tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666659962343175645.post3936906782217158308..comments2023-12-09T05:32:19.282+01:00Comments on Metronomic Underground: Andrew Bird / Heartless Bastards - Live 2009.03.15 The Pageant, St. Louis, MissouriPattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17295562938792511228noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666659962343175645.post-21966809663729461882009-04-17T21:22:00.000+02:002009-04-17T21:22:00.000+02:00Woah, thanks for the heads up! I found a link to t...Woah, thanks for the heads up! I found a link to the video on YouTube:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HmkLu24w2o<br /><br />Pretty weird, but definitely makes more sense out of his performance of the song.Pattihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17295562938792511228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666659962343175645.post-298635695457151432009-04-17T20:22:00.000+02:002009-04-17T20:22:00.000+02:00Hey--that "Dr. Strings" thing is actually from his...Hey--that "Dr. Strings" thing is actually from his cameo on "Jack's Big Music Show". While it's geared for pre-school kids, it's actually a great show, which is funny. That whole episode had some great songs, including the complete "Dr. Strings". I don't know if you can find it online but "Jack" is played on Noggin, Nick's pre-school counterpart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666659962343175645.post-9362145331448591002009-03-20T01:17:00.000+01:002009-03-20T01:17:00.000+01:00@Josh -Thanks for adding your more comprehensive d...@Josh -<BR/><BR/>Thanks for adding your more comprehensive domain knowledge. Your thoughts sound about right to me. I probably should go out and buy an album or two now; I'm sure I'd enjoy it.<BR/><BR/>Bird's violin skills seriously impressed me. I mean, he's a good guitarist, glockspielist, and singer, and an unbelievable whistler, but the violin-playing really shone. I really like it when indie/rock/alternative bands manage to be more than just that, such as by sincerely bringing together musical ideas that are frequently overlooked. I'm jealous, in fact: I totally wish I could bring a stronger classical bent into my own music.<BR/><BR/>@Eddie -<BR/><BR/>I need to check my calendar when I get home tonight, but I really hope I'm available!Pattihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17295562938792511228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666659962343175645.post-879888612411930052009-03-19T21:16:00.000+01:002009-03-19T21:16:00.000+01:00Dear Patrick,We’re doing it again. Blooger Night 2...Dear Patrick,<BR/><BR/>We’re doing it again. Blooger Night 2. Friday, March 27. David Robertson, conductor; Karita Mattila (who was famously naked in Salome at the Met), soprano; Anssi Karttunen, cello (another wild Finnish musician). Music of Wagner, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Sibelius and Kaija Saariaho (more Finns!) and the U.S. premiere of her Mirage, based on a psilocybin mushroom hallucination.<BR/><BR/>Two tickets, drink tickets, meet musicians, meet at Gastropub after. All you have to do is blog. Meet at the Met Bar around 7:15pm.<BR/><BR/>Let me know if you can make it and I’ll reserve the tickets.<BR/><BR/>Ciao,<BR/><BR/>Eddie Silva<BR/>eddies@slso.orgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666659962343175645.post-55460633471246638682009-03-19T19:11:00.000+01:002009-03-19T19:11:00.000+01:00From my perspective, it was a great show and the b...From my perspective, it was a great show and the best of his that I have seen. I saw him perform in a basement venue in Omaha with two other musicians and later on in a solo capacity in a major concert hall when he opened for Wilco later that same year. <BR/><BR/>In the past, he was looping so heavily and intricately that sometimes the overall soundscape would wash out. I felt like this hardly happened at all Sunday night. I think the loops were designed to perfection and he seems to have made some improvements on the mixing side of things. <BR/><BR/>It might be worth pointing out that Bird improvises and reinterprets the melody lines to his songs live and the loops never quite match up across performances. He's fleshing out a general idea, of course, but with juggling that many balls at once, it's almost impossible to replicate exactly from night to night. I always feel like he's got a couple dozen things floating around in his head, but is constrained by technical/practical matters in getting them out on stage. Then again, he certainly has a proclivity for tasteful minimalism; most of his studio recordings are quite sparse. By the way, if you end up looking for a $12 point of entry, I think I'd go with his "Mysterious Production of Eggs" from 6 or 7 years ago. It occupies a more-or-less permanent spot in my musical top 10 list. <BR/><BR/>Finally, I wanted to reiterate that Bird is REALLY good at the violin - it's not just window dressing like it is with so many of these other "indie" bands (i.e. we travel with a cellist that comes onto stage to offer canned background swells for our Top 40 radio hit, but that's it). Like Sufjan Stevens and Shara Worden, Bird is a member of a new group of songwriters / composers / arrangers that are integrating their classical upbringings with more mainstream musical sensibilities. For Stevens, it is typically brass sections; Worden uses four- and five-piece string arrangements; and Bird, obviously, just builds the whole damn thing from scratch. Across the board, I find this a rewarding tactic.JDPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06340545485785235190noreply@blogger.com