Noble Beast
2009 studio album by Andrew Bird
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Noble Beast is the fifth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, and his eighth overall. It was released on January 20, 2009.[1] Two songs from this album were previewed on his webpage; "Oh No" and "Carrion Suite", while the entire album was made available by NPR[2] as a streaming feed. Noble Beast was made available as a standard CD release, a special limited-edition deluxe two-CD package and a double-LP package.
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| Noble Beast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 20, 2009 | |||
| Genre | Baroque pop | |||
| Length | 54:17 | |||
| Label | Fat Possum (US) Bella Union (UK) | |||
| Andrew Bird chronology | ||||
| ||||
The track "Tenuousness" appears in the closing credits for the 2011 movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 79/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| The A.V. Club | (B+)[5] |
| Drowned in Sound | (9/10)[6] |
| The Guardian | [7] |
| LA Times | [8] |
| Paste | (6.7/10)[9] |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |    [10] |
| Pitchfork | (7.5/10)[11] |
| Rolling Stone |  [12] |
| The Skinny | [13] |
| Spin | (7/10)[14] |
| Uncut | [15] |
The album received a Metacritic score of 79 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.[3]
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 12, and No. 3 on the Top Rock Albums Albums chart,[16] selling 26,000 copies in the first week.[17] The album has sold 150,000 copies in the United States as of December 2011[update].[18]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Andrew Bird, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Oh No" | 4:20 | |
| 2. | "Masterswarm" | 6:35 | |
| 3. | "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" | 3:36 | |
| 4. | "Effigy" | 5:06 | |
| 5. | "Tenuousness" | 3:51 | |
| 6. | "Nomenclature" | 2:54 | |
| 7. | "Ouo" | 0:20 | |
| 8. | "Not a Robot, but a Ghost" | Bird, Martin Dosh | 5:37 |
| 9. | "Unfolding Fans" | Bird, Jeremy Ylvisaker | 0:57 |
| 10. | "Anonanimal" | 4:47 | |
| 11. | "Natural Disaster" | 4:18 | |
| 12. | "The Privateers" | 3:24 | |
| 13. | "Souverian" | 7:18 | |
| 14. | "On Ho" | 1:08 |
Other appearances
- "Not a Robot, But a Ghost" samples from the song "First Impossible," which appears on Dosh's album Wolves and Wishes.
- "The Privateers" uses lyrics similar to "The Confession," a song appearing on Oh! The Grandeur by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire.
- A different version of "Section 8 City" appears on Fingerlings 4.
Useless Creatures (Deluxe edition bonus disc)
The limited edition of Noble Beast shipped with a companion disc of instrumental songs, entitled Useless Creatures.[19] This collection was made available on Bird's website in early January, before the album's release.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Master Sigh" | 2:17 |
| 2. | "You Woke Me Up!" | 7:24 |
| 3. | "Nyatiti" | 4:01 |
| 4. | "The Barn Tapes" | 10:12 |
| 5. | "Carrion Suite" | 9:39 |
| 6. | "Spinney" | 0:45 |
| 7. | "Dissent" | 3:54 |
| 8. | "Hot Math" | 7:18 |
| 9. | "Sigh Master" | 5:32 |
Personnel
- Andrew Bird – violin, vocals, whistling, guitar
- Martin Dosh – percussion, looping, keys
- Jeremy Ylvislaker – guitar, bass, organ, shortwave
- Kelly Hogan – background vocals
- Mike Lewis – clarinet
- Todd Sickafoose – double bass
- Ben Martin – cardboard box drums
- Tony Crow – juno
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] | 77 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[21] | 62 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] | 64 |
| US Billboard 200[23] | 12 |
| US Digital Albums (Billboard)[24] | 2 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[25] | 1 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26] | 3 |
| US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[27] | 2 |