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Showing posts with label dirty projectors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dirty projectors. Show all posts
Uncovered Covers: The Dirty Projectors Cover Usher
Album Review: Dirty Projectors - About to Die EP
2012
has been a prolific year for Dave Longstreth and Dirty Projectors. First with
the full length release of Swing Lo Magellan in July, followed by the
release in September of Longstreth's short film Hi Custodian, featuring
members of Dirty Projectors along with music from Swing Lo Magellan, and
now a follow up EP, About To Die, released just four months after the
aforementioned full-length. About To Die is a kind of spin-off of Swing
Lo Magellan as it shares its title and first track with the second song
from the LP released earlier this year.
Longstreth, lead
singer and primary creative entity of the band, admits in an
interview that Swing Lo Magellan was more of a collection of individual
songs with little to tie them together thematically. This was due to a number
of factors such as the amount of time over which the album's songs were written
and recorded, (over a year), as well as a conscious effort by Longstreth to
write less self-concsiously and exude a more raw and personal quality in his
music. About To Die continues in this more personal style, but acts as
a departure from thematic non connectivity of songs found on SLM. If
each song on SLM represents an individual thematic direction, then About
To Die is a distinct choice to follow one of these single themes more
comprehensively.
About
To Die begins with electronic drum samples and hand
claps. These are joined by gentle plucks and strums on strings. The percussion
develops fragmented and erratic, while oddly keeping a consistent rhythm. The
second track, "While You're Here," is beautiful in it's minimalism
and the raw emotional energy of Longstreth's vocals. Just strings and vocals
wrapped up and moving with an almost Disney quality. "Here Til It Says I'm
Not," follows the flighty second track and immediately grounds the
listener with the entrance of driving and dryly recorded drums. This song is
the most traditional sounding pop song of the four. Lovely harmonized oohs
materialize from behind this groove revealing this song as a doo-wop inspired
ballad à la Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground. In the choruses, the drums are
just a fraction of a beat behind the rest of the song offering a purposeful,
lazy kind of delivery that adds to the laid back mood of the song. The EP wraps
up with the final track, "Simple Request," which meanders along with
psychedelic stylings and fairly heavy and slightly distorted drums.
Longstreth's
vocals on About To Die are soulful with a bit of squeakyness to them.
They scratch and break and are traditionally flawed but charming because of
this and because of their honest
delivery. He howls with the vocal inflections of a pop star singing the National Anthem. But whereas the pop star is showing off their tonal mastery of their
vocal chords, Longstreth's inflections are emotional reactions to the music and
lyrical content of these songs.
Lyrically,
the thematic overarch of About To Die, is existential, possibly in the
presence of one's own realized mortality. The songs on the record develop
inquisitively, exploring ideas about being "here," and being
"alive," with a distinction that however closely related these words
may be, they are not synonymous.
About To
Die was a very pleasantly arranged short story
of a record, totaling just over twelve minutes in length. It comes and goes and
the EP's downfall is that it only whets one's appetite and (to continue this
metaphor) leaves the listener hungry for more. However, if the band continues at their current rate
of production, there should hopefully be something new for Dirty Projectors
fans to digest not too far into the future.
Grade: A
Pitchfork Music Festival 2012: Favorite Sets
The Pitchfork Music Festival came and went this past weekend in Chicago, and quite frankly, we are pretty tired. Despite being in Union Park, a smaller park than Grant Park, site of Lollapalooza, all that walking from stage to stage under the hot Chicago summer sun takes alot out of you. We were able to cross a few artists off our bucket lists this past weekend, while we left quite surprised by others including King Krule's very underrated set and Lady Gaga joining Kendrick Lamar onstage (Did that actually happen?). With three different writers in attendance (Mac, James, Tom) with different likes in music, we figured we would each give a few of our favorite sets from this past weekend.
Mac
The first half of 2012 seems to belong to Japandroids. Their sophmore release, Celebration Rock, has been getting endless praise, and judging by the size of the audience awaiting the Vancouver duo's set at the Blue Stage, the hype has not died one bit. Like every act at the Blue Stage, sound issues seemed to slightly delay the set, but once ready, singer/guitarist Bryan King charmingly greeted the crowd and assured everyone in attendance that they will play as many songs as time allowed. Really any tune could have kicked off their set, as the band isn't known much for slower songs, but they chose the blistering "Adrenaline Nightshift" off Celebration Rock. As a light but steady rain pleasantly cooled off the packed crowd, the duo raced through most of Celebration Rock, including stand out the exhilerating "Fire's Highway" and "Younger Us." Japandroids exhibited an infectious energy on stage that even the most stoic concert goer (yours truly) couldn't help but get lost in. They ended with the one-two punch of the song of the year contender "House that Heaven Built" and Post-Nothing's "Young Hearts Spark Fire," setting the bar quite high for the rest of the weekend.
