Andrew Bird on NoiseTrade

At Grimey's in Nashville, 2008

If you're not familiar the Noisetrade.com, you should fix that. In fact, TMI can help introduce you. NoiseTrade is "Fair Trade Music." Artists can put their material on offer and you can download it for free, or you can drop a little something in the tip jar.

This week, Andrew Bird is on NoiseTrade with a few tracks from his forthcoming album, Break it Yourself.

Track Listing:

01 : Eyeone
02 : The Crown Salesman
03 : So Much Wine
04 : After Dinner Jam

The Crown Salesman : Andrew Bird

Here's one for you this fine Friday. It's a new song from Andrew Bird, called "The Crown Salesman." It's a bit of a slow burn, and honestly there's no big payoff, but the guitar distortion is pretty interesting in back of Bird's violin. Guess we're trying new things.

Break it Yourself comes out March 6.

Singled Out: Benson, Bird, Dr. Dog

January isn't necessarily the most exciting time for music (or for anything, now that I think about it.) There's a lull in between the onslaught of "Best Of" lists and when new releases start rolling out around the end of the month. Fortunately, the gears are beginning to turn again. Evidence? Here are three new singles– call them harbingers of a promising year for music. We hope.

"Bad For Me" by Brendan Benson

I'd like to go ahead and declare Brendan Benson as one of Michigan's favorite sons. (Haven't asked Michigan, but I figure they'd be cool with it.) He's set to release a new album called What Kind of World on April 21, but until then, here's "Bad For Me," a piano-driven helping of drama served with... do I detect the slightest whiff of the Beach Boys on the chorus? Yes. I believe I do. 

Download the song courtesy of Stereogum. - Brendan Benson – “Bad For Me”Download

"Lonesome" by Dr. Dog

Check out the catchy, shuffling open track from Dr. Dog's Feb. 7 release, Be the Void. Paste reports the band said the record will be more of a return to form, showcasing "rough around the edges rock." Sounds accurate.

Dr. Dog - Lonesome by antirecords


"Eyeoneye" by Andrew Bird

We've been waiting for Bird to follow up Noble Beast since 2009, and we are almost there, people. In true Bird fashion, the title makes no sense, but the song features all the quirky sounds we expect from an Andrew Bird tune, like whistling, violin and who knows what else. (Pretty Much Amazing flagged a glockenspiel.) Something different though, is the speed "Eyeoneye" works itself up to at the end. Break it Yourself comes out March 7.

Songs and Shows from Andrew Bird and the National

There are few better post titles I could write. Here are two pieces of very good news that will vastly improve your Sunday.

1. Thanks to music blog Pretty Much Amazing, which is very true to its name, you can stream a new track from The National. It's called "Rylan" and PMA describes it as a very Boxer-esque tune. I couldn't agree more. Think "Ada." Recorded in Toronto, pipped in to the comfort of your own laptop. Check it out below.



2. Andrew Bird finally has news of a follow up to 2008's Noble Beast. On March 5, expect Break it Yourself to hit shelves (or the interwebs, more likely). Paste reports that the album was recorded and produced by Bird himself in something called a "studio barn," which sounds like all kinds of cool. (Maybe the ox and lamb kept time, as they say.) Bird is going on tour, and if you're in Nashville on March 19, you better be at the Ryman in my stead. Here's a video to get you all nice and anxious.


Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself from Mom+Pop on Vimeo.

The Green Album, A Tribute to the Muppet Songbook

I learned all my best reporting practices from Kermit the Frog of Sesame Street News.



That's part of the reason why a tribute album to the Muppets will be the best part of the month of August this year. On the 23rd, artists like Andrew Bird, the Fray, Ok Go, Mat Kearny, My Morning Jacket and more will present The Green Album. And while I would love to see Rivers Cuomo challenge Miss Piggy to a cage fight for rights to the name, apparently Weezer is in on the project as well.

The track listing is as follows. Mark you calendars accordingly.

01. Muppet Show Theme Song : OK Go
02. Rainbow Connection : Weezer and Hayley Williams
03. Mahna Mahna : The Fray
04. Movin' Right Along : Alkaline Trio
05. Our World : My Morning Jacket
06. Halfway Down the Stairs : Amy Lee
07. Mr. Bassman : Sondre Lerche
08. Wishing Song : The Airborne Toxic Event
09. Night Life : Brandon Saller of Atreyu and Billy Martin
10. Bein' Green : Andrew Bird
11. I Hope That Something Better Comes Along : Matt Nathanson
12. I'm Going To Go Back There Someday : Rachael Yamagata

The Musically Inclined Top 10 Finds of 2009

End of the decade. End of the year. It's a list-making bonanza! TMI is here to add yet another one to the mix.

2009 was an alright year for music. Once we got out from under the freak out over Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, 2009 couldn't commit to being an indie kind of year (The Avett Brothers gathered some major steam and the Decemberists did us proud again) or a not-so-indie kind of year (Bruce. U2. Need I say more?).

So, what did happen? Kanye interrupted people. Green Day released another rock opera. T-Pain took to the water. Lady Gaga... I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that one out. We kept our earbuds plugged in and refused to admit that The Black-Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" is our new Friday night anthem. (Wait, did I just write that out loud?)Oh, and somehow The Beatles managed to bring in big bucks 40 years after breaking up.

That said, here are The Musically Inclined's Top 10 Finds of 2009. In an effort to keep things fresh, I made up some rules that dictate who can make it on the list.

1. It can be any artist or band that was unheard by TMI before January '09.
2. Songs have to be good. Catchy? Bouncy? Quirky? Yes, but mostly they just have to be solid. Doesn't hurt to be fun and mildly screwy, either. (See #4).

That's all. These tunes just had to survive my music turn over rate, and survive they did! I included YouTube links. Happy exploring.

