Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (album review)
Over the course of rather prolific musical output, a key idea of one David Longstreth seems to be that of both breaking songs down and building them back up. Although he certainly has an ear for writing catchy songs, he’s never been one to lay something down that’s straightforward, preferring instead on the twisted path, or the musical knot that requires a bit of unraveling to understand. On The Getty Address he recorded musical pieces from 25 different people before he went into the studio and patched everything together around a lyrical framework that was bizarre and semi esoteric. Then, on Rise Above, he led Dirty Projectors on a completely deconstructed re-imagining of Black Flag’s classic Damaged.
A lot of those quirks are still apparent on Bitte Orca, but at the same time this is easily the most digestible thing that Longstreth has been involved with to date. Perhaps it’s because for the first time ever, he’s actually had the same band lineup together for more than a single release, and perhaps it’s just a natural progression. Regardless, it contains the sort of amazing songs that should finally push the group through to a bit more notice.
As in the past, the first thing to expect is to basically expect everything. Opener “Cannibal Resource” ripples with some gorgeous electric guitar off the bat, then melts into a hitch-and-start number with acoustic guitar flourishes, live and electronic drums, hand-claps, and Longstreth’s usual warble (with female backup vocals). “Temecula Sunrise” is even more odd, moving with the sort of time signature that almost sounds like the group is making everything up on the fly, and once again guitars, vocals, and various instrumentation fly in from every angle, somehow managing to coalesce into something that’s hummable.
A major change on the album is that Longstreth actually hands over lead vocal duties several times to Angel Deradoorian (who’s a talented songwriter in her own right), and it provides some variety that actually strengthens the album as a whole. The first single “Stillness Is the Move” is a perfect example, as a live and electronic drums again combine while guitars mimic vocal melodies and vice versa. By the time a graceful string accompaniment arrives about two-thirds of the way through, it’s morphed into an absolute stunner (meanwhile, Longstreth doesn’t even make an appearance on vocals).
“Stillness Is The Move” – The Dirty Projectors
As mentioned above, one of the ways that Longstreth messes with the listener is through both subtle blending of vocals and instrumentation and almost dizzying blitzes of the same thing. “Useful Chamber” is a perfect example of both, as vocal phrases fade into the mix at times, modulating and pitching as if they’re being played by a keyboard, broken-down sections find only a lone drum machine and a quiet choir breathing in and out together, and sparse sections lead into furious guitar and drum explosions. Stylistically, it’s all over the place, morphing from minimal electronic pop into fuzzed-out indie rock. At the same time, it’s incredibly catchy and begs for replay.
“Useful Chamber” – The Dirty Projectors
And really, those latter few statements can largely be applied to Bitte Orca as a whole. It’s one of those rare releases that makes you sit up at attention on first listen, but also has enough layers that it unfurls new little nuggets for many subsequent spins. I have no hesitations calling it one of the best albums of the year so far.
June 28th, 2009 at 7:43 am
Have you heard the new Grizzly Bear–took me about 1o spins but I’m head over heels. This album on the other hand was really exciting for 10 spins and now I can’t listen to it anymore.
June 28th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I haven’t heard the Grizzly Bear, but I’ve heard from a friend similar things as what you stated. It’s definitely on my short list of things to grab here in the near future. Maybe a review of it will pop up down the road.
December 20th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
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