Listening to Swimming Hour is like taking a walking tour through 20th century musical history.
Andrew Bird, a major contributor to nouveau-swing band the Squirrel Nut Zippers, mixes numerous styles and genres such as classical, Latin, and gypsy music, among others.
The song "Why" feels like a jazz song from a 1950s film noir soundtrack, and "Satisfied" blends gospel with straight-ahead rock & roll.
Also impressive is Bird's cover versions of the Mississippi Sheiks' "Too Long" and Nelstone's Hawaiians' "Fatal Flower Garden," a reworked rendition of an old Irish ballad.
The vast array of musical styles are united by Bird's haunting vocals as well as lyrics that are both thoughtful and whimsical.
While Swimming Hour is clearly an album obsessed with musical history, Bird manages to mix in enough of his own unique style to prevent the album from feeling like a musty old museum piece.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two Way ActionAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 04:43 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Core and RindAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | 11:11Andrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Case in PointAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Too LongAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 02:33 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Way Out WestAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Waiting to TalkAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Fatal Flower GardenAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | SatisfiedAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 03:17 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | HeadsoakAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | How IndiscreetAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | Dear Old GreenlandAndrew Bird | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | Why | Andrew Bird | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 50 mins | 115 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurent Bichara | Studio Assistant |
| 2 | Andrew Bird | Composer, Mando, Mando-Guitar, Primary Artist, Violin, Vocals |
| 3 | Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire | Primary Artist |
| 4 | Chris Brickley | Studio Assistant |
| 5 | Andy Bryant | Studio Assistant |
| 6 | Colin Bunn | Guitar |
| 7 | Josh Hirsch | Bass |
| 8 | Brent Lambert | Mastering |
| 9 | Mike Napolitano | Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Recorder |
| 10 | Greg Norman | Engineer |
| 11 | Nora O'Connor | Group Member, Vocals |
| 12 | Reto Peter | Technical Assistance |
| 13 | Pat Sansone | Keyboards, Marimba, Vibraphone, Vocals |
| 14 | Gary Shepers | Truba |
| 15 | Naomi Yang | Cover Photo, Design |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |