Andrew Bird – Fitz and the Dizzyspells EP

Chicagoan prodigy Andrew Bird is still riding the wave of acclaim that followed the release of Noble Beast earlier this year, to the extent that he now returns to that spurt of creativity with this new EP, which, if it were a software release, would be called Noble Beast Version 1.5. But Bird’s music is as far removed from mechanistic sound engineering as it gets, and here he provides more evidence, if it were needed, of his ornate talents. The raw reworkings of Noble Beast tracks like Tenuousness (Ten-You-Us) and Anonanimal (See The Enemy) cast subtly different hues on familiar melodies. But with no new material to mull over, this is likely to pique the interest of committed fans only. [Nick Mitchell]