Noble Beast out earlier than expected, now in Deluxe Edition!

Andrew Bird has pushed the release date of his new album, Noble Beast, up one week from January 27 to January 20. What I thought was to be released as two different albums, one instrumental, has been pressed into a special-edition two-CD set. This Deluxe Edition will come with different artwork by Diana Sudyka, extra photos, a fold out poster, and a 24-page illustrated lyric book and will only be available through pre-order at Fat Possum and on release date at record stores.

The hook? You can only get the extra instrumental CD, Useless Creatures, (which by the way includes another hometown guy--Wilco's Glenn Kotche--on percussion) with the Deluxe-Edition (although I'm sure it will eventually be released on it's own...). Otherwise you'll just have to settle for the Standard Edition.

(Album art above is from the Standard Edition)

There is more to Glenn Kotche than Wilco

Glenn Kotche is the drummer for a little Chicago rock band you might have heard of called Wilco. What you may not know, is that Wilco is just one of Kotche's many projects.

Kotche joined Wilco in 2001, right before the band went rogue (sound-wise and label-wise) with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Its no surprise that Wilco took an innovative turn at that time, when you consider Kotche's background and other projects. He was in the experimental rock trio Loose Fur with Jeff Tweedy and Jim O'Rourke when Tweedy asked him to join Wilco. Currently, he makes up half of the jazz experimental duo On Fillmore with Darin Gray. He also recently collaborated with fellow local Andrew Bird for one of Bird's upcoming albums. And on top of all this, right now he is busy recording a new album with Wilco.

As if that wasn't enough to keep your plate full, Kotche has a burgeoning solo career of his own. In 2006 he released his third solo album, Moblie (Nonesuch Records). His creative exploration of rhythm and the space between is nothing you would expect and incredibly intriguing. It's also diverse, from the ambient title track "Mobile Parts 1 & 2" to the intense jam beats on "Projections of (what) Might."

Tonight "indie classical meets indie rock" when he appears with classical group eighth blackbird at Harris Theater. They will perform works from Mobile, and Kotche himself will perform a solo set. What can you expect? Lots of unorthodox percussion instruments and a departure from rhythm you're used to hearing.