Forgoing both of the whistler/violinist go-to instruments, Andrew Bird’s 10th LP opens with hardish-rocking opener “Capsized.” The Chicagoan soon returns to his orchestral layers and erudite lyrics. Habitually arcane, the former Suzuki student’s recent domestication (marriage, baby) nurtured a comparably personal upshot. “Left-Handed Kisses” stirs formula with guest vocalist Fiona Apple’s unmistakable lungs fanning that sassy, self-nodding standout’s flames. Lacking the ready-made hooks of 2005’s The Mysterious Pro­duc­tion of Eggs, the bookish baroque pop of Are You Serious proves the fiddler’s iconoclasm lies in his technique’s novelty. (7:30pm, Miller Lite stage; Weekend One only)

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This article appears in September 30 • 2016.

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