Audioholic Media

What a turnaround this new Dirty Projectors album is. I was first exposed to David Longstreth’s eccentric Brooklyn band of musical compatriots a few years ago by one of the guys from Elizabeth and the Catapult. At first listen, their music hit me like a Fellini film– I didn’t really know what was going on overall, but it was so deliberate and well-orchestrated from moment-to-moment that I was ensnared and enchanted by its beauty. Most of my friends, unfortunately, couldn’t make it past the “puzzled” stage concerning this band up to now, but luckily that problem has been addressed, with aplomb, on Dirty Projectors’ latest full-length, Bitte Orca. While there are still moments aplenty of startled head-scratching to be had, overall this album is a progressed work of a man and a band at full control of their creative arsenal, and any head-scratching is far outweighed by moments of monumental musical majesty, both at full volume and in serene stillness.

The album opens with the most accessible Dirty Projectors track I’ve heard to date, “Cannibal Resource,” a sturdy head-nodding slight-shuffle rover with surprising rock muscle. However it doesn’t take long for Longstreth to demonstrate why he lists himself in liner notes as “musical director,” and soon his Byrne-like tremolo tenor is joined at all sides by quick, sparkling vocal flourishes, deployed in surround sound for maximum effect.

The musical “direction” is dazzlingly evident throughout the entire album, from the gossamer acoustic tones and time/tempo shift of “Temecula Sunrise” to the epic, multi-part prog freakouts on “Useful Chamber,” to the amazing vocal orchestration which pops up absolutely everywhere, always in the perfect place and measured amount. Check out the second half of “Remade Horizon” for some dizzying multi-vocal vertigo, made more jaw-dropping by the fact they can reproduce it live. Sometimes the eccentricities of Longstreth’s arrangements can get a bit hazy– like trying to focus on the landscape outside the window of a speeding train– but they are always singularly unique, and wouldn’t be heard by any other band, thanks in big part to his band mates.

Longstreth’s longtime collaborators Amber Coffman (guitar) and Angel Deradoorian (keys, bass, guitar, samples, etc.) are each possessed of tremendous vocal versatility and cunning, which are amply evidenced by the deftly-arranged vocal instrumentations which so strikingly signify the group’s sound (the unit is rounded out by singer Haley Dekle, bassist Nat Baldwin and drummer Brian Mcomber). Coffman gets a show-stopping star turn (and writing credit) on “Stillness Is the Move,” letting a tight R&B backbeat propel a siren-shaking keyboard line out into space before her impressive vocal range takes over, assuring her love of their enduring romance with stratospheric vocal runs and the catchiest chorus this band has ever produced. Gently balancing this soul powerhouse cut is the serene simplicity of “Two Doves,” a feathery acoustic ballad with transcendentally fluttering string arrangements and Angel D’s soft, soothing siren song, a real showcase for Longstreth’s compositional range in a stripped-down setting as well as for Deradoorian’s affectingly gorgeous vocal. Angel also makes masterful employment of her keyboard throughout the album, from the snaky synths opening up “Useful Chamber” to the oriental tones of its followup, “No Intention,” to the ambient undertones of “Remade Horizon,” framing unassuming acoustic guitars and thunderous drum flurries in a warm sonic halo.

Not to be outdone by his own arrangements, David Longstreth also brings quite a bit of guitar playing to this album, both in his crystalline acoustic plucking and his shivering electric lines. The dry, almost arrhythmic solo in “No Intention” sounds almost giddy in its longing to break free of the song’s confines, and the dynamic freak-outs in “Useful Chamber” and “Remade Horizon” spring up like mammoths through the ice, rampaging wildly before being soothed by the imminent lullaby of lush vocal beds.

By the time resolving album closer “Fluorescent Half Dome” ambles into the speakers with its hazy sunset glow and percussion stabs, an entire continent’s worth of musical landscape has preceded it, with well-adorned hills and valleys making for a unique, well-composed journey of staggering variety. Longstreth uses deliberate, minimal instrumentation and orchestration to achieve incredible, uncluttered results, and his focus on organic musical arrangement instead of studio trickery both ensures that these songs were made honestly and lovingly, and that they will be amazing to behold in concert. Check out this album now, before it tops all the “best-of” lists in your favorite newsstand magazines.

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For more information on Dirty Projectors, visit myspace.com/dirtyprojectors.
To obtain your own copy of Bitte Orca in CD, LP, MP3 or cassette format, visit the Domino Records website.