Andrew Bird is keeping busy, or so reports the BBC 6. All whilst on a lengthy tour, Bird is finding time to score a film, create an art installation, and cover Kermit the Frog’s “It’s Not Easy Being Green.”

The film in question is titled Norman. It’s a high school drama starring Adam Goldberg and is the first legit full-length feature Bird has scored. The art project is harder to explain. According to Bird, “I’ve been collaborating with this sculptor in Chicago who makes these horns that I play through – they are like speakers – to create a whole installation, a room full of these horns that are shaped like poppies, making loops that come out of different horns. It’s like an arboretum of sonic sculptures. It’ll be a traveling museum show.” Whoa.

The Kermit cover is part of a Sesame Street 40th Anniversary disc, featuring artists like My Morning Jacket and (no surprise) Weezer playing your favorite Muppet tunes. It’s due out early next year. No word yet on whether or not Steve Martin will cover “Dueling Banjos” for the comp. (via P4k)

Tour Dates:

11.13 Paris @ Casino de Paris
11.15 Amsterdam @ Melkweg
11.16 Tumhout @ de Warande
11.17 Gent @ Vooruit
11.19 Katowice @ Festival Ars Cameralis
11.21 Madrid @ Joy Eslava
11.23 Valencia @ Palau de la Musica
11.24 Barcelona @ Sala Apolo
12.08 Champaign, IL @ Foellinger Auditorium at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
12.10 Minneapolis, MN @ St Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral
12.11 Minneapolis, MN @ St Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral
12.15 Chicago, IL @ Fourth Presbyterian Church
12.16 Chicago, IL @ Fourth Presbyterian Church
12.17 Chicago, IL @ Fourth Presbyterian Church
12.30 Marion Bay, AS @ The Falls Music & Arts Festival
12.31 Lorne, AS @ The Falls Music & Arts Festival
01.01 Melbourne, AS @ The Hi-Fi
01.03 Sydney, AS @ Sydney Opera House
01.07 Brisbane, AS @ Sunset Sounds
01.09 Busselton, AS @ Southbound
01.26 Singapore @ Esplanade
01.27 Hong Kong @ Grappa’s Cellar
01.29 Shanghai @ Zhijiang Dream Factory
01.30 Beijing @ Mao Live House
02.03 Tokyo @ Club Quattro
02.06 Honolulu, HI @ Pipeline Café
02.20 Los Angeles, CA @ Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California

At last, the Lollapalooza rumors are put to rest — Depeche Mode, Tool, The Killers, Beastie Boys, Kings of Leon and (of course) Jane’s Addiction will be headlining this year’s festival, along with an impressive cast of supporting bands, Lollapalooza organizers confirmed today.

More than 100 bands/artists/DJs will take the Lolla stage this year, including TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys, Fleet Foxes, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Crystal Castles, Los Campesinos! and Passion Pit. This year’s event will also introduce “Perry’s”, a nightclub style stage featuring dance and electronic music. The DJs set to spin include MSTRKRFT, Bassnectar, DeadMau5, Animal Collective and Bloody Beetroots.

After selling out last year for the first time since Lollapalooza took roots in Chicago, ticket sales don’t seem to be lagging. Early bird discount passes went on sale at the end of March for $195. Regular priced tickets are $205, and of course if you’re not like the rest of us, worrying about saving $10 on a $200 concert ticket, you can always check out the VIP options at Lollapalooza.com.

Lollapalooza 2009
Depeche Mode
Tool
The Killers
Jane’s Addiction
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Lou Reed
Ben Harper and Relentless 7
Thievery Corporation
Snoop Dogg
Rise Against
Andrew Bird
TV on the Radio
Vampire Weekend
The Decemberists
Neko Case
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
Animal Collective
Band of Horses
Of Montreal
Arctic Monkeys
Coheed and Cambria
Ben Folds
Fleet Foxes
Silversun Pickups
Kaiser Chiefs
Crystal Castles
Bon Iver
Santigold
Atmosphere
Dan Auberbach
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Lykke Li
Robert Earl Keen
Peter Bjorn and John
Heartless Bastards
Gomez
Glasvegas
Federico Aubele
Dan Deacon
Passion Pit
The Raveonettes
The Gaslight Anthem
The Airborne Toxic Event
White Lies
Ra Ra Riot
No Age
Asher Roth
Los Campesinos!
Bat For Lashes
Chairlift
Gang Gang Dance
The Virgins
Amazing Baby
Portugal. The Man
The Knux
Ida Maria
Delta Spirit
Friendly Fires
Manchester Orchestra
Constantines
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
Hockey
Miike Snow
Alberta Cross
Hey Champ
Sam Roberts Band
The Henry Clay People
Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
Cage the Elephant
Living Things
The Low Anthem
Blind Pilot
Langhorne Slim
Other Lives
The Builders and The Butchers
Eric Church
Joe Pug
Kevin Devine
The Green Cards
Carney
Thenewno2

Featured performers at Perry’s
Bassnectar
MSTRKRFT
Simian Mobile Disco
DeadMau5
Boys Noise
KiD CuDi
Crookers
A-Trak
Hercules and Love Affair (DJ Set)
The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set)
LA Riots
Kaskade
The Glitch Mob
Hollywood Holt
Rye Rye
He Say, She Say
Car Stereo (Wars)
Dark Wave Disco
Moneypenny
Yello Fever
Animal Collective (DJ Set)

In honor of his rise to the top of the indie sales charts this week, we thought it was apropos to show this clip of Andrew Bird doing “Fitz and the Dizzyspells” on Letterman. Bird and his band performed the song — from his newly released record Noble Beast — this past Tuesday [January 27] and features Andrew wielding the violin, whistle, vocals, and of course, a guitar.

A friend IM’d us the other day asking for our bets on what the new Animal Collective CD would SoundScan. The hype surrounding the release of Merriweather Post Pavilion was palpable — so much in fact, that some wondered if the vinyl release could actually break the Billboard top 200. And Bon Iver had us all swooning the return of heartfelt folk to the list of critical-to-near-mainstream success stories. Yet little hype or hoopla was made about Noble Beast, the newest effort from Andrew Bird, mainly because it shared the same release date as the aforementioned records. But when the increasingly unimportant Nielson SoundScans arrived on our computers this morning, it wasn’t our Merriweather predictions that had us surprised, it was who actually sold more.

First of all, let us continue by saying congratulations to all three of these artists, as having independent musicians from independent labels in the top 15 of the Billboard top 200 is pretty amazing. Especially when you consider that most of the general buying public prefers mainstream establishments like Taylor, Beyonce, Nickelback, Kanye and Twilight (rounding out the top 5 respectively). Not to mention Bon Iver’s Blood Bank was only an EP and if you count Animal Collective’s vinyl sales, it would’ve charted even higher, but we felt like framing this news piece as a glowing review and recommendation for one Andrew Bird. A career over a decade in the making, with stops at Rykodisc and Righteous Babe before his current home on Fat Possum, there are few who would be more deserving to be the current king of indie than he.