“A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left”
from the album The Mysterious Production of Eggs
2005
[iTunes]
Download the MP3 of “A Nervous Tic Motion…“
I’m not sure when I’ve heard such a diverse, unexpected, and yet disconcertingly organic twenty seconds of music as can be found towards the end of the introductory section of this curiously titled song from the idiosyncratic Mr. Bird. After an echoey electronic burst, the song begins with voice and acoustic guitar, the singer providing a clear if rather wacky introduction to the subject at hand, and then, around 45 seconds into it, comes this marvelous 20-second stretch: a violin takes over, changes key at least twice without playing many notes, then (somehow) hands it off seamlessly to an electric guitar; said guitar issues an assured couple of strums before giving way to what sounds like a ghostly synthesizer, accompanied by some Beatle-like string punctuations.
But hold on, this “synthesizer” is Bird himself, whistling. He’s an expert whistler, it seems, in addition to being a classically trained violinist. This song is so hard to describe and yet so craftily put together that I seem only to be able to talk about short stretches of it. Another great one happens at around 1:45, at the end of the verse; here, Bird breaks off, nearly a capella, and modulates himself through a captivating series of chord changes, leading into the chorus, from whence cometh the title. I have a feeling many listens are required to have this all coalesce meaningfully, and I have no doubt that those listens will be rewarded. ~ Jeremy Schlosberg, Fingertips Music
Check out a recent NPR interview entitled “The Many Talents of Andrew Bird“