. Meandering and soulful, the album relies on the usual pizzicato loops,
orchestral flourishes, and oddball subject matter that's preoccupied Bird since 2003's Weather Systems, but for the
first time since his Bowl of Fire days, it feels less like a one-man band. Stand-out cuts like "Orpheo Looks Back",
"Eyeoneye," and "Danse Caribe," the latter of which manages to balance elements of Americana, Celtic, and calypso
without coming off as contrived or fractured, display an artist in the kind of relaxed, creative state that can
only come from putting one's feet up on their own desk after a rigorous bout of touring, which in Bird's case was
about five years. This new-found "band" feel also makes itself known on more exploratory tracks like opener
"Desperation Breeds" and the eight minute "Hole in the Ocean Floor," songs that despite their art rock lengths,
remain engaging and immediate throughout. On first spin, Break It Yourself may sound like a typical outing, but
repeated listens unveil an assembly of songs that are as verdant and mercurial as they are rooted in the Bird
tradition.

Track Listing

1. Desperation Breeds
2. Polynation
3. Danse Carribe
4. Give It Away
5. Eyeoneye
6. Lazy Projector
7. Near Death Experience Experience
8. Things Behind the Barn
9. Lusitania
10. Orpheo Looks Back
11. Sifters
12. Fatal Shore
13. Hole in the Ocean Floor
14. Belles