Music Review: Dirty Projectors, “Bitte Orca”
Rating: 92
Somewhere between African “high life” music, chamber-pop, late-period Led Zeppelin, Squeeze and Beyonce lies Dirty Projectors, guitarist-vocalist Dave Longstreth’s revolving-door band that, on its triumphant new disc “Bitte Orca,” a beguiling and confounding attempt to be everything to everyone, all at once. This kitchen-sink opera of ambition could be a game-changer a la Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” a signpost for bands searching for progressive rock’s next path.
Longstreth deploys his Jimmy Page-style riffing in between hand-claps and the chopped-and-clipped harmonies of Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian on “Cannibal Resource,” and croons like Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook on “Temecula Sunrise” as his 12-string guitar dips and swoons around the crunching percussion. His sense of drama continues on the gypsy rock of “The Bride,” but nothing can prepare listeners for the brazen genre-defiance of “Stillness Is the Move.”
Set against a stuttering organic R&B rhythm worthy of classic Timbaland, Deradoorian and Coffman trill and soar like world-class divas on “Stillness,” singing alternately about the history of human ambition and the optimism that love brings. Powered by Longstreth’s North African-influenced guitar style, “Stillness Is the Move” is just catchy enough to be a huge pop hit, so daring in its combination of modern soul and prog-rock that it could blow minds on the dance floor. Sure, “Bitte Orca” is one odd Frankenstein’s monster of stitched-together styles, but don’t be surprised if everything starts to sound like it in the next decade.
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[...] Music Review: Dirty Projectors, “Bitte Orca” Rating: 92 Somewhere between African “high life” music, chamber-pop, late-period Led Zeppelin, Squeeze and Beyonce lies Dirty Projectors, guitarist-vocalist Dave Longstreth’s revolving-door band that, on its triumphant new disc “Bitte Orca,” a beguiling and confounding attempt to be everything to everyone, all at once. This kitchen-sink opera of ambition could be a game-changer a la Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” a signpost for bands searching for progressive rock’s next path. Longstreth deploys [...]