Obscure Wisdom
Dave Longstreth has been making amazing albums, as Dirty Projectors, for most of this decade. They haven't always been easy-listening, but his idiosyncratic explorations of self-styled quote-unquote "Americana" have found magic in their claustrophobic four-track fug and hysterical crooning (2003's The Glad Fact), in their stately acoustic poetry (2004's Slaves' Graves and Ballads), in their pointillist orchestral cut-ups (2005's The Geddy Address), in their half-collapsing copping of West African guitar-pop (2007's Rise Above). All the while, Longstreth has remained unafraid of running with concepts across whole albums, be that Life at Yale, the American Civil War, Don Henley on a Peyote Trip, or Black Flag Reimagined from Memory.
Being a long-time Longstreth fan has, in many ways, been like following Animal Collective. Even when Dirty Projectors have been at their most obscure, it was clear that this was, in some oddball way, a pop-band. And, moreso, you always got the sense that they were moving forward, heading somewhere.
It wouldn't be too trite to suggest that this once-unknown destination may've been, all along, Bitte Orca. The seventh Dirty Projectors album is a culmination of the many varied, particular, peculiar strains of hipster musicology Longstreth has thus far explored. But just bigger, brighter, bolder. More confident and rich, more ridiculous and fun. It's a grand, irrepressible pop record; one that can't be —as so many prior DP LPs have been— ignored or overlooked. It's, by far, one of 2009's best records.
Another Even-Higher Mountain
Bitte Orca's breakout-album calling-card is, clearly, its lead single, "Stillness is the Move." With a startling, star-making lead vocal turn from guitarist Amber Coffman, it's an ecstatic R&B jam beamed in from an alternate universe. Recorded in crystal-clear ultra hi-fi, it finds Longstreth using the studio with precision, creating an uncluttered, incredibly rhythmic composition whose shuddering sub-bass and bright percussion lurch low with a hydraulic bounce, whilst splattering, irregular guitar-licks and a vivid string-section pirouette through the trebles.
Whilst the other songs, herein, don't scale such heights of pop glory, Bitte Orca is filled with moments that —like hearing Coffman hit those impossibly-high notes in "Stillness is the Move"— are amazing, almost shocking.
Longstreth's guitar 'solo' in the handclap-splattered "No Intention" is striking: a spasmodic, tourettic cycle of double-tracked notes whose fretboard flutters sound, strangely, like a waterfall. In the shape-shifting "Temecula Sunrise," as the lyrics sing strange things like "all you gotta do is help out with the chores and dishes/and I know you will!" (not to mention "a couple of Brown Finches," a sly reference for old-time, Glad Fact-lovin' fans), Longstreth, Coffman, and bassist Angel Deradoorian sing in harmonies particularly pure. Which, for those who've stuck by Longstreth's oft-untuneful warbling across many albums, is a revelation in itself.
Bitte Orca! Orca Bitte!
And the best unexpected moment of all comes in pseudo-title-track "Useful Chamber," where the sweet, sinuous, minimalist keytone-pop slides into meadows of folkie fingerpicking, before the whole explodes into a chorus of metal-esque proportions; a mammoth, in-the-red, overdriven riff sounding like it's trying to fill a stadium, whilst Longstreth yelps "Bitte Orca! Orca Bitte!" like this bizarre German/aquatic pairing is the height of lyrical meaning. This chorus makes the album title an exclamation; something to shout from rooftops.
After listening to the LP, it's hard not to want to exclaim its name, to sing its praises to anyone willing to listen. All nine of the album's compositions harbor unexpected moments; change directions radically, pursue peculiar sonorities, or mismatch competing polyrhythms. It is, without doubt, a constantly thrilling, infinitely rewarding listen. For longtime Longstreth lovers or those new to the cause, Bitte Orca plays like one longplaying celebration. No more toiling in obscurity, no more remaining in the shadows: Dirty Projectors' time to shine is now.
Record Label: Domino
Release Date: 9 June 2009
