Armchair Apocrypha

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.

Armchair Apocrypha
Studio album by
Andrew Bird
ReleasedMarch 20, 2007
Genre
Length48:27
LabelFat Possum
ProducerAndrew Bird
Andrew Bird chronology
Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
(2005)		 Armchair Apocrypha
(2007)		 Soldier On EP
(2008)

Writing and composition
  • "Simple X" is sampled from the song "Simple Exercises" by collaborator Dosh, off his solo album, Pure Trash. Lyrics, additional instrumentation and structure are provided by Bird.
  • An earlier version of "Imitosis," called "I" (also called "Capital I" live) appears on his 2003 album Weather Systems.
  • The song "Darkmatter" contains the same lyrics as 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.[1]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic81/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubA−[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
The Guardian[6]
Mojo[7]
NME7/10[8]
Pitchfork7.7/10[9]
Q[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Spin[12]

The album has been given a Metacritic score of 81 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.[2]

The album debuted at number 76 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 11,000 copies in its first week.[13] The album has sold over 100,000 copies by November 2008.[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andrew Bird, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Fiery Crash" 4:12
2."Imitosis" 4:01
3."Plasticities" 4:27
4."Heretics" 3:33
5."Armchairs" 7:02
6."Darkmatter" 5:07
7."Simple X"Bird, Martin Dosh3:36
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
No.TitleLength
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)

Charts
Chart (2007) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[15] 124
US Billboard 200[16] 76
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[17] 9
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[18] 5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[19] 21
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[20] 10

References
  1. Bahn, Christopher (21 February 2006). "Interview: Andrew Bird". The A.V. Club.
  2. "Reviews for Armchair Apocrypha by Andrew Bird". Metacritic. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  3. McIntosh, Gregory. "Armchair Apocrypha – Andrew Bird". AllMusic. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  4. Phipps, Keith (March 20, 2007). "Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  5. Brunner, Rob (March 16, 2007). "Armchair Apocrypha". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  6. Clarke, Betty (April 13, 2007). "Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha". The Guardian. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  7. "Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha". Mojo (162): 102. May 2007.
  8. Worthy, Stephen (April 27, 2007). "Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha". NME. Archived from the original on July 6, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  9. Tangari, Joe (March 23, 2007). "Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  10. "Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha". Q (250): 125. May 2007.
  11. Swanson, David (March 20, 2007). "Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  12. Young, Jon (March 2007). "Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha". Spin. 23 (3): 88. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  13. Katie Hasty, "Modest Mouse Steers Its 'Ship' To No. 1 Debut", Billboard.com, March 28, 2007.
  14. "Flying High". Billboard: 38. November 15, 2008.
  15. "Lescharts.com – Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha". Hung Medien.
  16. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  17. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard.
  18. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  19. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  20. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
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