Andrew Bird

MP3: A Nervous Tic of Motion to the Left

Having already been bold enough to declare Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs the greatest album of 2005, what’s left to say? Well, a lot if you don’t believe me. Do I have to tie you down and drip acid onto your face while dancing on your bloody knuckles? I’d like to think that isn’t necessary. That when you hear the music, everything will click into its perfectly sized little place in your head, and your life will find a whole new purpose. But what if it doesn’t? What then? Do I sound like I’m not serious?

Getting back to business, this is the first album in so long that fully excites me. I actually felt joy at having an actual CD in my hands. I even felt wonder at the prospect of fingering through the lyric book and reading along while listening. As a 17-year-old who devoured every single millimetre of every record I ever purchased, I never dreamt there would be a time when that was not the case. As a 27-year-old, it’s more of a struggle to actually open the cellophane let alone put a disc into the CD player. But I digress; this is about a song - a bloody delightful song.

Morbid intros, sweeping violins, Wild West whistling, a choir of multi-tracked backing vocals, and lyrics…lyrics I even care about. I’ve noticed from reviews and the stickers they put on the CD that other reviewers are comparing Bird to Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. Well, I used to think Buckley was wonderful, but I’m a bit colder to his songs now. As for Radiohead, ‘Paranoid Android’ had its day long ago. The future is ‘A Nervous Tic of Motion to the Left’. Just trust me because the rest of the album gets even better.

Steven McCarron - 17-02-2005

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