Love the Andrew Bird discussion, I am a big fan and have seen him about 9 or 10 times, phenomenal live, whether he is solo or with a few musicians (but solo is fairly incredible).
Armchair Apocrypha is, IMO, by far his best and I felt like one of the best albums put out around that time. Next would be Mysterious Production of Eggs and then maybe Noble Beasts although I don't like it nearly as much as the other two mentioned but SQ wise it is EX, but if you aren't already a fan I am not sure I would start with it.
Tonight-
Lee Morgan - Cornbread - new Blue Note "Tone Poet" reissue, very good, especially side 2
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin - SQ = EX+ but Yoshimi is a better album (and also sounds fantastic)