| Dirty Projectors | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York |
| Genres | Experimental music, indie rock, math rock, afro beat, Afro prog, New prog, avant-garde |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Domino Records Dead Oceans Marriage Records Western Vinyl States Rights Records |
| Website | http://www.dirtyprojectors.net/ |
| Members | |
| Dave Longstreth Nat Baldwin Amber Coffman Angel Deradoorian Haley Dekle Brian Mcomber |
|
| Past members | |
| Rostam Batmanglij Sam Bernstein Anneli Chambliss Emily Cheeger Alex Farrill Adam Forkner Will Glass Spencer Kingman Ezra Koenig Charlie Looker Hank Miller James Sumner Wes Miles Susanna Waiche Jake Longstreth |
|
Dirty Projectors are David Longstreth (vocals, guitar, musical direction; born December 17, 1981), Amber Coffman (vocals, guitar), Angel Deradoorian (vocals, keyboard, samples, guitar, bass), Brian McOmber (drums), Nat Baldwin (bass), and Haley Dekle (vocals). They have released seven full-length albums through 2010.
Contents |
Longstreth's first album, The Graceful Fallen Mango, was released in 2002 under his own name and introduced his distinctive use of song arrangements and his combination of lo-fi and hi-fi production. The album was a project that Longstreth began as a freshman while studying at Yale University.[1] With the help of Adam Forkner of Yume Bitsu, Longstreth recorded and released The Glad Fact on the Western Vinyl label under the name "The Dirty Projectors." In 2005, the band released The Getty Address, a concept album about musician Don Henley that features extensive orchestral and choral accompaniment. The diverse, stripped-down New Attitude EP followed in 2006 and featured inklings of the band's later vocal interplay and guitar work.
In 2007, the band released Rise Above, an album of Black Flag songs as re-imagined from memory. The album introduced the band's distinctive contrast between Longstreth's vocals and the harmonies of Amber Coffman and Susanna Waiche, who was later replaced by Angel Deradoorian. In support of the album, the band performed songs for a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon.
In April 2008, Dirty Projectors signed with Domino Records, and the label announced the release of their next full-length album, Bitte Orca, for June 9, 2009. That year, the band also collaborated with David Byrne on the song "Knotty Pine" for the compilation album, Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization. Byrne joined the Dirty Projectors onstage to perform this song, along with "Ambulance Man," another collaborative track not included on the compilation, at the "Dark Was the Night Live" concert at New York City's Radio City Music Hall on May 3, 2009.
“Stillness Is the Move” was the first single released from "Bitte Orca", a West African - R&B influenced hybrid, sung by Coffman. The song was inspired by the Wim Wenders film “Wings of Desire”.[2]
On May 8, 2009, members of Dirty Projectors collaborated with Björk to perform an original composition by Longstreth, written for five voices and acoustic guitar, as part of a charity concert to benefit Housing Works, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing shelter for homeless men, women, and children suffering from AIDS. The concert was held at the Housing Works Bookstore & Café in downtown New York City.[3]
The band was to release a new EP in September 2009 entitled Temecula Sunrise.[4] While the EP was never released, the band released two of its tracks, "Ascending Melody" and "Emblem of the World," were released as a free-download single in early 2010.[5]
Amber Coffman was featured on "Hold On", a track from Rusko's debut album, OMG, released in June 2010 by Diplo's Mad Decent record label.
In June 2010, Dirty Projectors announced the release of Mount Wittenberg Orca, a digital-only EP with Björk. The album, based on the artists' previous collaboration in 2009, was released on June 30.[6]
Dirty Projectors released an expanded edition of Bitte Orca on September 28, 2010. The double album included live performances, several B-sides, and a Bob Dylan cover.[7]
While often associated with the late 2000s New York indie rock scene, critics have likened The Dirty Projectors to musicians from many genres. For example, critics have compared them to New Wave artists David Byrne and Squeeze, pop stars Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, and Progressive rock musicians Frank Zappa and Yes.[8][9] In a 2009 interview, Longstreth embraced some such comparisons but expressed a strong dislike for classic rock, commenting, "Steely Dan is a band I’m not that into," "I’m not a huge Yes guy," and "Frank Zappa I fucking hate."[10]
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Glad Fact | Western Vinyl |
| 2003 | Morning Better Last! | States Rights Records |
| 2004 | Slaves' Graves and Ballads | Western Vinyl |
| 2005 | The Getty Address | Western Vinyl |
| 2006 | Highlights from the Getty Address | Bad Vugum / BV2 Produktions (Finland) |
| 2006 | New Attitude EP | Marriage Records |
| 2007 | Rise Above | Dead Oceans |
| 2009 | Bitte Orca | Domino Records |
| 2010 | Ascending Melody | Domino Records |
| 2010 | Mount Wittenberg Orca (w/ Björk) | Digital Only (Initial Release)/Domino Records (2011 Physical Release) |