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Old 02-19-2009, 12:56 PM   #12 (permalink)
mannny
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Andrew Bird - Weather Systems (2003)




1. First Song
2. I
3. Lull
4. Action/Adventure
5. →
6. Skin
7. Weather Systems
8. Don't Be Scared
9. ←

Andrew Bird had booked a gig in Chicago to open for a band but when the rest of Bowl of Fire couldn’t make it he decided to play it solo. This gig turned out to be a great success for Bird. This experience showed him that he could make it as a solo artist, so the Bowl of Fire separated and Bird began to create a new sound to start off his solo career. Bird left Rykodisc because of disagreements on where his career was directed and decided to move to a smaller label to release Weather Systems, Righteous Babe Records.

In 2002, Andrew Bird moved to a rural farm in Illinois. Isolated from society, Bird used this time to develop musical ideas and concepts that would be featured on Weather Systems which he recorded at a studio set up in his barn. The result is an atmospheric and ambient album in which the nine songs flow into one another each developing the musical ideas of the album. Though most songs include just Bird’s vocals, violin and whistling, Kevin O’Donnel contributes percussion to a few tracks and Mark Nevers adds guitar to some tracks as well. Nora O’Connor is featured on this album again and she adds even more beauty to this exceptional album.

This small line up may make the album seem quite simple but it is actually musically complex. Bird uses a lot of looping with his violin so in many tracks it sounds as though there is an entire string orchestra present. Action/Adventure is an example of this technique. Pizzicato violin and guitar act as the backing of the rhythm section while there are many harmonies on Bird’s looped violins and whistling. This results in one of the best tracks of the album.

and are very ambient instrumental tracks. is played all on Bird’s looped violins which gives it a very full sound. The distant solo violin adds to the atmospheric theme of the album. is an excellent closing song to the album. It features the full looped violins with distant drumming and glockenspiel. This track is quite majestic and ends the album perfectly. Skin is another instrumental song. It’s one of the more upbeat songs on the album and is a jam with Bird’s whistling over pizzicato violin, guitar and drums.

The title track is an achievement of genius by Andrew Bird. Weather Systems is one of Bird’s most stunning songs. It is utterly amazing what this man can achieve with just a violin. He loops the violin to create a full string orchestra and delivers some of his finest vocals along with sorrowful whistling and poetic lyrics.

Weather Systems is a magnificently atmospheric album and one must listen to it completely in order to fully understand the musical ideas it conveys. This album marks the start of Andrew Bird’s new sound and solo career. Bird’s sound will continue to progress with the coming albums but Weather Systems will remain a very important album to his discography.


(This is the short film packaged with the CD. A few tidbits of recording and some interviews with Bird and bandmates.)

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