Dirty Projectors

Dirty Projectors were recommended to me by a friend with questionable taste, so I naturally steered well clear for a considerable amount of time. However, I happened to stumble across them at Glastonbury Festival in 2010: they played on Sunday at the Park Stage and right then and there I had to admit defeat. They were delightful… a sure-cure for any weary festivalgoer suffering on the final day of a raucous weekend. Jangly guitars and steady beats accompanied by strong lead vocals and carefully timed harmonies really lift your spirits and get you grooving to their original and somewhat indefinable sound. For this set they played songs spanning their whole discography (at the time they had released an impressive six albums since 2002!) but with a main focus on 2009’s ‘Bitte Orca’. Stand out songs included what I later discovered to be a collaboration with David Byrne of Talking Heads named “Knotty Pine” and the intro to “Stillness is the move.” Aside from seeing Dirty Projectors live, an exploration of their past albums proved their talent for me. Then, 2012’s ‘Swing Low Magellan’ cemented my newfound love for the band further with infectious tracks such as, “About to Die” with its teasing, twinkling melodies and rambling drum rhythms and “The Socialites,” which showcases Amber Coffman’s vocals effortlessly. It’s safe to say I will definitely be attending Dirty Projectors gigs in the future, as well as putting more trust in my friend’s “questionable” taste in music. Lesson learned.

The first thing that strikes you about Dirty Projectors, now in their twelfth year of existence and 7 albums in, is what you might call the ‘cerebral’ aspect of their music, and the consummate musicianship they all have to play that all live. David Longstreth, guitarist and bandleader, often gets described as some kind of geeky music theory enthusiast (which he may well be) and his music as complex albeit enjoyable high concept stuff. Granted, it may not be easy to clap along or dance to, but not everything has to be! There’s more than enough to savour in the sheer tightness and punchiness of the band’s groove, the intoxicating three part harmonies sung by Amber Coffman, Haley Dekle, and Olga Bell, and that undeniable streak of African highlife which runs through so much of their work. Indeed throughout their live set, the shadow of Talking Heads looms large at times, but it’s clear Dirty Projectors have a broad range of influences. The highlight of the show comes when they get stuck into Beautiful Mother, with its show-stopping vocal syncopations shared between the girls and its dramatic breaks, which probably got the greatest applause of all. Not to be missed!