Most works of western tonal music are characterized by the regular recurrence of rhythmically patterned pulses. Andrew Bird’s eccentric cross-pollination of gypsy ballad violin and folk infused art-rock is defined by it. The importance of meter and repetition is clear on Noble Beast, even thematically, as whistled motifs emerge in defiant contrast to already established themes.

Noble Beast is Bird’s fourth solo album and it made its debut this past January as a live stream on NPR. While the melodic electricity from Armchair Apocrypha has been subdued, the inter-connected ambience laid out on Noble Beast is more clearly defined, and the scope of the album is decidedly more visceral than the esoteric meanderings of Bird’s prior work. Indeed, on Noble Beast, Bird has created a vivid landscape, layered by elegiac violin melodies and punctuated by pizzicato notes, plucked guitar and clip-clop percussion that is more approachable to the casual listener.

On a thematic level, Bird seems to struggle with the classification and taxonomy of the natural world. It’s probably little coincidence that Noble Beast was released right near the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth. Bird elicits lugubrious and meticulous observations of the surrounding world, with scientific specificity and attention to detail as pertains to the rise and fall of species. On Souverian, he laments the inability of cyclical nature to overcome internal wounds. “while thistles will burn my feet / you promise spring, still my lover won’t return to me.” And on Anonanimal, Bird seems personally afflicted, even infected, by the evolutionary process. Singing of a sea anemone Bird predicts, “I will become this animal / anomalous appendages, anonanimal, anonanimal.” Evolution apparently comes with its own unforeseen casualties.

Bird’s drifting song structures are more coherent and sophisticated on Noble Beast than previous albums, if nothing less than for their tonal quality and gracefully collective harmony. Where Bird’s previous works presented stuffed canvases full of interesting sounds, the latest incarnation embraces the same ornamental delicacy but with a focal point. For example, on Effigy and Tenuousness, the album’s best songs, Bird uses church organs and operatic whistling not as mere sidenotes, but as compliments to vocal harmonies and intricate guitar picking. To be sure, the same affinity for odd phrases and abstruse lyrics is ever-present, but Bird seems more concerned here about creating a verbal topography, suffused with syllable play and alliterated language, than the actual meaning of words themselves. From the “calcified arythmetists” of Oh No to the decaying “anthurium lacrimae” of Natural Disaster Bird evokes an alternate version of the world as he sees it, eerily seductive as it is bizarre.

Stay tuned for pictures from tomorrow’s concert.

Tags: Andrew Bird, Music, Noble Beast, NPR

You know how when you want to see a movie before anyone else has the chance you go on opening night at your local theater? Afterall, it’s the only place you can see it, and you’ve got to be the first... This windowed model of exlusivity is rapidly becoming a new form of early distribution for artists hoping to capitalize on an alternative way to deliver their art to fans who care intimately about a direct connection with the musicians they love. It’s also the latest distribution method used by Brian Eno and David Byrne on their latest album “Everything that Happens Will Happen Today”.

We saw this first with Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”, a pay what you want model that was overwhelmingly successful in terms of conversion (despite the fact that Radiohead refuses to give data on sales, know that this first experiment was very successful). Radiohead was followed up by NiN with a truly original offering, which saw Reznor & Co. offer their fans a variety of bunled offerings - everything from 9 free tracks to digital ownership ($5), to digital + physical ($10), to value add offers including blu ray discs and signed LPs, costing upwards of $250 for the most expensive offer. The effort by NiN was hugely successful and embraced by a music industry hungry for a new method of music delivery and discovery beyond the colluded offer of traditional radio and the impersonal presentation of traditional physical retail. Check out some great google maps screenshots here that demonstrate the global potential brought on by self-distribution and disintermediation.

As for the Eno/Byrne collaboration released this past Monday on Topspin’s platform - I would say I am pleased with the outcome, though not floored. “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”, their 20 year old previous collaboration is the far more challenging and diverse of the two albums, infused as it is more by Byrne’s 80’s-infected instatiable pop rhythm than Eno’s more reserved and electronically (over)-produced soundscapes and sonic curiosities. That said, the album is hugely important as a defining mark towards artists owning their relationships with fans, instead of handing off their rights to corporate behemoths. To be sure, songs like “Life is Long”, and “Strange Overtones” represent Byrne and Eno at their very best. For those interested, the digital album costs $8.99. The CD and the digital album together go for $11.99. For the deluxe package, including a film about the album, it’s $69.99.

Tags: NiN, Radiohead, Topspin, Brian Eno, David Byrne

I also think NiN embracing "free" is a very wise move, given the particular climate of the music industry. Earlier today, a friend expressed curiosity at the new release: "What is the business model?" I would call the business model community relationships 2.0, one in which the model is fundamentally based on built and fostered trust between artist and tribe following. Reznor already proved that he can cater better to his fan base than any major record label could do in the old model, by allowing fans to pay anywhere from nothing to $300 based on their individual loyalty, audiophile status, and economic flexibility. Given that he raked in over $1.7 million on Ghosts, it seems like the perfect strategy to reward fans for sustaining his model. We are quickly shedding the mentality of music as a one-for-one commodity, into one where music begins to gain value precisely because it is free.

The Slip is being released with a Creative Commons license. Stay tuned for my review of the album...

Tags: Nine Inch Nails, NiN, Reznor, The Slip, Free, Ghosts I-IV, Creative Commons

Tags: Bon Iver, 2008, Wisconsin, Folk, Falsetto, Justin Vernon, Album