I
He’s a whistler.
He does the whistling
for Walter, the muppet,
in one of the Muppet movies.
More than a decade
ago (maybe two!)
an intern of mine
turned me on to Bird.
Back in the oughts of
this 21st century, I used
to purchase records
for download, before streaming
was a thing. For a short
time I subscribed to a
download service, and
I have two of his albums
from that era, digitally,
and I’ve got one CD,
and all I remember
about these albums is that
I liked them, enough
to start finding new
Andrew Bird albums on
vinyl when I started
collecting records again.
II
It takes two songs
on Are You Serious before
Andrew Bird starts
whistling. He’s not only
a whistler. He’s a fiddler,
a guitar player, a pianist,
he writes groovy lyrics, and he’s
got a lovely singing voice.
Enormously skilled and smart,
that’s what attracted me
to his music, I think.
His is a folky brand of pop;
rarely is it bombastic, all
mostly acoustic instruments.
He’s got a kind of Lyle Lovett
thing going on, but his voice
is prettier, and Lyle, I don’t
think, ever whistles.
I find, surprisingly, that I
don’t really recognize
these songs. Not at all.
A couple of tunes ring
a bell or two. Oh yeah, I say.
“Left-Handed Kisses” is a duet
with Fiona Apple and I remember
being pretty excited about that.
In “The New Saint Jude,” he sings
“Ever since I gave up hope,
I’m feeling so much better.”
An objectively great lyric line.
This music is undeniably
good and I find it interesting
and enjoyable to spin.
This is the joy, I think, of this
particular task I’ve assigned
myself, listening to all
of my records. I’ve already
discovered some neglected
treasures and I’m only half
way through the B’s. Why
are they neglected in the
first place? Sometimes I get
too much music all at once
and I lose track of some
of it. Other times a record,
while I enjoy it, doesn’t
hook me in the way that
some of my favorites do.
With Andrew Bird,
the jury is out. He’s one of
those cats, I think, that I admire
and like on almost every level,
and yet, when I’m thinking
about the music that really
makes my heart sing, Bird
does not immediately come
to mind. But I’m glad he’s here
and think he’s definitely worth
keeping around.
III
Alongside the hilarious notion
of titling an album The Worst Of,
this next Andrew Bird record
is called My Finest Work Yet and
sports one of the best album
covers in the known universe.
That may be an overstatement,
but it is highly entertaining
if you get the allusion to the
Jacques-Louis Marat painting of 1793.
Whistling right out of the gate.
Sonically, this record sounds old,
like they used a few microphones
in a room to capture a live band.
His records, while lovely, are mixed
and/or produced in a way that
makes them almost lo-fi, especially
where drums are concerned, and
that bugs me a great deal, but
then there’s a brilliant lyric
“You start spitting out anathemas,”
and I find another reason to love this guy.
IV
Is it bad luck to listen to Christmas music
before Thanksgiving? I typically avoid it.
But the next record in the collection is
Hark, Andrew Bird’s holiday album, the last
collection of Christmas music I bought,
because, while, culturally at least, I’m still
participating in the secular trappings,
I find that every once in a while, a new
transfusion of holiday music helps get
me in the mood for the season.
Thanksgiving a week away, it cannot be
helped. I’m listening to Andrew Bird’s
Christmas album. It actually feels okay
to spin the holiday music this early,
as this album contains mostly non-
traditional tunes, with a smattering
of a few classics, and a dark little ditty
about an alcoholic that is anything but merry
and another odd thing called
“Christmas in April.”
I especially enjoy his Vince Guaraldi
interpretations, some whistling in
true Bird song fashion.
Notes on the vinyl editions: Are You Serious, Loma Vista Recordings, 2016, heavyweight translucent blue vinyl, includes bonus 45 rpm single of “A Shoulder Mountain” and “Pulaski” on translucent red 7″ vinyl. My Finest Work, Loma Vista Recordings, 2019, heavyweight black vinyl. Some distortion in the playback, and I know it’s not my stylus! It’s brand new. Bad pressing? It’s not the production either–it’s intermittent, clearly an undesirable noise artifact. That stuff really burns me. Finally, Hark, Loma Vista Recordings, 2020, opaque red vinyl, 12 cut-out paper birds included.
In case you’re just joining me: I am listening to (almost) every record in my collection in alphabetical order and writing a poem-like-thing in response to each artist represented there. It appears that my collection in the letter B is pretty vast! I will “be” here for a while!
michael jarmer 