Dirty Projectors

looks like he has some shows coming up in jan/feb that i will have to try to find the time for.

Surprising how little I've read about this albums considering how many people I know who love it.

ILX is eerily quiet about DP. The new album of Black Flag covers was fun live but I suspect it'll get old quite quickly. The Getty Address is really great though, and I'd probably buy anything with Longstreth singing on it.

I was just about to post on this again, just for the hell of it. I don't know why I do this to myself.

??

this is weird

suxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

really? i've only heard one song

really twisted afro pop

please don't bring black people into this whiter-than-white music.

i heard this. http://thankscity.com/jams/fraid/07_Gimme_Gimme_Gimme.mp3 (link might be down in next day or so)

i guess the guitar could be interpreted as either south african jive filtered through animal collective and that dogg (?) or maybe like a really poppy version of Storm & Stress.

why don't you like it?

you honestly wrote that second sentence in your post and then followed it up with the question "why don't you like it?" and can't figure out the incongruity between the two?

i mean seriously, even discounting the black flag "connection," that description sounds like music i'd never want to hear.

that song is great. i don't know anything about afropop or any of that but i dig this song. nice clean gtr tone and the playing has a nice buttery feel. i jumped a little bit when the drum splatters came in for the first time
xp

the black flag "connection" is the last reason i'd listen to this. the that dogg thing is probably the worst part of the description and i've only ever heard like 2 animal collective songs (and the latest panda bear album which is kinda neat). i used to really like storm and stress. i think we might have different tastes.

also, i have to ask: joel, did you even listen to that song or are you basing your descriptions on some other factors?

i've heard this whole album already, jaxon, as well as previous albums by them. i don't like what i've heard.

i liked s&s's two records but a "poppy version" of them sounds weak.

and animal collective = they might be giants. fuck that.

http://www.daytrotter.com/download/311/id=383

woe, he's playing his guitar upside down

ALL THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS ERUPTING IN BACHATA AND REGGAETON !

in four thousand years rise above #1 will just be a footnote in the backstories for rise above #2 and Johnny Mnemonic

i don't actually think i like this :-/

given the album one listen so far. entirely baffled, i must say. what the hell is it?

I haven't heard this but the Getty Address was fantastic. Especially Jolly Jolly Jolly Ego. It sounds like him and a choir of dodgy tape players.

Not sure about Dirty Projectors. I enjoyed watching the aztec-intensive dvd of the Getty Address but all their stuff seems to wear thin once you get the hang of it.

I just got Getty Address. I like it so far, although it feels a bit too conscious of what it's doing at times. Better than Animal Collective, for sure.

i really like this band, but lately the lyrics really bug me. not even his weird singing voice, just the lyrics themselves. the rest of it is so meticulous and then that part is just kind of phoned in...

It has a bit of that same Dr. Spock baby "look what an eclectic, self-expressive genius I am" thing that annoys me about Animal Collective

you could call it just *being* an eclectic, self-expressive genius.

sorry i am not an easy-to-categorize average artist

wait, are you Dave Longstreth?

s0rr7 1 m38n D8v3 104657r37h

no, i have never even heard this band, i just get tired of the criticism of people being too aware or consious of how they sound. are some people making a record by accident?

yeah

how is being conscious of your sound a bad thing?

talk about cockism

yeah, i'd take overly composed music over another sloppy jam band anyday.

I don't necessarily mean it's over-composed

I know.

Really though, I think the "look at me!" with acts like this is more in the listener who's threatened by like the flamboyant content or something.

I mean wouldn't saying a rapper gave off the vibe "lok at me, I'm an eclectic self-expressive genius" usually be a compliment?

i listened to some of this. i didn't even get the black flag thing at all. sometimes stuff like this seems like it was written with a press release first, just to bait rock writers, then do the album after it.

there's also the possibility that people WANT to make music that sounds different

not that this is the differentest band ever... but compared to a good deal of indie rock they are

i really like this band, but lately the lyrics really bug me. not even his weird singing voice, just the lyrics themselves. the rest of it is so meticulous and then that part is just kind of phoned in...

wait the black flag part of the lyrics ?

uhh what? not all of their songs are black flag covers...i haven't even listened to the one that is

err the one album that is. i was mostly talking about getty address and the glad fact.

When I saw them live I kept thinking "Jesus, shut that guy up and let the girls sing." Then I got a promo of the album (whatever one was before the Black Flag thing) and kept thinking, "Oh, you precious fuck, shut the hell up and let the girls sing."

Oh, and to answer the years-old question: No, the reason that no one wrote about this is not because it was too complicated. It was because if you like complicated music, this is disappointing and if you like poppy music, this is annoying. It hits the same dilettante weirdness level as Animal Collective.

i'm kind of afraid to listen to the black flag covers.

<i>i'm kind of afraid to listen to the black flag covers.</i>

You should be...it's awful stuff.

I mean wouldn't saying a rapper gave off the vibe "lok at me, I'm an eclectic self-expressive genius" usually be a compliment?

