Larry Bird is the first. We can argue about that later.

 

 Indie rock gets a bad rap…and for good reason. Most of it is crap. Mmm, 95% if you’re keeping track. “Hey look at us, we recorded this ourselves and it sounds like garbage and rips off the Velvet Underground a lot.” Listen to a Pavement record and you’ll understand where I’m coming from. Actually, skip that. It’s not worth your time. But fear not, there are some real classy indie acts that are both praised by their vest-wearing counterparts and are actually pretty damn good. Or, in this case, freaking rule.

 Andrew Bird has found a perfect balance in inconsistency. His gentle voice and world-class whistling, for some reason, seem to mesh perfectly with any random instrument he comes across. His harmonies are frustratingly, simply complex; his arrangements perfectly constructed. Record to record, he tries his hand at the un-ordinary, and it usually works. Select “singles” like “Heretics” and “Plasticities” showcase Bird’s uncanny talent for creating genuine hit songs in a much truer medium. 

 Check out Bird’s latest full-length releases, Armchair Apocrypha, for the man’s finest record to date.

 -Billy Yost