Bonnaroo Preview: The Dirty Projectors

This post is from Out the Other's 2009 Bonnaroo Artist Previews, where I will be posting previews of all the musical acts playing the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Please check out and subscribe to the full site to learn more about all of this year's performers.

Editor's Note: This is a guest preview by Aaron Distler of Two Birds One Stone PR, who can be reached through his website or at twobirdsonestonepr@gmail.com. Aaron is headed to this year's Bonnaroo too; as the drummer for local band Heypenny, you can catch him on stage in the Troo Music Lounge on Friday from 5:20-6:10 p.m.

First off, I was going to make this an open love letter to Dirty Projectors singer/guitarist Angel Deradoorian, but I'll refrain from sharing my schoolyard-like crush and write about the issue at hand, which is simply this:

DIRTY PROJECTORS WILL BE THE MOST AMAZING SET YOU'LL SEE AT BONNAROO.

I stumbled on Dirty Projectors in 2007 when they released Rise Above, not so much because of any buzz I'd heard about the band's music, but probably because like most, I was curious as to what a "re-imagined version of Black Flag's seminal 1981 album Damaged after not hearing if for 15 years" would sound like.

Well, I'm not quite sure how to even start describing it. It's math-rock or prog with vaudevillian-esque harmonies with the strangest voice commanding the lead. It's a mind-fuck to say the least. But there's something there. It's abrasive, but you can't help but listen.

Then came their performance at SXSW and 2009s Bitte Orca (To Be Released 6/9 on Domino).

The group headlined the Press Here Garden Party, and more or less played tracks off the new record (with the exception of "Knotty Pine" a song co-written and performed with David Byrne for the Dark Was the Night compilation). I was awestruck. The band was incredibly tight. The manic prog infused songs were toned down with a constant groove throughout. Was I seeing head-bobbing? Surely not. I was. It was funky, soulful, sometimes dischordant, but dare I say, catchy?

Stereogum provided the most fair summation of David Longstreth & Co.'s evolution:

So yes, you don't need to know a thing about Dirty Projectors to find this album pleasurable. These are songs first, art experiments second. But with Bitte Orca, the scattershot fuzz of Dave Longstreth's previous output has snapped startlingly into focus. All the smarts are there, but it's almost like he finally wants everyone to listen. In him we find a bandleader who fuses the anxious border-crossing intelligence of David Byrne, Frank Zappa's eye toward progressive arrangement and innovative guitar heroics, and Prince's ability to make music you might want to fuck to. That's a mouthful, but there's a reason he's getting hugs from indie rock's elder statesmen and women. This is a great album from a great mind. Listen up.

You can actually stream the entire album right now over at NPR and trust me when I say, above all things, try and catch them performing. The grooves you hear and nailed down to perfection, the guitar wizardry precise, and the girls' harmonies--words cannot do them justice. They're like sirens who will leave you both entranced and bewildered.

"Temecula Sunrise"
"Useful Chamber"

Dirty Projectors play on Friday from 1:30-2:30 p.m., in the That Tent. Check out the full Bonnaroo schedule on the official Bonnaroo website.