Dirty Projectors fascinate me. The harmonies, the odd notes, everything about them had me overly excited to catch their set Friday evening. Their latest album, Swing Lo Magellan, has been on constant rotation on my iPod for the past couple weeks, so I was anxious to hear the new songs in a live setting. Somehow, the band managed to sound even better in person. The vocals of front man Dave Longstreth, and the trio of female singers including Haley Dell, Olga Bell, and most notable Amber Coffman, translated perfectly to the festival setting. The rhythm section, featuring frequent Vault musician Nat Baldwin was also stellar, and at times could easily have turned the art rockers into a jam band. While the set consisted mostly of tunes off Swing Lo, the crowd was most receptive to tracks off 2009's Bitte Orca, including "Useful Chamber", "No Intention", and the Coffman standout "Stillness is the Move." The set ended on a tender note with "Impregnable Question", my favorite track off the new album, and the sun slowly set behind the Red Stage.
The first two days of the festival saw occasional, yet HEAVY rain fall, causing us to frequently look to the sky, trying to find some hope that the sun would be coming to our rescue. The third day though, we got exactly what we asked for as temps of 90+ degrees proceeded to absolutely roast the concert goers, causing many to collapse from heat exhaustion. That rain sure didn't seem all of that bad now! As we managed to keep hydrated, Real Estate played what would be the most weather appropriate set of the festival. The New Jersey beach rockers laid back vibe perfectly matched the sweltering heat. Focusing mostly on tunes from their 2011 release Days, the band opened with their slowest tune of the set, the Stone Roses esque "Green Aisles". From there on, the set remained up beat, as other slower tunes like "Fake Blues" were given a shot of adrenaline, at least in Real Estate terms that is. Between the teasing of the thirsty crowd as they chanted "Budweiser Sprite, do you feel alright?" on the shimmering "Suburban Beverage" to the closing of the set with the epic "All the Same", the Jersey boys kept our mind off the heat, at least for an hour or so. For further Real Estate coverage, make sure to check out our interview with bass player Alex Bleeker later this week.
James
Hot Chip (Red Stage, 7:25pm, Saturday, July 14th)
Hot Chip played the bet set of the weekend at the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival. Arguably elder statesmen of group of artists, they performed a flawless set of banging dance tunes. Placating the crowd with recognizable favorites and delighting brains with new soon-to-be hits from their new album. Face of the group Alexis Taylor appeared to be feeling fabulous, and he certainly looked pretty fly as well
donned in Timbs, baggy pants, and his usual bling. The group’s unity was the most integral part of their performance, which to some extent has been a concern for fans between the last two albums. Any such fears were dispelled during the sunset that evening. They turned the soggy grounds of Saturday at Pitchfork into a rocking dance party that was impossible to not enjoy.
Grimes (Blue Stage, 8:40pm, Saturday, July 14th)
Living up to all the hype was Claire Boucher, aka Grimes. She took a night-off from tour with the Full Flex Express Tour featuring Skrillex and Diplo to play her unique fantasy-pop for the masses of Pitchfork followers as night fell over p4k on Saturday. She exceeded everyone’s expectations. Claire was one of the most true-to-herself performers I have ever seen. She invited co-producer and friend Blood Diamonds to perform with her and also Molly Soda and Claire Van Eijk, Chicago girls of Tumblr fame to be her back-up dancers. It was a simple onstage party with soft white light focused on the foursome nearly the entire time, no bells-and-whistles to speak of. The kinky honesty of Claire came through as clearly as your reflection on a unicorns’s shinny horn. She made cool guttural noises between songs and during songs that I would imagine her to do regularly in a more comfortable setting. It didn’t matter whether the audience liked the music she was playing or not, because she was just being herself.
