And it’s not surprising the same tasteful production can be found on their newest, Begone Dull Care. This is indeed Junior Boys modus operandi. It is music befitting the morning and the night emotionally effective, never overdone.
2006’s So This Is Goodbye is filled with tasty electronic morsels of song. Though, through focusing on melody and arrangements, they craft tuneful electronic music-knob twisters and samplers of the song-loving variety. Junior Boys are indeed electronic artists, the vocals being the only discernibly non-digital element to their palette. And then there’s the avalanche of “chilled out” mixes (and remixes), which would be more aptly labeled “music for people in comas.” In short, there’s as much junk in electronica as in any other genre. The dubious world beat groove heard spinning in a cheesy, dimly lit wine bar near you is actually tailored to dupe you into thinking that $15 for a martini is a reasonable price, maybe even cultured. There’s the heavy, four-on-the-floor dance found at urban clubs, complete with seizure-inducing light shows (not to mention the ever popular, albeit grotesque, drunken make out). Here are episodes 18, 19, and 21, with a short breakdown and highlights of each:Ĭommon - "Universal Mind Control" (Ann: "they were just mish-moshin' it")īon Iver - "Blood Bank" (Bill: "I like it.cause I'm a sad person" Ann: "generic American Idol")Įminem - "We Made You" (Ann: "it's cute")īat for Lashes - "Glass" (Ann: "belly rubbin' music" Bill: "I felt like gettin' a massage")ĭan Deacon - "snookered" (Ann: "I like the beginning with all the ding dongs")ĭoves - "Kingdom of Rust" (Ann: "It's not Rascal Flatts, but it's pretty good")Įlectronic music comes in all shapes and sizes. Joe's comments are the only ones that touch on any musical relevance (he also happens to be the most adorable of the bunch), but it's all pretty funny stuff. Who better to give us insight into modern times than members of The Greatest Generation (well, Bill looks a tad younger than Ann and Joe). To keep up with the kids, they review the likes of Eminem, Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Bat for Lashes, and so much more. Produced by Woodshop Films, "Breakfast at Sulimay's" is an endearing music review show hosted by three retirees in a diner. It’s ironic that such a “pretentious” sounding band can have such the opposite effect on me. So, in the end, I think this is an album of sheer creative energy that begs to be interpreted, and misinterpreted, and is ultimately best experienced as is without any pretensions. “No Intention” has me wanting to lie on a grass field and stare up adoringly at the sky for a reason I cannot discern. Inexplicably, I find myself reacting rather optimistically to the whole affair. A flying killer whale? A line from a Greek tragedy? Whatever you want!Īctually, the most fun about this album is probably that quality exactly: it’s so non-linear and so amorphous that you have to make up your own meaning, have to approach it in your own particular idiom. Ten minutes of internetting doesn’t help me figure out what he’s carrying on about, but I have no doubt that Longstreth is okay with the listener coming up with his own meaning. Sure, why not? And it’s a great song! Middle track “Useful Chamber” is the epic, multipart centerpiece of the album, Longstreth shouting “Bitte Orca, Orca, Orca Bitte!” as the chorus. It should be no surprise, then, that a band that enjoys rewriting the rules of popular song structure chose a sassy R&B love song as its first single, “Stillness is the Move”. Singing duties are traded off between guitarist Dave Longstreth and his female compatriots throughout the album, with the ladies providing extensive harmonies behind Longstreth’s eccentric yelp. The guitar solo in “Temecula Sunrise” is peculiar in the least, yet sounds totally calculated. Yet in this seemingly erratic landscape, there is a clear sensation of composition everything is where it’s supposed to be.
I would love to see “Temecula Sunrise” written out on paper just to see how bizarre it looks. Many of Dirty Projectors songs and arrangements can be characterized as “disjointed pop.” Verses and choruses still exist, but in a world of odd time signatures, broken or twisted middles and endings, strange melodies, and completely unpredictable guitar playing. Such is the case with Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca. And when after listening to an album several times still leaves me guessing as to what the big deal is, I have to listen to it even more. Though unconventionality certainly doesn’t guarantee quality, it does cause me to turn my head and listen. Actually, they built a house in it and live there year ‘round. Musically, they seem to thrive on unconventionality.
That is, you will likely respond to their music with horror or admiration. Dirty Projectors easily fall into the category of bands that induce divisiveness.