Andrew Bird, “Armchair Apocrypha” (Fat Possum)
Chicago’s beloved son returned this year with his mash-up with electronic artists Martin Dosh, a dark, scientific exercise that’s his best effort yet. Relying less on his stupefying violin and whistling skills and more on the atmospheric elements of his voice and guitar-playing, Bird’s masterpiece is an atom bomb of brooding, exhausting joy.
Best of Chicago 2007