Armchair Apocrypha
Armchair Apocrypha | ||||
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File:Armchair Apocrypha.jpg | ||||
Studio album by Andrew Bird | ||||
Released | March 20, 2007 | |||
Genre | Indie Folk Folk Rock Baroque Pop |
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Length | 48:27 | |||
Label | Fat Possum | |||
Andrew Bird chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AbsolutePunk.net | (90%) [1] |
Allmusic | [2] |
Music Emissions | [3] |
No Ripcord | (8/10) [4] |
Paste Magazine | [5] |
Pitchfork Media | (7.7/10) [6] |
PopMatters | (9/10) [7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
Stylus Magazine | B+ [9] |
Tiny Mix Tapes | [10] |
Armchair Apocrypha is American singer-songwriter Andrew Bird's fourth studio album and his third post-Bowl of Fire album. The album features more electric guitars, a change from the more acoustic-oriented Eggs, though the songs are similar in character if slightly more straightforward.
"Simple X" is a track started by collaborator Dosh, who wrote the music as the song Simple Exercises off his solo album, Pure Trash, with Bird adding lyrics. The track "Imitosis" is an expansion of the song "I" (also called "Capital I" live) on his 2003 album Weather Systems. The song "Darkmatter" is also a rehash of the song "Sweetbreads", which can be found on the live EP Fingerlings 1. Both bonus tracks also evolved from previous songs: "Sick of Elephants" was originally known as "Sycophantitis" and "Self-Torture" adds lyrics and incorporates the melody from the instrumental "The Water Jet Cilice" from Fingerlings 3. Haley Bonar, who opened some shows on Bird's tour, sings background vocals on four songs. In an interview with The A.V. Club, Bird mentioned that melodies are easier for him to write than lyrics. He was fascinated with the Scythians in 8th grade, so he decided to challenge himself to write a song about them as a way to jump-start his songwriting process.[11]
The album debuted at number 76 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 11,000 copies in its first week.[12]
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Andrew Bird, except where noted.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Fiery Crash" | 4:12 |
2. | "Imitosis" | 4:01 |
3. | "Plasticities" | 4:27 |
4. | "Heretics" | 3:33 |
5. | "Armchairs" | 7:02 |
6. | "Darkmatter" (An earlier version of this song, "Sweetbreads," appears on the album Fingerlings) | 5:07 |
7. | "Simple X" (Bird, Martin Dosh) | 3:36 |
8. | "The Supine" | 0:59 |
9. | "Cataracts" | 3:12 |
10. | "Scythian Empires" | 4:34 |
11. | "Spare-Ohs" | 4:07 |
12. | "Yawny at the Apocalypse" | 3:39 |
Bonus tracks | ||
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No. | Title | Length |
13. | "Sick of Elephants" (iTunes album only bonus track) | 4:46 |
14. | "Self-Torture" (eMusic only bonus track) | 3:38 |
Personnel
- Andrew Bird - Violin, Vocals, Whistling, Guitar, Glockenspiel
- Haley Bonar – Vocals (tracks 1, 9–11)
- Jon Davis – Bass clarinet (track 7)
- Martin Dosh – Drums, electric piano (Rhodes, Wurlitzer), other sounds
- Ben Durrant – Guitar (tracks 1, 6)
- Chris Morrissey – Bass (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 11)
- Kevin O'Donnell – Drums (track 4)
- Jeremy Ylvisaker – Guitar (track 10)
Technical personnel
- David Boucher – Mixing (tracks 5, 6)
- Ben Durrant – Co-producer; mixing at Pachyderm Studios, Cannon Falls, MN (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7–10, 12); recording at Crazy Beast Studio, Northeast Minneapolis (tracks 1, 2, 6–10, 12; vocals and guitars for tracks 4, 5)
- Dan Dietrich – Recording of additional tracks at Wall2Wall Recording, Chicago (tracks 4, 10)
- Martin Dosh – Additional recording (track 7)
- Tom Herbers – Mixing at Third Ear Recording, Minneapolis (tracks 3, 11); recording at Third Ear (tracks 3, 5, 11)
- Gregg Norman – Recording of basic tracks at Electrical Audio, Chicago (track 4)
- Roger Seibel – Mastering at SAE Mastering, Phoenix
- Brent Sigmeth – Mixing at Pachyderm Studios (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7–10, 12)
- Quemadura – Artwork and design
- Lynne Roberts-Goodwin – Photography (of birds)
- Cameron Wittig – Photography (of Andrew Bird)
References
- ↑ AbsolutePunk.net review
- ↑ McIntosh, Gregory. Armchair Apocrypha at AllMusic
- ↑ Scanland, Dennis. Armchair Apocrypha review Music Emissions. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
- ↑ No Ripcord review
- ↑ Paste Magazine review
- ↑ Pitchfork Media review
- ↑ PopMatters review
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- ↑ Stylus Review
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- ↑ Katie Hasty, "Modest Mouse Steers Its 'Ship' To No. 1 Debut", Billboard.com, March 28, 2007.