Quantcast
A Sunny Day in Glasgow “Ashes Grammar” Review
November 21, 2009 – 1:28 pm | No Comment

A Sunny Day in Glasgow make pop music that is as mysterious as it is beautiful.

Read the full story »
Album Reviews

Unique perspectives and opinions on new and recent releases

Concert Coverage

Photos, videos and reviews from a variety of live events.

Interviews

Engaging discussions with artists from around the world.

Spotlight

Highlighting songs and bands, old and new

Video

Music videos & performance footage

Home » Spotlight

Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca” (Best of the Decade)

Submitted by Jon Behm on September 18, 2009 – 1:00 pmNo Comment

Not only is Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca the best album of 2009 (barring some incredibly great record that is released in the next three months) I believe that it will also go down as one of the most solid musical achievements of the past decade. Composed by music-savant Dave Longstreth, Orca also features talent all the way down the line in Angel Deradoorian’s multiple instrumentals (and vocals), Amber Coffman’s angelic birdsong, and Brian Mcomber’s highly skilled percussion. The record nails that highly prized sweet spot between art and popular culture: it is eminently more listenable than a Black Dice album, for instance, but no less intellectual. Consider the singles “Cannibal Resource” or “Temecula Sunrise,” both are catchy numbers but they are also songs that utilize out-of-left-field timing, non-standard song structures, and Longstreth’s far from orthodox guitar chopping. The record builds on each band member’s strengths with success as well, as in Coffman’s vocal opus “Stillness is the Move” and Deradoorian’s wistfully sweet “Two Doves.” Drummer Mcomber skillfully manipulates the time signatures in every track, and throughout the effort Longstreth’s hand is consistently at the tiller. If the Dirty Projectors’ The Getty Address (2005) is their Brothers Karamazov, then Orca is their Crime and Punishment: it should be required listening in all American schools.

Dirty Projectors “Cannibal Resource” (mp3)

Official | MySpace | Wikipedia

Also: More from Culture Bully’s Best of the Decade

Leave a comment!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.