David Bowie, as we are often reminded, is among many other things a master of reinvention. It seems more than a little appropriate then that he's on the cover of this month's issue.
This Chicagoan is unique in being an astonishing violin virtuoso devoting himself almost entirely to pop music. Founding Andrew Bird's Bowl Of Fire in the mid-'90s, his best work (2001's The Swimming Hour) takes in Appalachia, jump-blues and orch-pop in a flash-flood of American tradition. With Mark (Lambchop) Nevers producing, Weather Systems distills that same musical heritage into a new, supple-fresh language of strings, glockenspiel, wurlitzer and tape loops.
