Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

How can you be a noble beast? How can you be a simultaneously polite, chilvarous, and law-abiding individual and yet be a complete barbarian? Well, CSV favorite Andrew Bird (His Birdness) wants you to believe that it is possible.  But as much as I want to believe him, I simply can’t.  And ultimately that is the real downside (tragedy? I don’t know) of His Birdness’s new album Noble Beast.

As a listener, you will notice immediately that this is not a ‘typical’ Bird album. By that, I mean that Noble Beast isn’t as challenging or provocative in its musicality as Bird’s previous album.  I want some dissonance, I want some haunting whistles and strings.  And I want catchy rhythms.  What Bird gives is a little of each, and it makes for a good album, but it doesn’t make for a great one.  I have to credit Bird with exploring new instrumentation, working with more lush arrangements, and even trying out different vocal styles.

First track “Oh No” has all the wordplay one has come to expect from Bird, and is certainly enjoyable (and fairly accessible).  Then again, there’s nothing to this song that really differentiates itself as birdlike (avian?).  “Masterswarm” has Bird in a soprano role to begin the track, and then bursts out into a pizzicato samba groove that continues to grow on me as I write this.  “Fitz and Dizzyspells” seems more like a natural progression of Bird’s musical maturation, and is quite enjoyable in its unabashed optimism and fluttering violin and its sing-along whistling.  “Tenuousness” and “Nomenclature” are satisfactory folk standards, but the weak “Not a Robot, But a Ghost” and “Unfolding Fans” that follow make the middle of the album quite sluggish.  But the album concludes quite strongly, with the highlight “Anonanimal” shining brightly in its sun-drenched electric guitar, perfectly executed vocals, and the hand-clapping-violin bridge that explodes into a wonderful rock song.

I’ve realized that this review has gone on too long.  I don’t mean to give the impression that I didn’t like this album–my expectations were outrageously high to begin with, I suppose.

But definitely go and buy a copy of this album–Buy Noble Beast.

Listen to “Fitz & Dizzyspells”

Listen to “Anonanimal“