Andrew Bird's Bowl Of Fire: Oh! The Grandeur

Occasional Squirrel Nut Zippers fiddler Andrew Bird's unveiling as a solo artist could not have been more precariously timed. Arriving with his relatively high-profile Rykodisc debut Thrills just as swing music made its ticking time bomb of a comeback, Bird risked being lumped in with all the poseurs and coattail-riders out to make a quick buck on a lame-duck trend. Luckily for Bird, since swing is only one aspect of his strange, predictably eclectic music, he managed to weather the hype intact. His artistic survival did come at a price, however: Bird paid for his uniqueness by trading in his potential popularity, choosing to follow his own vision rather than capitalize on cash cows. Yet it's hard to imagine more people not catching on to Bird and his band, as Oh! The Grandeur improves upon Thrills without sacrificing the character of his talented backing players and twisted songs. Plenty of touring has further tightened the crack Bowl Of Fire, allowing Bird to comfortably jump from style to style while remaining true to the early-20th-century American music he adores. Guitarist Colin Bunn, bassist Josh Hirsch, and drummer Kevin O'Donnell (who fronts his own combo, The Quality Six) all possess a musical wit sharp enough to match Bird's. That's no small feat, as "Candy Shop," "Beware," "Tea & Thorazine," and "Vidalia" deftly show off Bird's clever lyrics, fast fiddle work, and globe-trotting sound in concise, brilliantly arranged four-minute songs that switch from pop to jazz to classical to folk to blues in a blink. The cool and intricate Chris Ware art is just icing on the cake.