I don’t know why, but there seems to be a whole lotta Dirty Projectors in my life these days.  I saw them at the Dark Was The Night concert bonanza jamming with David Byrne about a month ago, and then I caught them opening for TV on the Radio this past Friday night at Central Park’s SummerStage.  Songstress Amber Coffman wasn’t quite as liberal with the frenetic dance moves on Friday as she was at Dark Was The Night, but I still had a grand ol’ time watching DP get their creative intelli-rock on while I helped myself to a couple servings of barley soup. It was also pouring outside, but there was ne’er a negative Nancy in sight - in fact standing in the rain made me feel a strange sense of camaraderie with my rain-soaked brethren.  And don’t fret if you happened to miss either of these shows, Dirty Projectors will back for a free(!) show in New York on July 19th @ Williamsburg Waterfront - I’ll see you NYC Muffiners there fo’ shizz.

Yesterday saw the release of DP’s latest album, Bitte Orca on Domino.  In addition to conjuring up images of a killer whales, the album has been garnering nothing but glowing reviews, and after giving it the repeat treatment for the last 12 hours I can safely say that all the praise is well deserved.  Bitte Orca is definitely all over the place, yet somehow oddly cohesive - do I hear a hint of Led Zep on ‘Cannibal Resource’? Is the folky string-accompanied ballad ‘Two Doves’ really followed by a hint of a New Wave-ish synth line in ‘Useful Chamber’?  The highlight for me though has to be the mindbending harmonies of Angel Deradoorian and my girl Amber Coffman that are peppered throughout the album - some of the notes these ladies hit are unreal I tell you.  Included below are ‘Stillness Is The Move’ complete with its begging-to-be-remixed-by-an-indie-rapper backbeat (I’m looking at you Drake and Cudi), along with ‘Temecula Sunrise’ and its seemingly s-s-stuttering drums.  Dirty Projectors: Train tested, Muffin approved.

Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

Dirty Projectors - Temecula Sunrise

Dirty Projectors 2009 tour dates (FYI - Williamsburg Waterfront date is wrong on this list, correct date IS 7/19 according to this)

Buy Bitte Orca here or wherever good music is sold.

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And just for S’s and G’s…