-- vadx, Friday, October 5, 2007 4:06 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Link

http://a50.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/57/l_0b1d00fb0cbac50784cbdde0b6718d59.jpg

NO

C'mon, ILM! No love for Rise Above? This is a kick-ass record.

Oh yeah, I played Six Pack on my radio show about a month ago.
Really cool.

i'm revisiting this now (it's getting a whole lot of love around montreal, randomly) and i've decided it's great. more the beginning than the end, though, i think.

"Rise Above" is the best thing on it.

whole album is cool, i agree with k3vin k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzHGYtIqLig

New video from new album with new band (i.e. Lamp Lit Prose touring group). Maia Friedman as lead vocalist and co-lyricist.

P chill and it is growing on me.

That's a nice song. I really loved Bitte Orca and Swing Lo Magellan, but didn't like it when he started changing it up and acting like a creep. Should I revisit?

Lamp Lit Prose was a lot less creepy and very good

yeah the s/t was not very good but lamp lit prose is maybe my favourite dp album

i would characterise the s/t as more jerk than creep

lamp lit prose was recorded all by dave with guest vocalists added. the new record i think is recorded with the band put together to tour lamp lit prose

hadnt realised that overlord was from an EP that came out in March. it's good! there's also a related playlist on Spotify full of jams that they put up w Arthur Russell, 70s Dylan, judee sill etc

there's another EP on its way, this is the single from it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtAcgEtY_CM

with three other EPs also set for release this year. the gimmick is a different band member sings lead on each, except the last which will have everyone

The Windows Open playlist is a real treat.

I had a big hunch they were gonna do EPs with each of the singers taking the lead a month ago, especially after Windows Open was all Maya and it came from a such as it was derived from that Portland indie-folk root of the DPs catalogue

I hope they do a bananas orchestral EP amongst the later releases too

3rd EP out today. really into these

I love this song so much
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyU5dHmmFmE

With the latest releases it feels like the new band has come into its own and stopped trying to sound like the band with Amber and Angel. I did love a few tracks on Lamp Lit Prose but it still felt a little like Dave was trying to keep something going that wasn't there anymore.

Holy Mackerel is such a jam. I like stripped-down bossa nova DPs, but also the full-on electronic production too. He's gotten so good at it and Lamp Lit Prose is a high point.

agree his dancey/R&B-style production is ace

I was recently with my aging millennial friends who stopped listening to much new music by 2012, and trying to convince them that Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend, and Grizzly Bear had all released their best albums within the last three years.

With the latest releases it feels like the new band has come into its own and stopped trying to sound like the band with Amber and Angel. I did love a few tracks on Lamp Lit Prose but it still felt a little like Dave was trying to keep something going that wasn't there anymore.

The new band was put together after Lamp Lit Prose, which was almost all Dave and guest vocalists doing a song each with him.

I think the new stuff feels quite related to The Glad Fact era, except each of the elements is way more developed just by being a more experienced writer. Super excited to see what the next two EPs hold.

I am very into the new EPs, mostly because Felicia is amazing. "Super Joao" is somewhat disappointing to me because, well, 'the bossanova mood is not created'

I'm very curious about the songwriting process, since it feels very obvious what is a Dave melody and what isn't, no matter who's singing it (like, even when Rihanna is the one singing it).

the press release said that dave wrote everything for these EPs, except for the lyrics which were a collaboration between him and whichever band member is singing lead for each EP

felicia's other band gemma i really good, i've been really into their album feeling's not a tempo lately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZtETeYGVYM

I read that DL collaborated with Kyle from Little Wings on the lyrics for Super João

I hope they do a bananas orchestral EP amongst the later releases too

― in twelve parts (lamonti), Thursday, May 7, 2020 8:24 PM (four months ago) bookmarkflaglink

✓

Ha I was just thinking of that prediction. Will the last one be a big groovy Bitte Orca vibe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzhCV1nla7g

last EP out soon

love this one

the tiny desk concert was lovely.

great track

the full 5EPs works quite nicely as a whole, it's all pleasantly relaxed while covering quite a few different sounds yet remains cohesive

I got my box set during the week. It's a beautiful package, worth the investment made in March!

Does anyone else find the album (particularly the Earth Crisis segment) profoundly depressing/anxiety-provoking, or do I need to have a talk with my psychiatrist

super joao and earth crisis playlists now up on spotify

Both playlists are great.

Earth Crisis one is a big compendium of a lot of the stuff DL has mentioned over the years as influential on his composing for chamber ensembles, lots of Mahler lieder.

The Super Joao won has lots of great Brazilian stuff on it (unsurprisingly)

The Brazilian one is great, ty

Does anyone else find the album (particularly the Earth Crisis segment) profoundly depressing/anxiety-provoking, or do I need to have a talk with my psychiatrist

― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 1 December 2020 12:29 (one week ago) link

fwiw, not with this specifically, but I have definitely had that experience where at particular times, I'll be hyper-sensitive to particular records.

first is — i’m moving the newsletter over to substack! i’ve become a big fan of the platform and am excited to be a part of it. if you’ve been subscribed to the newsletter, there will be no change. the substack is called well-tempered zealot, and it’ll just be a cozy, maybe slightly messy, little corner of the internet where i can share stuff. melodic amoebae, chord petri dishes, lowercase rants, notes to self, crayon drawings, poems photographed in the mirror so you can only read them backwards. that kind of thing. i won’t post too often; once every week-or-two-ish? from time to time i’ll update — or my handsome & equanimous managers david newgarden and jake abrams will update — with pertinent information like show and album announcements.

we’ll see what kind of a flow we get into. i want to keep the stakes low but i’m secretly very excited.

