When the Amazon mp3 store opened up and started selling DRM-free, good-quality digital music files, it made me all excited about Tuesday music releases again. Sure, I couldn't go back to my college days, when I would go across the street to the record store at the first possible second, but what happened was almost better. I get up on Tuesday mornings and download all of the releases I'm excited about, and often throw in a curiosity purchase as well.
Now, I'm not saying I'm not familiar with the odd pre-release that (ahem) happens to fall off the truck right in front of my external hard drive, but the eventual move of online stores to DRM-free (read: hassle-free) tracks has been a great thing, if only because it's made me excited for Tuesdays again.
What I'm getting at is: This Tuesday was a beaut for new releases, huh? (low whistle) Yep. Sure was a doozy. Animal Collective, AC Newman, Antony & the Johnsons and Andrew Bird. A banner day for the A section.
Andrew Bird, "Effigy" (2009)
get the whole album
I've been following Andrew Bird's moves since the beginning of this decade, when said moves were a lot more conventional than the quieter tones he's been into lately. I always liked him, but his last record, Armchair Apocrypha, was a definite high-water mark and is easily my favorite, in spite of the fact that I always have to look up how to spell the second word.The new album, Noble Beasts is a definite step down. I wouldn't paint as bland a picture as Whitney Pastorek (who, apropos of absolutely nothing, went to the same high school as me) did in her Entertainment Weekly review, but it does take a step back from the stunning moments of Armchair and is, at least on the first few listens, a record that is good overall, but without any huge heights.
More careful listens reveal some of the hooks that make every Andrew Bird release worth waiting for. "Effigy" in particular doesn't necessarily announce itself very loudly over the rest of the record, but just try getting "It could be you, it could be me, working the door, drinking for free" out of your head. It's what Bird does so well: create songs that first only seem good enough to sing to yourself in the shower, until you realize you're singing it all day long, and then the part of your brain that controls good taste is shaking you and saying, "Dude, don't you get it?! It's a great song!"
By the way, if you get as excited about the week's releases as I do, I think there's no better resource for what's coming out that week than Largehearted Boy. Every Monday morning, he lists out the interesting releases (DVDs, too) and points out what he bought as well. I constantly refresh that page every Monday.
