Countdown to Andrew Bird: Three Days

Dear Andrew Bird fans,

Continuing the tradition of obsession…

A. I am wondering:

1. Will Mr. Bird have a “band” and if so, how much autonomy will the band have?

2. How does Mr. Bird express anger? I’ve seen humor and confusion transformed from anger, as in “Why?” And I’ve seen lament over the loss of innocence, as in “Masterfade.” But what of anger? He went through a serious breakup during the recording of Noble Beast. I think that “The Privateers” might come close to his “angriest” or most “accusatory” song in the past few albums. Eh?

B. Mathematics:

1. Noble Beast offers many fragmented equations: “Ten-u-ous-ness-less-seven comes to three” and “Them-you-us-plus eleven, thank Heaven.” “That’s for those who live and die, for numerology.” Also, repeated mention of the “calcified arithmetics.” But Mr. Bird was originally a student of the Suzuki method (on violin), which begins at a very early age and with instruction by ear. Suzuki students do not read or look at sheet music for many years, and “theory” is the last thing on their minds in the early teachings. (I can attest to this, as I was trained in the Suzuki method as a child as well.) What is the source of this math obsession? And how does said obsession relate to Mr. Bird’s tautologies of language, such as “Souverion” = “So Very Young,” etc.?

C. Musical Genealogy:

1. This is a fancy way of saying that one musician sounds like and/or influences another. “Not a Robot, But A Ghost” has Radiohead all over it. The repeated clapping-as-percussion used in many songs on Noble Beast, as well as the background almost-falsetto-male-vocals, are reminiscent of…dare I say it?…Belle & Sebastian. Thoughts?

Chirp-Chirp!