Pitchfork — + Beirut will take their Eastern European-sounding songs to...Western Europe this May. So close! The tour's London date will also feature Shearwater. + Cutesy L.A. guy-girl duo the bird and the bee (everything's cuter in lower case, obvs) are readyin... more info

Pasta Primavera — As we all celebrate MLK’s B-day and get prepared for the big day tomorrow, DC seems to be pulling out all the stops tonight.  First there’s an inaugural show at the 9:30 Club with the infamous Beastie Boys, Citizen Cope, Sheryl Crow, and Ju... more info

Pop Matters — With the exception of a few standouts, Noble Beast finds Chicago multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird inching toward the middle of the road. Luckily, the instrumental bonus disc Useless Animals picks up some of the slack. more info

Detroit Free Press — The month of January is generally not a good one when it comes to new music, as many record companies are stuck in a post-holiday lull and don't release much of significance. Happily, that is not the case this year. more info

Topix — The world can be divided into two types of people: those who think Andrew Bird is the next musical Jesus, and those who think he signals everything that's wrong with "hipster culture." Listen to this: Andrew ... more info

JamBase — Official SXSW Showcasing Bands Andrew Bird Last week we tipped you off to the initial SXSW 2009 Band list, today we're here with the massive additions. The South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference and Festival is scheduled to take place March... more info

Pitchfork — The 2009 SXSW Music Festival, going down March 18-22 in Austin, Texas announced its first round of bands last week, and now they've expanded that lineup to the point where it now takes like half an hour just to read the names of all the bands partici... more info

Pitchfork — The 2009 SXSW Music Festival, going down March 18-22 in Austin, Texas announced its first round of bands last week, and now they've expanded that lineup to the point where it now takes like half an hour just to read the names of all the bands pa... more info

JamBase — Dark Was The Night (A Red Hot compilation) out February 17 on 4AD Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17, 2009. It's comprised of 31 exclusive tracks and it will be available as a double CD/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the ... more info

Paste Magazine — Andrew Bird 's new disc, Noble Beast , won't be released until Jan. 20 (on Fat Possum Records ) but that isn't stopping NPR from streaming the CD early on its site (with permission, of course). The preview is NPR's fourth installment of its Exc... more info