Tonight is a special show indeed. In the chilly surroundings of St. Giles church in the heart of London, 300 people huddle together to witness the nervous energy of Andrew Bird as he proffers selections for his forthcoming record Noble Beast. Tonight’s line up is an ornithologists dream, with Canadian Sufjan-alike Woodpigeon acting as support. The giant yet softly spoken and hirsute gentleman quietly warms the audience with his soft acoustic melodies, occasionally regaling them with tales of breaking his foot climbing hills in Scotland. Continue Reading

Woodpigeon hail from Canada, a country which, it would seem to TLOBF, is not neccesarily punching above its weight musically but certainly punching hard. Specifically, Mark Hamilton’s band are from Calgary - also the origin of The Dudes, whose album Brain, Heart, Guitar I reviewed quite favourably not long ago.

Woodpigeon are also in the process of touring at the moment, and also promoting “album 1.5″, the “tour album” Treasure Library Canada. With that in mind, it might seem strange that we’re only just reviewing their debut album Songbook - the reason for that is that this album was released in Canada way back in 2006, but is only just getting a belated UK release. If you caught this month’s TLOBF Monthly Mixtape -“September, And The Tragic End of Summer Like So Much Lost Love” (the title of which has just struck me as being very Woodpigeon-esque) - you might have heard Songbook’s opening track “Home As A Romanticized Concept Where Everyone Loves You Always and Forever”. So in a sense, Songbook is old news. But is it good news? Continue Reading