Vampire Weekend (Green Stage, 8:30pm, Sunday, July 15th)
In keeping with the trend for this weekend it was the most seasoned artists that found the most success when performing. Even though Ezra Koenig admitted they hadn’t played in a while, let alone in a festival setting, they didn’t appear to have missed a beat. Most of their music is fairly upbeat and this act was a gem that Pitchfork selected to close out their festival. Playing against no other acts, the final band Vampire Weekend sent shockwaves of positive vibrations to everyone in attendance. The feeling of positivity was mutual and was surprisingly reciprocated by the diverse crowd. It was the perfect final chapter to an adventurous weekend of music.
Purity Ring (Blue Stage, 8:20pm,
Friday, July 13th)
Purity Ring put on an marvelous performance, or as lead singer Megan James described it, the biggest audience they’ve ever played for. The Edmonton duo ran through just about every song on their debut album, Shrines due out July 24 (which by the way is streaming over at NPR now), and James was her usual vibrant self, dancing under strange cloud-like lamps, and hitting a bass drum which also flashed on every thud. The visual stage presence that this group exhibits only capitalizes on their already effervescent and enchanting melodies. The group also played a sold out after-show that night at Shubas which we attended, and they only proved what we already knew, this group is special.
Cloud Nothings (Red Stage, 1:45pm, Saturday, July 14th)
As much as it sucked that Cloud Nothings had to end their set early due to heavy rain interfering with sound equipment, it was exciting to see how they persevered to extend their set long as they could. It seemed that the louder they played and the louder Dylan Baldi screamed, “I thought I would be more than this” the heavier the rain crashed down on our heads, soaking the audience in a matter of minutes. Many people sought refuge under trees, but there was no escaping the downpour. As the sound cut out half way through “Plans”, the group refused to relent and thrashed on their instruments via amps. It was compelling. The highlight of the set was actually talking to Dylan afterward. He confirmed his plans to collaborate with Danny Brown: “Yeah, we met up...we want to work together.”
Ty Segall (Red Stage, 3:20pm, Sunday, July 15th)
Ty Segall played at 3:20 on Sunday, easily the best day as far as weather went, and he brought every part dreamy and crowd-surfing melody, playing swiftly, trying to pack as many songs into the half-hour set as possible. The crowd thrashed, Segall stage-dove, and every one was happy and supplied with plenty of water on the sweltering day.
To see videos from our favorite sets and all sets for that matter, check out Pitchfork's post fest video coverage here.
James
Hot Chip played the bet set of the weekend at the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival. Arguably elder statesmen of group of artists, they performed a flawless set of banging dance tunes. Placating the crowd with recognizable favorites and delighting brains with new soon-to-be hits from their new album. Face of the group Alexis Taylor appeared to be feeling fabulous, and he certainly looked pretty fly as well
donned in Timbs, baggy pants, and his usual bling. The group’s unity was the most integral part of their performance, which to some extent has been a concern for fans between the last two albums. Any such fears were dispelled during the sunset that evening. They turned the soggy grounds of Saturday at Pitchfork into a rocking dance party that was impossible to not enjoy.
Living up to all the hype was Claire Boucher, aka Grimes. She took a night-off from tour with the Full Flex Express Tour featuring Skrillex and Diplo to play her unique fantasy-pop for the masses of Pitchfork followers as night fell over p4k on Saturday. She exceeded everyone’s expectations. Claire was one of the most true-to-herself performers I have ever seen. She invited co-producer and friend Blood Diamonds to perform with her and also Molly Soda and Claire Van Eijk, Chicago girls of Tumblr fame to be her back-up dancers. It was a simple onstage party with soft white light focused on the foursome nearly the entire time, no bells-and-whistles to speak of. The kinky honesty of Claire came through as clearly as your reflection on a unicorns’s shinny horn. She made cool guttural noises between songs and during songs that I would imagine her to do regularly in a more comfortable setting. It didn’t matter whether the audience liked the music she was playing or not, because she was just being herself.
In keeping with the trend for this weekend it was the most seasoned artists that found the most success when performing. Even though Ezra Koenig admitted they hadn’t played in a while, let alone in a festival setting, they didn’t appear to have missed a beat. Most of their music is fairly upbeat and this act was a gem that Pitchfork selected to close out their festival. Playing against no other acts, the final band Vampire Weekend sent shockwaves of positive vibrations to everyone in attendance. The feeling of positivity was mutual and was surprisingly reciprocated by the diverse crowd. It was the perfect final chapter to an adventurous weekend of music.
