Andrew Bird (with Loney Dear)

The D Man attended the Andrew Bird concert last night. Swedish popster Loney Dear opened. A few random thoughts:

Loney Dear

• Sounded much bigger live. Yet Emil Svanganen's voice remained clear and unassuming, his falsetto genuine and warming. And his bandmates provided great backing vocals for the aural swells they build their songs with.
• Opened with this song. Very nice with a full band.
• "I Am John" is a stunning, multi-faceted song.
• Loney Dear has enough good songs, I didn't even notice that they didn't play "Saturday Waits, "The Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl," or "I Love You (In With the Arms)."
• New single "Airport Surroundings" was much better than anticipated.
• After the show, The D Man shook Emil's hand. Told him that "I Won't Cause Anything At All" is one of my favorite songs. He gave me some Loney Dear pins. (Sorry, no links to the song--you'll just have to pick up the album).

Andrew Bird

• Mr. Bird's immense talent just comes spewing out all over the stage. His baroque, lyrically whimsical chamber-pop has no other peers.
• His pipes were incredible. His range was effortless and surprising. The second half of the show he was singing things that few people could pull off. From the Mrs. the following day: "He has more talent than almost everyone on the radio combined." Indeed.
• Got swanky with "Imitosis."
• "Plasticities" was epic. He pulled this song in some thrilling directions.
• Kate wanted to hear "Spare-Ohs" from Armchair Apocrypha. Too bad. But you can enjoy this version which you've never heard.
• Bird's rendition of "Anonanimal" was a game changer. Awe-some. He went for huge, loud, and fast. And he got it. Just killed me. "I see a sea anemone / The enemy / See a sea anemone / And that'll be the end of me."
• And who doesn't like "A Nervous Tic Motion to the Head?"

Song of the Week

Remember the arcade game Space Invaders? So does Royksopp, your favorite Norwegian electronic duo. Enjoy the new video for "Happy Up Here" from the duo's March 31st release Junior.

Link:

Song of the Week

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Perhaps some of us experience this problem. But few are familiar with the Brooklyn band of the same name. With echoes of The Smiths, The Pastels, or early My Bloody Valentine, the band's debut is fuzzed-out, noisy dream pop that may make more than a few heads explode with giddiness. Enjoy the lovely video for "Everything With You," appropriately shot on super 8 film. If you've been missing chimey guitars circa 1989, you may have to sit down at the 2:05 mark.

The D Man's Running Grammy Thoughts

Some random thoughts from last night's 51st Grammy Awards.

• Not a fan of the cracked-out Whitney. Miss the "I wanna feel the heat with somebody" Whitney.


• Kid Rock gets two songs?


• Stevie Wonder--please get some new material. The Grammy folks are selling you down the river. "Superstitious" with the Jonas Brothers? These people are not your friends.


• This "artist" was introduced by Morgan Freeman as follows: "A Poet. A Pirate. A Dreamer." Ernest Hemingway, you might ask? Ummm, not exactly. Mr. Kenny Chesney!


• The G8 Summit of Rap may have just started another arms race. Thanks Lil' Wayne.


• If you need to know, the exact moment Katie Perry cemented her one-hit wonder status: when she entered the stage in the banana.


• [Commercial Break: Diddy is on CSI? Maybe we will find out who killed Biggie.]


• The guy from Sugarland is a complete tool.


• [Mrs. The D Man: "Queen Latifah has got big bosoms." Thanks.]


• Just saw Trace Adkins in the crowd. Feeling much better.


• For the rest of his life, that 3rd string trombone player for USC will get to say that he performed with Radiohead. How sweet was that?


• The Grammy President sucks. Seriously, if you want a sleepover in the West Wing, give President Obama a call. We know you have him on speed dial.


• The D Man should be the Secretary of the Arts. Apparently we need a cabinet position to safeguard our cultural heritage. We must not let The Fast and the Furious 4 fall into the hands of Al Qaeda.


• Hopefully Paul McCartney's new girlfriend has two legs. He deserves two legs.


• [Text from The D Man: "It's Neil!" / Text from The Rizzo: "He lost me at the Christmas album."]


• Still a huge fan of dead artist montages.


• Lil' Wayne redeemed himself with a surprisingly sweet acceptance speech for Rap Album of the Year. For real.


• And the Album of the Year goes to Raising Sand. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Reason number 4,532 that the Grammys are aesthetically and artistically irrelevant. Was Steely Dan not available to accept the award?


• Sorry Mr. Yorke. Seriously. I apologize for the whole awards show thing.

Song of the Week

Fleet Foxes Sun Giant EP is now being packaged along with the group's debut album. So if you haven't picked up one of the best records of 2008, now is the time to do it. Double whammy. Sun Giant preceded Fleet Foxes full-length in time by a few months but contains the same folk-pop majesty.

Enjoy the deep history of "Mykonos." The origami stylings of the video were created by Sean Pecknold, singer Robin Pecknold's brother. Talented kin, dare say.

What You Missed

The D Man is back for another year of good tunes, good vibes, and good hygiene. The last part is a nod to the Mrs. and her suggestion that I cut my fingernails more often. I say she should just be happy that The D Man doesn't paint his fingernails black or wear a tight puka shell necklace. But I digress.

January is often a music wasteland. The best artists haven't released their albums yet and many in the mainstream already made a cash grab before the holidays. But, surprisingly, the first month of 2009 featured a few noteworthy exceptions.

• Animal Collective released Merriweather Post Pavillion. Check out "My Girls." By the third listen you will say to yourself, "This is pretty sweet."
  
• Andrew Bird released Noble Beast. Enjoy our favorite one-man band here and here. (The D Man will be checking him out live later this month, along with Loney Dear).
  
• America got a new president. Apparently, he is black.
  
• U2's new single on their forthcoming album featured The Edge doing some cool things with a guitar.
  
• The National provided more than a throw-away song to a compilation.
  
• Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP proved again that he is an artist to be reckoned with.
  
• Sufjan waxed on about the musicology of religious music even without an honorary theological degree.
  
• Mark Kozelak released Finally LP, a collection of covers from the likes of Will Oldham, Low, Husker Du, and ACDC.
  
• The D Man received his first royalty check as a songwriter. Hoppin, skippin, and jumpin for sure.