Noble Beast

Rolling Stone (p.67) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's Bird's impressionistic lyrics that carry the emotional payload. 'Nomenclature' is a sweet ballad that explodes unexpectedly." Spin (p.94) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "With his SAT-acing vocabulary, Bird still rocks some of the best rhymes in the game....Bird's phlegmatic voice has a way of softening tragedies and soothing beasts -- natural, noble, or otherwise." Alternative Press (p.103) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Debut single 'Oh No' combines gently picked acoustic guitar, delicate beats and Bird's signature whistling to create a lush soundscape for the musician's literary lyrics to play upon." Q (Magazine) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- '[T]he unhurried 'Natural Disaster' is as elegiac as pop music can be and, once it gets going, 'The Privateers' is proof that he can do thumping pop too." Mojo (Publisher) (p.109) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "His trademark whistling and twilight violin lend a blissful sense of romantic resignation to the folky 'Masterswarm' and the gypsy-tinged 'Tenuousness'..." Blender (Magazine) (p.62) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "This beast takes care and feeding, but its purring tongue has hints to drop about our changing times." Paste (magazine) (p.50) - "Here, Bird's arrangements are uncharacteristically subtle. Trademark orchestral swells take the backburner to confident vocals, easy melodies, guitar plucking and -- yes -- freakishly good whistling." Clash (Magazine) (p.93) - "Andrew Bird's latest offering plays out like a weird dream sequence. The multi-instrumentalist uses his skill to great effect..."

耳を澄ませば聴こえてくる軽やかな口笛――シカゴ出身のシンガー・ソングライター、アンドリュー・バードのニュー・アルバムは堂々の2枚組だ。アンドリューお得意の口笛や、ヴァイオリンにマンドリンなど弦楽器を織り交ぜながら美しいメロディーを紡ぎ出す。そこにまろやかなヴォーカルをふわっと乗せて完成させた歌の数々は、ノスタルジックでありつつも遊び心と実験精神に溢れている。　
bounce (C)村尾泰郎