I have a hard time being a fan of professional whistler and glockenspiel…ist(?) Andrew Bird. He spends almost as long as U2 to release a new album, and to much less popular acclaim. In one sense, that’s admirable, and in the other, it’s sort of pretentious. In fact, “pretentious” is an apt descriptor of Andrew Bird, and I mean that half as the insult it really is and half as a compliment for someone who ultimately delivers on the level of that pretension. About three years ago, after the release of his last album, I was really into him for about a week before it wore off. Now there are times when his songs come up in my iTunes playlist and I feel like his songs are looking down on the rest of my library and skip over them. But there are other times when I’m struck by the exquisite beauty that has gone into crafting the music. I feel the same way about Jeff Koons–I often dislike a lot of his stuff, but I have to respect that he knows what he’s doing.
To some degree, Bird’s rabid fanbase is the same or worse than his music. These are the types of people who could conceivably accuse The Decemberists of being too broad and accessible in their choice of songwriting topics. So being associated with those people is not somewhere I particularly want to be.
And, frankly, shit like this doesn't help that image
But on the other hand, you really can’t ignore the fact that the guy is intensely talented and intensely thoughtful and intelligent. After all, besides being able to play the glockenspiel and whistle in unison, he also plays the violin (plucks and bows), sings, writes the damn songs he sings, and in the most mundane bit of all, plays the guitar.
But being a serious Andrew Bird fan is something like walking around attesting that you have read the complete works of James Joyce and understand all of Ulysses. A) No, you fucking haven’t, and B) No, you fucking don’t. No one does. And to say otherwise is to make a bold statement about how hard the rest of us should be punching you.
What I guess I’m saying is that I was rather surprised and delighted to see Bird appear on The Colbert Report on Tuesday night, even though I know Colbert has featured and hosted lots of musicians outside the mainstream, including Feist, Jackson Browne, David Byrne, and Wilco.
Plus he wears a scarf with a suede jacket. HIPSTER ALERT, amiright?
Anyhow, I encourage you to watch this episode of The Colbert Report which features Bird et. al playing “Eyeoneye” and “Danse Carribe” (as a special bonus song only available online) and watch Bird’s incredibly awkward stage presence, complete with completely random raised hand gestures. And then I encourage you to buy his new album Break It Yourself. Buy, I said. As in, pay cash for it.
