ANDREW BIRD'S BOWL OF FIRE

As on past efforts, violinist (and sometime Squirrel Nut Zipper) Bird artfully updates old blues, jazz, and swing without getting gimmicky. But he's best at his least retro. Though ''Too Long,'' a reinvention of a 1931 Mississippi Sheiks recording, and the Anglo-Irish hymn ''Fatal Flower Garden'' are humble homages, they're not nearly as contagious as Bird's casual folk-pop digressions. It's only April, but the giddy ''Two Way Action'' and lilting ''11:11'' are penciled in on my ''best songs of the year'' list. B+