[rating=4.50]
With half undecipherable melodies, half indie pop, Dirty Projectors mash up a style that reflects the work of Deerhoof, capturing a disjointed knack of melody that is otherwise fascinating and pretentiously artsy. At first listen, you’ll probably want to run to the more “welcoming” sounds of Wilco. When Dave Longstreth tried to recreate Black Flag’s Damaged from memory on 2007’s Rise Above, he almost scared us all away too. But this time around on Bitte Orca, he sings with a welcoming croon that floats amongst the voices of Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian. This isn’t much different from what Animal Collective is doing except the female voices prove mesmorizing, as in “Stillness is the Move.”
Dirty Projectors convey more of their artsy rock in a whirl that creates layers of discovery with a funnel of boundless styles. In other words, they create controlled chaos. Nine distinct compositions sit here amongst refrained disco (“Stillness Is The Move”) orchestral harmony ( “Useful Chamber” ) and snappy hand clapping (“The Intention”). While, the mood swinging closing hymn, “Flourescent Half Dome” does what any good recording needs to do – pleads for you to listen again. This is the type of music that if you were asked to sit in and play, you’d simply say “I have no idea…” But as a listener you get multiple allowances, and Bitte Orca requires many.
