There's a great selection of films going on at the Northwest Film Forum next week (well, there's always good stuff at the NWFF, if you want to get technical about it) that we wanted to make sure you were hip to. It's called American Film Week, and it's running in the spirit of a mini- / non-festival: a series of "bold American films, offering you just one choice a night." Brilliant!

We're particularly excited about Fever Year, a documentary about the grueling of Andrew Bird's 165-date tour, and Bombay Beach, a "rich and emotional portrait of the lives of some of California's absolute poorest" with a musical score by Zach Condon {best known for directing many a Beirut video} -- but the whole week is worth a visit, so much so that we're giving away a pair of passes to the entire run of screenings.

More from the NWFF blog:

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We're just about a month out from Andrew Bird's next album release {Break It Yourself, due out on March 6th} and twice that from his upcoming show at the Paramount Theater {April 9th} with Laura Marling. Pre-album, the single "Eyeoneye" has made a (legal) foray out into the 'nets, and seeing as it's been on rotation since the minute the mailing list hit our imaginary inbox, we thought it fit to take a moment and hip you to it.

If this track is any indication of what Break It Yourself is going to bring to us on the whole, we're ready to put this as a frontrunner for one of 2012's top five albums without a single look back. There's a wide spectrum of recognizeable influence here while remaining decidedly Andrew Bird, which is to be expected -- he's one of those artists that continues to evolve with the world around him and change dramatically without departing too far from his baseline. And that said, there's a whole new freshly familiar vibe to the music: still laden with whistle-overs, graced with more than a hint of Phil Spector wall-of-sound-ery, and sliced through to the skeleton with a half-dozen emergent indie sounds of, well, right-fucking-now-ness.

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at The Moore

The show was huge, and ethereal, and amazing in a way that no other shows are amazing.

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at Woodland Park Zoo

It’s not that Andrew Bird and his three-piece Chicago band put on a perfect show last Wednesday at Woodland Park Zoo. It’s just that it all felt so right.

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I normally listen to music while driving/riding my bike/working. During any of these activities, my mixes are super random and I'm a big fan of Shuffle mode on the iPod.

Instead of listing off albums, I decided to share ten of my favorites songs from 2007, both local or otherwise. It was a great year for music, one that expanded my musical tastes. Attending festivals and shows to shoot photos exposed me to some bands I would never have known otherwise, ones that are now in constant rotation.

In no particular order (and with photos I've taken this year, where applicable):

The Arcade Fire - "Antichrist Television Blues"

Brother Ali -"Walking Away"

Japanther -"River Phoenix"

The Lonesome Rhodes - "Sunshine"

Siberian - "Belgian Beers and Catholic Girls"

Mewithoutyou - "Messes of Men"

Andrew Bird - "Imitosis"

J Tillman - "Steel on Steel"

Kevin Drew - "TBTF"

One Be Lo - "Gray"

Ah the joys of viral life... you go looking for one thing and find something even more exceptional.

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Thanks to a live webcast stream, now we can see all the great bands playing Coachella this weekend without having to deal with the lines, portapotties, drum circles, and $10 bottle of waters.

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