Pitchfork

Upon entering 2006, Pitchfork's favorite whistler, Andrew Bird, updated his website with some ambitious promises for the new year: the making of a new album, another tour, and perhaps best of all, "there will be snacks."

There will. While he's not exactly handing out Gushers and Dunkeroos, Bird has reissued two self-released out-of-print 2001 gems: the live disc Fingerlings #1, and The Ballad of the Red Shoes, an instrumental album swathed in a package designed by Bird's printmaker mother, Beth. The Fingerlings reissue features new artwork by Jay Ryan, the man behind the captivating artwork for Bird's 2005 beauty, The Mysterious Production of Eggs. (That album, by the way, is slated for vinyl release soon.)

Tracklists:

01 Action/Adventure
02 Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning
03 Gotholympians
04 Richmond Woman
05 Sweetbreads
06 Why?
07 Headsoak
08 How Indiscreet
09 T'N'T

The Ballad of the Red Shoes:

01 Theme 1 (waltz)
02 Something Sinister
03 Chorus of the Swan
04 Theme 1 (restated)
05 Dance of Death
06 The Door
07 Swedish Folk Tune

Bird will also team up with Anticon associate Martin Dosh once again for a small US tour. It kicks off in early February and comes with this writer's highest recommendation.

Snacks:

02-02 Milwaukee, WI - Miramar Theatre *
02-03 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club *
02-04 Bloomington, IN - Buskirk-Chumley Theater *
02-06 Louisville, KY - Louisville Free Public Library *
02-07 Lexington, KY - The Dame *
02-09 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
02-10 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder (Florida State University) *
02-11 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum *
02-13 Oxford, MS - Proud Larry's *
02-15 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant *
02-16 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop *
02-17 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *
02-23 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Café *
02-24 Duluth, MN - Weber Music Hall at UMD *

* with Martin Dosh, Haley Bonar

"