Dirty Projectors
How have I missed the Dirty Projector’s last 8 or so recordings? They’re fantastic. Not too many bands can make pop music that’s beautiful to listen to, but also intensely pleasurable to try and understand. Random examples Beirut and Sparklehorse spring to mind, although we’re stretching the definition of pop a bit here.
Arty indie rock can often be a patchy affair, careering between inspired ideas and makeshift moments. Bitte Orca is a complete album, with its lighthearted melodies as integral to the sound as its complex vocal acrobatics. And when your female vocalists are called Amber and Angel, you’re already making a statement.
In an interview with Pitchfork, band leader Dave Longstreth said “I like music that is larger than life, and can overwhelm as it beguiles. I mean, you know, if you had to describe it in words. Of course the great advantage of music is that you don’t have to.”
Since I don’t have that advantage, I’ll have to say things like “dissonant time signatures duel with prickly drums, ethereal vocals dance with eccentric guitar.” Or more simply, “you’ll love this album, go buy it.”
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Dirty Projectors
Bitte Orca
(Domino Records 2009)
(First published in Mail & Guardian)
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