What Else Is There?

#3. Andrew Bird - Near Death Experience Experience (4:29)

Andrew Bird and I have had a problem for awhile now. I mean, don’t get me wrong. He’s always been really good at the violin, whistling, and his songs have all sounded nice enough. But ever since “Skin Is, My“ turned up on 2005’s The Mysterious Production Of Eggs, I’ve been been holding out for another one that could instill me with that level of excitement. Well it’s been 7 years, but I do believe he’s finally done it. All the usual suspects are here, violin picking and curiously introspective lyrics, but he’s added some bell plinking. UFO noises (via theremin, perhaps?) and in the end I feel pretty confident in saying if you only listen to one Andy Bird song in your lifetime, it this should be the one.

Best Moment: The spot where the violin comes plinking down backwards while the bells and whistles are messing about at 2:50.

The Album [Break It Yourself]: 7/10

..:: Andrew Bird - Near Death Experience Experience ::..

While Andrew Bird has been kicking around for quite awhile now, I haven’t found too much coming from him lately to get that excited about. His last couple albums managed to slip by without leaving much of a mark, but luckily it looks like Break It Yourself might be his best collection since since 2005′s & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs. “Desperation Breeds…” is the perfect opener (I can totally see it drawing in and mesmerizing an afternoon crowd at a festival), “Lustitania” features a great duet with Annie Clark of St. Vincent and “Fatal Shore” is a hazy slice of nostalgia. The biggest standout, however, is “Near Death Experience Experience”. It’s here where we find Andy up to all his tricks — violin picking, bell plinking, UFO noising and just flat out laying down the best song he’s written since “Skin Is, My“. Now all we need is someone to capture a video of this baby at Coachella this April and we’ll be all set.