1. Anonanimal : Andrew Bird

The shift to the breakdown towards the middle of the song alone would have earned Bird the top spot on the list. Noble Beast is a fine record-- unusual in its intricacy and beautiful in its instrumentation. It was the best I heard all year, and to think it came out in January. Listen

2. Auto-Tune the News #5 / Butter on My Roll : The Gregory Brothers

Miles away from the no. 1 entry, The Gregory Brothers have found fame by auto-tuning news clips and turning the boring punditry of Sunday mornings into catchy hip/hop/pop ditties that will have you singing the strangest phrases on loop. ("It's the smooooke!"). Yet further exploration revealed that The Gregory Brothers also have a brand of really cool, soulful tunes that and some killer voices that are far from needing auto-tune. For this Jekyll and Hyde of a band, TMI selected a song from each mode. The Gregory Brothers win the longevity award this year, as months have passed and I still can't shake Katie Couric singing about Fidel Castro. Listen / Listen

3. Blue Skies : Noah and the Whale

The National and Andrew Bird had a love child. True story. Found these guys thanks to a minor road trip and a friend with exceptional taste. It was hard to pick out just one track from the album, The First Days of Spring, but this represents the band pretty well. Listen

4. Meet Me in the Garden : Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele

So bad it's good? So weird you can't look away? Maybe. TMI was intrigued by this over the top tongue-in-cheek (I hope) crooner. See for yourself why Dent couldn't have been left off the list. Listen

5. Cable TV : Fol Chen

Synthesized beats, blips, buzzes, sort of bored-sounding (or are they alluring, hmmm?) vocals-- that sort of thing. This song is just so cool and strange. Fol Chen is on the cryptic, mysterious side, covering their faces in photographs and the like. In any case, the video for this song fits so perfectly, it's ridiculous. Listen

6. When She's Near : Fiction Family

One part Nickel Creek, one part Switchfoot-- what a fantastic side project. Fiction Family has a warm folksiness that pervades the entire album. Think brightly colored fall leaves. This group is like the smart grandchild of the kind of music people used to play on their front porches-- aware of its roots but not consumed by them. Listen

7. The Crook of My Good Arm : Pale Young Gentlemen

Wisconsin. Eastern Europe. It works. Wrote up these folks in early January after finding them on a Paste Magazine Sampler CD. I think I used the term "gypsy rock" at the time. Yeah. Still works. A smidgen of Gogol Bordello. Unique without sounding gimmicky. Also still applies. Or you can just click here to read the entirety of what I originally wrote. Listen

8. My Girls : Animal Collective

Remember what I said about being catchy? Totally applies in an off beat way. Do we care what adobe slats have to do with anything? No. Listen

9. Worry About it Later : Brakes

Besides being a solid motto for how to live your life, this short, fast-paced little number goes by so quick you just have to back up and listen to it again. And again. Listen

10. Mimizan : Beirut

Oddly enough, this is the second Eastern Europe- channeling entry on this year's list. I first heard of Beirut in 2008 from a friend while sitting at my kitchen table, but it wasn't until I got the Dark Was the Night compilation that I actually heard them. The song sounds like it was put made by carnival folk, or put together from sounds off a merry-go-round. And somehow they pull it off. Listen

Andrew Bird on the Tonight Show

Seems like I've been posting a lot of these lately. Anyway, on Wednesday Andrew Bird performed on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. At first I couldn't find it anywhere, but here it is now, so take a look.

I caught Andrew Bird last month at an In Store Performance at Grimey's New and Preloved Music. You can check that out here.

Andrew Bird Instore Performance at Grimey's

I had the good luck of randomly reviewing Andrew Bird's Noble Beast for Twisted Ear back in January. Noble Beast has been part of the select group of promo albums that I continue to listen to after the review is written.

Today, before heading over to Bonnaroo, Bird played an instore at Grimey's New and Preloved Music, which is an exceptional record store, much in the way record stores used to be. By the time the show started, Grimey's was packed tight, all eyes on a guy who has an unassuming aura about him as if he doesn't get that he's a big deal (to this crowd, anyway). Bird has a quiet presence and a refreshing lack of that self-conscious performer schtick. There was no awkward banter, no insincere compliments. He acted though as he was just there to perform, no sweat.

Bird and his band sounded great, very true to the album. They opened with a Smog cover and played mostly cuts off Noble Beast including "Effigy," "Oh No," "Fitz and Dizzy Spells," and "Anonanimal," which was the strongest song of the set. Alternating between guitar, violin and his signature whistling, it was a treat to actually hear Bird's ethereal collection of sounds produced live and only a few feet away.

The forty-something minute set went by fast and Bird stayed after to sign autographs. Best of all, though? Grimey's had a pre-sale on tickets for Bird's yet-to-be-announced show at the Ryman Auditorium in October. Props to Grimey's for managing the mob.

Due to my fantastic position in the crowd, I actually got to play photog for once. Check out my pictures above.

Here's to October.

Andrew Bird: Fitz and Dizzyspells Video

The Musically Inclined is certainly on a video kick lately. Check out Andrew Bird's latest for "Fitz and Dizzyspells." It doesn't sound like they used the track from the album, but rather a live performance. Cheers for authenticity! Feel free to explain to me why he's shooting flaming arrows into the air and how that translates into some sort of dance party Bat Signal.
Andrew Bird with Mucca Pazza - "Fitz & The Dizzyspells”

Andrew Bird on Twisted Ear

It's been a while since I had a review up Twisted Ear, but we're back, baby. Life is good on both sides of the Atlantic. Anyhoo, I got to write up Andrew Bird's latest, Noble Beast and it was pretty good. A little bit long but you've got to go with it. Click here for a helping of musical truth.