The Dirty Projectors are a band with a human soul, haunting melodies, and a big do-gooder heart. They've worked on a variety of projects geared toward making the world a better place and have collaborated with a nice little list of superstar musicians that would impress even the biggest snob.
The band just announced a new album, Swing Lo Magellan, to be released on July 10, and a North American tour set to kick off in July. It includes a stop at Fort Lauderdale's Culture Room, just in case you miss these guys at Pitchfork or in Prospect Park.
We put together a few of the more interesting songs that the DPs have created with and in honor of other musical acts. A sort of DPs semi-collab primer, if you will.
The DPs first covered "Hyperballad"; then they ended up playing with Björk at the Housing Works Bookstore in New York City for charity. But that wasn't all: Lead man Dave Longstreth, his whole band, and the Icelandic goddess orchestrated a seven-song creation, Mount Wittenberg Orca, whose proceeds benefit the National Geographic Society Oceans Project. Nothing cooler than a Björk collab, except...
Also for the good of mankind, and in collaboration with one of music's all-time awesomes, the Dirty Projectors worked with David Byrne on "Knotty Pine" for the Red Hot Organization to raise money to fight AIDS. Can't beat the Byrne.
Their 2005 album, The Getty Address, was a concept album based on founding Eagles' member Don Henley. "The Heart of the Matter" is a family favorite, so we get this concept completely.
Also highly conceptual, they created Rise Above, which was a reimaginging of Black Flag songs by memory. To say the sound of the songs was reimagined would be an understatement. Not much of that Rollins energy in this ditty, but the idea is definitely cute.
Diplo and Switch's Major Lazer label also didn't miss out on any DP action. They released "Stillness Is the Move." The video didn't stay clear of do-gooding. It stars some rarely seen beasts. Makes you think about helping those guys out, right? Maybe it's just the music, not the furry faces, but it inspires.
Dirty Projectors at Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, on Tuesday, August 7, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 and go on sale Friday, April 13.
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