Andrew Bird

I'm a little disappointed in myself that it took me quite so long to cotton on to Andrew Bird's greatness. Whenever I'd heard descriptions of him they'd always been vaguely unconvincing - pizzicato violin playing, strange instrumentals, an other-worldly voice. However, to me, his music sounds less strange than beautiful - more like a one-man Arcade Fire. His album, Armchair Apocrypha was released in 2007, and is a real treat, from start to finish. Each track has its own distinct sound, rather than them merging all together, but the album has a beautiful overall feel to it. I first listened to it the whole way through whilst driving through the grey streets of Vancouver on my way to the airport to head home, and it fitted my mood perfectly: a little wistful, more than a touch disoriented, but still ultimately, hopeful. My favourite track from the album is probably Heretics, though it's hard to choose!

The first thing I'd heard of him was not an original track but the Four Tet remix of Imitosis. I still absolutely love this track, the way it continues the haunting, yet almost funky violin thread throughout the entire song, and mixes it up with some very cool, glitchy beats.

Bird's next album, Noble Beast, is released on the 20th January in the U.S./Canada and the 2nd February in Europe. You can stream a track from it on his website and it's just as sublime as everything else.