Andrew Bird does it all—forward and backward
The eclectic musician loops instrumentals together,
weaving an electronic orchestra in his live shows
BY AARON BURKHALTER
FREELANCE REPORTER
When Andrew Bird takes the
stage, he slings his guitar over his
back and wields a worn violin in his
hand. He holds his violin like a
ukulele and begins plucking a
pizzicato syncopation. He steps on a
pedal on the ground and the synco
pation continues while he adds an
other syncopation over the top of it.
Soon his looping device is cranking
out layer upon layer of violin, creat
ing a dense electronic orchestra to
REMEMBER
CHEF JEVON FROM
HAMILTON?
NOW HE’S
COOKIN’ UP BAYOU
BBQAT HORSEHEAD
$7.00 CAR BOMBS
$2.25 PABST
$5.75 DOUBLE WELLS
$5.50 LONG ISLANDS
KITCHEN HOURS
11:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.tn.
SEVEN DAYS A WEEK
Expanded brunch menu Sat - Sun
§99 WEST BROADWAY • 683-3154
Fried Catfish
$7.75
Gumbo
$5.50
Pulled Pork Sandwich
$8.00
Oyster Shooters
(Friday & Saturday)
Five varieties to choose from
$1.50
back Bird's guitar, voice,
glockenspiel and whistling.
It's a far cry from the music Bird
created in the late 1990s. His first
band, Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire,
rode on the popular wave of the neo
swing movement, along with the
popular East Coast swingers the
Squirrel Nut Zippers. The five-piece
Bowl of Fire cranked out antiquated
gypsy swing and blues with Bird's
virtuoso fiddling, melodic voice and
abstract lyrics. His traditional sound
accompanied songs about cloning
sheep and Etch-A-Sketches.
But Bird's ambitions reached fur
therthan Bowl of Fire and the Ameri
can-roots music that it championed.
Bird found himself constricted by
working with a consistent group. A
band playing the same kind of parts
every time pinned down his songs
and restricted his experimentation.
"I needed to indulge myself
again and let the songs breathe
a little more," Bird said in a
phone interview.
Bird bought a farm in Illinois to
give himself some stretching room
for his music to grow. He started
working with the looping equipment
that would become the cornerstone
of his live sound and began forming
a new style without the constraints
of a regular band. Bird has almost
exclusively played all the music on
his most recent recordings. With the
exception of rotating drummers, the
instrumentation, both on stage and
on CD, is all his own.
"It's nice to have total control,"
Bird said. "There's more
chance that your music will end
up weirder."
The results are, in fact,
weird, and that's a com
pliment. The music on
his newest album,
"The Mysterious
Production of Eggs, ^
defies conventional
definition. The
ambient layers
of violin accom
panied by Bird's
eccentric lyrics j
create an
unusual world.
The music draws from
so many different musical
traditions that it is impos
sible to pinpoint a domi
nant influence; it spans
sounds from folk to Indi
an to rock. The sound is
as twisted and
compelling asthe
lyrics it accompanies.
Bird's eccentric approach to
lyrics may be the only thing that re
mains from his Bowl of Fire days. His
lyrics are sprinkled with what he
Courtesy
calls "fake palindromes." A palin
drome is a word or phrase that is
spelled the same way backward and
forward, such as "race car" or
'never odd or even."
"I was looking at real palin
dromes and noticed that they kind
of have a similar cadence to
them," Bird said.
Bird starts writing his
lyrics by making strange
vowel and consonant
patterns, bringing mean
ing in after the fact. In the song
titled after his lyrical motiva
tion, "Fake Palindromes,"
Bird sings, "My dewy-eyed
Disney bride what tried
swapping your blood with
formaldehyde."
"Late at night after a couple
drinks, who's going to bother to
check whether that's a real
palindrome or not?" Bird said.
Whatever Bird is doing, it's
working. He has toured endless
ly since the release of "Eggs" in
February. In the lastyear^e
^gained a sudden and
m surprising following in Europe.
"It grows very quickly overthere,"
Bird said. He has had no problem
gaining media attention on the other
side of the Atlantic. "Whereas it's
taken me eight years to gain an
BIRD, page 11
High-speed
wireless internet and
a $25 gift card.
Someone's been very, very good this year.
Clearwire® has something special for you this holiday:
high-speed internet service for only $19.99 a month for the
first three months,* plus a $25 gift card** It's our best offer
of the season. So sign up for the internet service you can
take anywhere in our coverage area, and get the gift card
you can spend anywhere VISA® is accepted.
But act fast, because this offer ends December 31.
clearwre
wireless broadband
'Regular rates apply thereafter. Requires minimum service agreement, activation fee, and lease or purchase
of customer equipment. Service levels, features, and prices may vary by rate plan and service area and are
subject to change without notice Other restrictions may apply; see www.clearwire.com. © Clearwire LLC
2005. All rights reserved. "Use of this card is conditioned upon being a Clearwire subscriber in good
standing, and must be returned unused if the subscriber cancels service within the first 30 days; if not
returned, Clearwire reserves the right to charge the full value of the $25 gift card against the subscriber's
' account. VISA is a registered trademark of VISA International Service Association
Call 888-CLEARWIRE, go to
clearwire.com, or visit one of
our authorized retail locations
to get connected today.
The Clearwire Store -1600 Coburg Rd. - Eugene - 688-1127* Mali Kiosk - Valley River Mall
Abel Computing -166 W. 6th Ave. - Eugene ~ 343-3638* Adept Computer Services -1325 W. 7th Ave. - Eugene - 343-9393
Advantage Wireless98 E. 13th Ave. - Eugene - 345-5770*Cartridge City - 683 McKinley St., Ste. 1 - Eugene - 302-1444
Cartridge City - 884 E. 13th St. - Eugene - 284-5608*Cartridge City -1519 Mohawk Blvd. - Springfield - 741-1177
DiCom Wireless - 45 Silver Ln. - Eugene - 689-1090*DiCom Wireless -1055 Chamelton St. - Eugene - 683-2232
Direct Tei -105 S. 14th St. - Springfield - 747-5474* Eugene Mobile Repair - 4434 Main St. - Springfield - 741-6041
Feeney Wireless -1299 Ocean St. - Eugene - 683-8122*Lightspeed Computers -1033 River Rd. - Eugene - 461-4331
Nortech Computers - 2045 Main St. - Springfield - 988-0525*Practical Computers -1510 Mohawk Blvd. - Springfield - 726-7775
Really Great Computer Guys -1742 W. 18th Ave. - Eugene - 343-9081-Satellite Dished - 925 River Rd. - Eugene - 343-7888