Tom
Friday, July 13th)
Purity Ring put on an marvelous performance, or as lead singer Megan James described it, the biggest audience they’ve ever played for. The Edmonton duo ran through just about every song on their debut album, Shrines due out July 24 (which by the way is streaming over at NPR now), and James was her usual vibrant self, dancing under strange cloud-like lamps, and hitting a bass drum which also flashed on every thud. The visual stage presence that this group exhibits only capitalizes on their already effervescent and enchanting melodies. The group also played a sold out after-show that night at Shubas which we attended, and they only proved what we already knew, this group is special.
As much as it sucked that Cloud Nothings had to end their set early due to heavy rain interfering with sound equipment, it was exciting to see how they persevered to extend their set long as they could. It seemed that the louder they played and the louder Dylan Baldi screamed, “I thought I would be more than this” the heavier the rain crashed down on our heads, soaking the audience in a matter of minutes. Many people sought refuge under trees, but there was no escaping the downpour. As the sound cut out half way through “Plans”, the group refused to relent and thrashed on their instruments via amps. It was compelling. The highlight of the set was actually talking to Dylan afterward. He confirmed his plans to collaborate with Danny Brown: “Yeah, we met up...we want to work together.”
Ty Segall played at 3:20 on Sunday, easily the best day as far as weather went, and he brought every part dreamy and crowd-surfing melody, playing swiftly, trying to pack as many songs into the half-hour set as possible. The crowd thrashed, Segall stage-dove, and every one was happy and supplied with plenty of water on the sweltering day.
To see videos from our favorite sets and all sets for that matter, check out Pitchfork's post fest video coverage here.
Photos by Tom Dennis, Leigh Ann Hines, and Rebecca Smeyne.
Pitchfork Music Festival 2012: Day 1 Photos
Lower Dens
Willis Earl Beal
Japandroids
Dirty Projectors
Purity Ring
All Photos by Tom Dennis
Album Review: Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Since their inception in 2002, Dave Longstreth and Dirty Projectors have made music that is staunchly independent, and they rarely keep things the same from one release to the next. The experimental streak that defines their sound has set them apart from other contemporary indie-rock bands, and the most common comparisons they draw are to greats like David Byrne and Frank Zappa, though Longstreth has admitted he’s not a fan of the latter. No matter who they sound like one thing is certain, Dirty Projectors are the only ones around today making music that sounds like this,
Their newest album, Swing Lo Magellan, is a continuance of that independent streak. This time around Longstreth did much of the songwriting on his own while isolated in Upstate NY, writing something like 70 different tunes before eventually trimming that number down. As usual the off-kilter vocal melodies that typify much of their work abound, and tracks like ‘Offspring Are Blank’, ‘Gun Has No Trigger’ and ‘Dance For You’ are easily remembered.
The album’s most endearing quality is a sense of spontaneity that is present from one end to the next. You really get the idea that much of this music was created on the fly in the spirit of fun. The sunny 60’s-kissed pop of the title track is the most readily apparent example of this carefree nature, the Projectors are having a good time and it’s easy to hear.
In the end, Swing Lo Magellan may go down as the band’s most accessible record, which is certainly not to say that they’ve held anything back. The music is still hard to pin down and full of unique flourishes, but there is a level of simplicity to everything that is more welcoming than anything else Dirty Projectors have done. They may reach a wider audience with this release, but they didn’t compromise who they are in the process.
Their newest album, Swing Lo Magellan, is a continuance of that independent streak. This time around Longstreth did much of the songwriting on his own while isolated in Upstate NY, writing something like 70 different tunes before eventually trimming that number down. As usual the off-kilter vocal melodies that typify much of their work abound, and tracks like ‘Offspring Are Blank’, ‘Gun Has No Trigger’ and ‘Dance For You’ are easily remembered.
The album’s most endearing quality is a sense of spontaneity that is present from one end to the next. You really get the idea that much of this music was created on the fly in the spirit of fun. The sunny 60’s-kissed pop of the title track is the most readily apparent example of this carefree nature, the Projectors are having a good time and it’s easy to hear.
In the end, Swing Lo Magellan may go down as the band’s most accessible record, which is certainly not to say that they’ve held anything back. The music is still hard to pin down and full of unique flourishes, but there is a level of simplicity to everything that is more welcoming than anything else Dirty Projectors have done. They may reach a wider audience with this release, but they didn’t compromise who they are in the process.
Grade: B+
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