...over the weekend i had the pleasure of participating in a show in los angeles celebrating the life and work of david berman, the poet and songwriter behind the bands silver jews and purple mountains. it was organized, on the occasion of what would’ve been berman’s 58th birthday (1/4/2025), by the folks behind jokermen, the best podcast on the internet for deep dives into the oeuvres of the deep divers (by which i mean great songwriters). ana nersessian, who i went to school with twenty years ago and hadn’t seen in forever, read harmony korine’s 2019 eulogy for david. it was beautiful and wrenching and mind-blowing, and if it exists anywhere on the internet i encourage you to seek it out.
i played a short set of three favorite DCB numbers — guard my bed, black and brown blues, and (need to) random rules. next morning i tumbled out of bed straight into a couple microphones so i could record ‘em.. so please enjoy this, my belated DCB birthday covers EP, for streaming or free download:

And the orchestral record is done - https://dirtyprojectors.bandcamp.com/album/song-of-the-earth

first is — i’m moving the newsletter over to substack! i’ve become a big fan of the platform and am excited to be a part of it. if you’ve been subscribed to the newsletter, there will be no change. the substack is called well-tempered zealot

Honestly everything about this is just screams 'red flag.'

Why??

Listening parties for new alb, also incl solo performances live

https://www.dirtyprojectors.net/concerts?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

after the album, i’ll play a solo set of songs old and new. if you have requests, throw ‘em in the comments or message to me on this platform. (i brook no requests from instagram or twitter. only substack).
dirtyprojectors at substack dot com

we’re only doing this in new york and los angeles for now, and attendance to each event is limited to 155 (nyc) and 250 (la). ticket is at the close-to-fugazi-adjusted-for-inflation price of $20.

...the soundsystem will be very good. (in brooklyn, in particular — it’s an OJAS). we’re gonna chill and listen to this crazy thing. See ya there!

Anyone read that New Yorker profile?

I found the profile fascinating though I’ve never knowingly heard the band and don’t intend to change that.

I read it. Must admit that my first reaction to seeing it was "a Dirty Projectors profile? in *2025*??"

Ha...I'm a fan of the music, and having been online in the Hipster Runoff/Pitchfork era I was familiar with all the beats. Not super surprised to see it since they have a prestige orchestral climate change-themed record coming out. I guess I was a tiny bit surprised that the tone was so, idk, skeptical? Mostly house NYer style, and all the quotes from his former collaborators where interesting, but then the bits like this:

At one point, trying to convey the song’s intended energy, he played me the opening to Nirvana’s “Floyd the Barber,” then pulled up photographs of a Butoh performance. This was inscrutable.

Idk, that doesn't seem particularly inscrutable to me, using artistic comparisons to capture the feeling of what someone is trying to capture in music.

Had, I had the same thought Jordan, he's clearly showing two influences, not really that inscrutable to me.

I knew the vague outlines of the split from Coffman, but I didn't realize quite how many bridges Longstreth has managed to burn. It seems like very few wanted to talk about him at all, the quote of "I will no long perform unpaid labor on Dave's behalf" was telling.

For sure. I did enjoy the snapshot of late '00s Brooklyn, where getting your indie prog band to rehearse for 12 hours a day to become insanely proficient was both economically viable and a worthwhile investment.

(although today you would just put it on social media and could probably spin it into something, chops are maybe more popular than ever).

that reminds me of that Grizzly Bear feature that Nabisco wrote for NYMag in 2012 that asked how indie-rock success at that time actually translated economically. (conclusion essentially being that they were by no means starving but also not doing as well as some people might have thought.)

Whole alb is on Bandcamp (and elsewhere)
https://dirtyprojectors.bandcamp.com/album/song-of-the-earth?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

https://pwelverumandsun.substack.com/p/live-with-dirty-projectors?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=1177739&post_id=160811859&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_content=watch_now_button&r=clgib&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

(I confess that I didn't get very far with that).

Song of the Earth Instrumentals out now---haven't listened to this version yet, but strongly suspect I'll enjoy it more than when I had to lean around those vocals--whole thing is here (and on other streamers)
https://dirtyprojectors.bandcamp.com/album/song-of-the-earth-instrumentals?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2255969643_10.jpg

Dave sez:

painting by kyle thomas

song of the earth instrumentals

they say a song is a landscape, but if you add even a single voice it becomes a portrait. so we’re rewilding the meadows. for an album inspired by natural places, this is an organic development. Song of the Earth Without Us.

i love listening this way because it feels closer to the experience of dreaming. melody floats, harmony shimmers, rhythms swirl. words, those tethers into the hard world of discrete materials, are nowhere.