Dirty Projectors with Yacht

Dirty Projectors rolled into Montreal recently with Yacht in tow, so to speak - also known as Jonach Bechtolt - formerly of The Blow. Also on the bill was Vampire Weekend. The Projectors are touring in support of their brand new Black Flag inspired Rise Above. It was another amazing Projectors show.....

Last night was the third time I have had the great pleasure of seeing Dirty Projectors live. Each time the band has been better than the last. That old myth about musicians selling their souls to the devil in exchange for musical finesse? I have a feeling that every member of this band is going straight to hell, so super-human are their skills. Listening to Dave Longstreth and Amber Coffman trade insanely inventive and technically baffling guitar lines is pure joy and unrivalled excitement. The guitar playing would be enough to sell this band, but the Dirty Projectors don't stop there; instead, they boldly pile on top of their mesmerizing snaky guitar interplay a series of highly complex interweaving vocal parts that in themselves would be impossible for most musicians to perform, let alone on top of their dual guitar attack.

I can only think of a few bands I've ever seen that could successfully follow Dirty Projectors and not look like talentless, boring buffoons , which is what Grizzly Bear sadly did that the last time the Projectors were in town and Xiu Xiu did it the time before. So it was nice to finally see the Projectors headlining a show. They played an extended set, it still far too short for my taste, set that included songs from their unbelieveable New Attitude EP and songs from their brand new Black Flag pisstake Rise Above on the Dead Oceans record label. Anybody who's seen live versions of Police Story - a crooner with highly experimental and accomplished vocal melodies and harmonies, or the super-uplifting should-be-a-reggae classic spiritual version of Rise Above, is simply itching to hear the songs on CD.

Longstreth is truly fucked for life - his brain must be wired seriously different than your average person - what else could explain the magical way he seamlessly combines metal, punk, Sunny Ade inspired African guitar lines, the entire Lyrichord canon, loungy crooning, experimental pop, classical music, and indie rock, not to mention any thing else that gets in his way.... into one perfectly blended, celebratory whole. And another thing.... where the hell did he find Amber Coffman? The fact that two musicians as talented as these two should end up in the same band is proof that there is a god in the heavens who does intervenes in human affairs from time to time for the benefit of the greater good.

If you aren't familiar with this band, you really ought to become familiar with them. Start right away with the brilliant New Attitude and then get your bands on Rise Above ASAP. And their lives shows are even better - totally on fire. If this was a perfect world, they would be #1 on every chart going. But it's far from a perfect world, and so for now the Projectors will still headline tiny venues like Casa Del Popolo until they get their proper dues, which can't be far off if the ecstatic crowd reactions last night were any indication of their rising acclaim.

Oh yeah... and Jonah Bechtolt as Yacht was also pretty kick ass - his amazing super high-fidelity music marred a bit by the crappy sound at Casa Del Popolo. But the sound certainly didn't dampen his spirits one bit - he was very enthusiastic and positive and his uniquely west coast-style good energy seemed to really excite the crowd. It's a shame that he left the Blow because that was a great combination of songwriting and production skills, but it's nice to still hear him doing similar stuff with Yacht and it was great to hear favorites from his recent Marriage Records release, I Believe In You, Your Magic Is Real including "See A Penny (Pick It Up), "Your Magic Is Real" and "I Believe In You".

Sadly, I missed Vampire Weeekend so I can't say one word about them good or bad - you never know what time shows are going to start in Montreal - it's the reason I missed half of the Jandek show - still angry about that - and the reason I totally missed Mammatus when they were in town. Anyway, it was a great night, nice to see not one but two amazing bands share the same bill, and nice to see The Dirty Projectors continuing further and further on their ascension to the unquestionable position of world's greatest rock and roll band.

Dirty Projectors' Rise Above is available from Dead Oceans, Dirty Projectors' New Attitude and Yacht's I Believe In You, Your Magic Is Real are both available form Marriage Records. Dirty Projectors are on tour across North America through the end of September 2007, first with Yacht, and later with the awesome guitar duo from Baltimore, Ecstatic Sunshine.

http://www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors

Gordon B. Isnor