Tonight: Callers, Nat Baldwin, Lands and Peoples

Tonight the Metro Gallery has a pretty blissful one for a Wednesday with Callers, Nat Baldwin (of Dirty Projectors acclaim), and Baltimore's own Lands and Peoples.





The show tonight starts at 8 PM, costs eight dollars, and you can RSVP right here.

Live Review: Dirty Projectors at the Ottobar

This review comes compliments of Jason Tomassini, a like-minded musically obsessed local journalist. Jay has typically covered some hip hop for us in the past, but wanted to throw in his input on Tuesday night's packed Dirty Projectors show at the Ottobar.

A lot has been made of the “genius” of Dave Longstreth, showcased on the several weird and complicated albums and EPs he’s recorded over the past decade as Dirty Projectors.

And while those albums were very good in their own right -- as exercises in great technical skill, taking a background in music composition and applying it to rock music and some level of batshit craziness (2005’s The Getty Address was a concept album about Don Henley; 2007’s Rise Above an indie rock album of Black Flag covers) -- it wasn’t exactly the most accessible brand of indie rock.

With the odd time signatures, the seemingly random application of bongos, cowbells and woodwind instruments and the abrupt undulations of Longstreth's voice, it's just difficult music, and that's probably the best way to describe DPs overall musical aesthetic. But there was still something that kept bringing fans back. You could tell there were pop songs somewhere in there, it was just really difficult to find them.

There was nothing difficult about enjoying Dirty Projectors’s Tuesday night show at Ottobar however, mainly because the majority of the set came from DPs latest album Bitte Orca, a truly great pop album that finds the catchy gems deep within DPs back catalogue, combines with aspects of their trademark weirdness, and runs with it. The result is something accessible to those outside academia and to bearded 20-something hipsters who don't necessarily have a working knowledge of West African guitarists. As a six-piece with three female vocalists, Dirty Projectors look and perform like a real rock band now, even if their musical skill makes them overqualified to do so. And while they have embraced Bitte Orca’s pop sentiments, it’s still a spectacle really unlike any other in indie rock to watch DPs perform.

Longstreth and his three female vocalists interchange their parts seamlessly, an effort in four-part vocal harmony that seems implausible to pull of live when you hear it on record, but is done with ease. The precise jamouts that are more prevalent on early DPs records are lively on stage, with the painfully timid Longstreth and the slightly-less-shy female vocalists losing themselves during brief interludes of headbanging and shredding. (I've never given props to a sound crew before, but Ottobar stepped up their game last night).

Epic Bitte Orca centerpiece "Useful Chamber" sort of mashed all of this together, as DPs slowed and sped up the tempo -- over two distinct halves of the nearly 7-minute track -- with ease and the quasi-beat-boxing of two female vocalists sounded nearly identical to the album version; that the crowd anticipated every twist and turn is a testament to how tight the musicians are live. But it was still the songs that made Bitte Orca an authentic pop record gave the crowd the biggest rise. Standouts "Temecula Sunrise" and "No Intentions" -- radiant pop songs not out of place on even the catchiest, sunniest summer playlists – had the crowd bobbing up and down, essentially the closest thing you can do to dancing at a DPs show.

Bitte Orca's first single "Stillness Is the Move" -- which wouldn't be out of place on a really ambitious Mariah Carey album – stumbled off the bat as Longstreth and the band’s bassist couldn’t quite get on the same page when creating the beat to the song, which sounds like something Timbaland might make on his weirdest days. But eventually they go in synch and Amber Coffman eventually hit her stride on lead vocals and the crowd tried in vain to sing along to notes that really no one in the room besides Coffman was capable of hitting.

And by that point, about halfway through the set, what was most surprising wasn’t that Dirty Projectors pulled off an R&B song with a West African-sounding rhythm section and indie-rock chicks hitting Whitney Houston notes, it was that it took them a minute to perfect it.

And that's really what made the show so memorable: Dirty Projectors make difficult songs look and sound easy on stage, removing all that pesky close listening and giving us no alternative but to dance and sing along like we expected nothing less than perfection.

Show Review: TV on the Radio and The Dirty Projectors

Last night the force that is TV on the Radio began a 2 night sold out stint at the 930 Club. Always used to a warm reception in the area, Monday night wasn't any different.

Dave Longstreth's Dirty Projectors opened up the affair, a band I had caught a few days ago across from the Charles at Rufustival. Similar sets were played at both events, as their brand of infectious experimental pop proved worthy of recent attention. What I thought to be a handy editing job on the production of Bitte Orca, proved otherwise. The fast paced bursting vocal harmonies of Haley and Amber on several tracks reigned true live. Certainly a band worth checking out next go around.

TV on the Radio geared up last night for a big show this weekend, as they are slotted to play before David Byrne at Bonnaroo. A band that is able to acclimate to any type of venue, the big yet almost intimate feel of the 930 Club was yet another perfect compliment to their sound.

Tunde bounced around with great enthusiasm, while the rest of the crew hit every note with emphasis as each song boomed in grand fashion. The highlight had to be Celebration's Katrina Ford joining the band for an amped up version of "Staring at the Sun". I couldn't help hoping that they'd help her out with one of Celebration's fantastic new tracks. Maybe next time.

The Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca

It would be pretty tough to be in the Bmore/DC metro area this weekend and not hear someone mention the Dirty Projectors. Not only are they one of the many highlights of tomorrow's RUFUSTIVAL, the avant pop band opens for TV on the Radio Monday and Tuesday at the 930 Club.

Oh, and lets not forget their eagerly anticipated first release with Domino, which drops this Tuesday June 9th. Dave Longstreth is the mastermind behind the Dirty Projectors. Dude has already created an album full of re-hashed Black Flag covers written from memory, and a concept album focusing on Don Henley.

Bitte Orca leaves behind the concepts. Instead, it brings forth the band's knack for spanning a multitude of genres and styles with surprisingly little confusion. "Stillness is the Move" wouldn't be entirely out of place if heard on an R&B radio station, but still boasts experimental configurations not found on your old Boyz II Men tape. "Useful Chamber" is a standout that swanks pop melodies which effortlessly warp into infectiously spazzed out moments, all layered over hip hop beats.

This is by far the band's most accessible album, and almost makes you wonder why they conistently get dubbed an "acquired taste". Sure, there's plenty of avant garde notions. But Bitte Orca is simply a fantastic pop record at its core.

RUFUSTIVAL 2009

The Metro Gallery just announced its two year anniversary celebration titled RUFUSTIVAL 2009. Named after the owner's dog, Rufus is the mascot of a pretty stacked lineup.

Headlining is one of the loudest bands ever, A Place to Bury Strangers. This distortion-crazed three piece out of NYC put out a pretty solid self titled debut, that rages noise pop to freakishly high decibel levels. The other standout of the festival also hail from NYC, but are a bit easier on the ol' eardrums.

The Dirty Projectors have a higly anticipated release due out June 9th titled Bitte Orca. Reserve a copy on limited cassette via Domino. Tough to put a finger on their sound, the group sports experimental blends of pop and R&B, among many others.

Wye Oak are another welcome addition to the festival, as the release of their new effort The Knot looms closer. Be sure to check out the first track off the upcoming LP right here. RUFUSTIVAL also comes complete with local shoegaze specialists Thrushes. Other acts include Baby Aspirin, The Water, Ecstatic Sunshine, Chairlift, Eureka Birds, The Skydrops, and Pianowire.

The festival will take place outside in the parking lot 2 doors down from Metro Gallery off Charles Street. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased off Brown Paper Tickets.