Dirty Projectors is the name under which Dave Longstreth records his fantastical, experimental music. And while he’s generally sailed under the radar with a slew of indie-label releases, some big names are starting to notice his talents: Longstreth collaborated with ex-Talking Head David Byrne for a song on the recent Dark Was the Night compilation, and wrote music for Björk to perform for a NYC charity.
The limitless creativity of those two artists certainly hangs over Bitte Orca, although stylistically, the album is much harder to pigeonhole. In fact, Orca is a tough listen: Like fellow pastiche-popsters The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors forgo structured songs in favor of disparate, ornate musical ideas stitched together. But the album’s touchstones—classical symphonies and prog opuses, classic-rock excess and glammy folk and soulful R&B and subtle electro—flow by effortlessly, buoyed by Longstreth’s measured, Scott Walker-like delivery and the homespun harmonies of Amber Coffman, Hayley Dekkle and Angel Deradoorian.
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That trio’s contributions are exquisite on the dainty “Remade Horizon,” a jubilantly askew folk tune on which the women’s throaty contributions sound like birds. Even better is Orca’s standout, “Useful Chamber,” a six-minute song whose heartbeat drum programming anchors a P.M. Dawn-like spoken-word section and an ending filled with grungy squalling guitars.
But Dirty Projectors are best experienced on a purely emotional level; the music is so complex, overanalyzing its nuances would ruin some of the mystery.
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