Whether you're a dedicated fan in need of some new material, a music lover who can appreciate a well-trained craftsman, or someone who has simply never seen Bird perform live, the experience is a truly mind-altering experience.

Having already garnered an adoring fan base following the release of 2005's The Mysterious Production of Eggs, a staple on the year's "best of" lists, Andrew Bird continues to stretch the limits of mesmerizing chamber pop as he heads into a new year with lofty expectations. Never satisfied with his classical training, the be-scarved Chicagoan has repeatedly defied typical boundaries, employing the haunting presence of an immaculate whistling prowess to shape-shift richly textured, although evasive melodies.

Accompanied by drummer/keyboardist Martin Dosh, Bird made the rounds at some of the summer's more renowned music festivals, displaying a form of loose experimentation that expands greatly beyond the frame of his studio work. Revolving around the mixed bowing and frantic plucking of his violin, Bird seamlessly crafts elegant loops that are sure to entrance the most wary of nonbelievers. His talent truly shines through, however, in an effortless display of multi-tasking-blending purposeful guitar licks with echoing drops on the glockenspiel, all the while crooning in pitch-perfect interpretations of his all-too-clever wordplay.

From folk to jazz of decades past, gypsy riffs, and a darker Appalachia, Bird's influences are as enigmatic as accessible pop can get. Although his studio work is quite methodical, the live experience is defined by investigative momentum-chaotic, lush, inquiring, and charmingly imaginative. Based on several exposés of the past year, Bird's highly anticipated early 2007 release, Armchair Apocrypha, will undoubtedly be an artistic triumph. Whether you're a dedicated fan in need of some new material, a music lover who can appreciate a well-trained craftsman, or someone who has simply never seen Bird perform live, the experience is a truly mind-altering experience.

Bird is the rare artist who can make mysterious, nontraditional adaptations to satisfying, simplistic roots, all without sacrificing any of its listenability. From Eggs' "Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left," to "Masterfade," to "Skin Is, My," Bird has shown the ability to build comprehension and cogency on the shoulders of separation. Otherwise unrelated influences and approaches are fused by his ubiquitous whistle, as well as by lyrical themes of deterioration, machinations, and further disturbances. However, Bird never seems to lament as much, but rather encapsulates a world of imperfections in a softer casing, perhaps in an effort to make ugly truths easier to swallow. The tender moments of Bird's playing, though, are his unspoken reminders of hope steeped in the essence of peace itself, where all of the chaos can make beautiful sense when it comes to a humming stillness. For the uninterested...there will always be the snacks. I however, am satisfied with dancing bears. | Dave Jasmon

Tour Dates: 12/1: Middlebury, VT | Sepomania Festival @ Middlebury College; 12/30 and 12/31: Denver, CO | Ogden Theatre