02 « November « 2009 « The Listomania

2Nov/096

It Really is a Party in the USA

I just heard Party in the USA three fucking times on one short drive. And I listened to every single second of it.

Let's be honest. The song is good. How could it not be with 100 people specifically working to make it a hit song, from songwriters to producers to A&R tools? If the song sucked, it would be like commissioning a hundred artisans to make you a mural and getting vinyl siding. But someone still needs to explain to me how one moves their hips like "Yeah." Paging Miley, apparently Drew needs some down home Ford truck and shit kicker boots dance lessons.

Seriously though, groove on that chorus a little and try to tell me it's not a genetically engineered rancor of a hook.

Tagged as: Not List, Shitty 6 Comments

2Nov/095

149. Dirty Projectors – Cannibal Resource

Can you hear that? It’s the sound of potential coming to fruition. Dave Longstreth has been releasing quirky, meticulously arranged material since 2002, but it has always remained in that foreboding intelligentsia stable: material. Conceptually interesting art, like Dirty Projectors Rise Above, an entire album based around the singer’s memory of a Black Flag album. Contributed arrangements for David Byrne and Bjork. A concept album about, yes, Don Henley.

But on Dirty Projectors 2009 album, Bitte Orca, Longstreth and his band finally make the jump that interested parties have been awaiting for years – this album has SONGS. Not material, or concepts, or arrangements. Beautifully orchestrated, well-executed, enjoyable songs. And although the single is “Stillness is the Move”, for me (and thus for you too) “Cannibal Resource” is the segment of the album that finally introduces the band, and lets us know that, well, they actually WANT us to enjoy them now.

Hear that badass guitar intro? That’s my favorite six-stringed welcome mat since Jonny plugged in his guitar on 2+2=5. What follows is gorgeous, confounding harmony and rhythmically challenging hand claps. No one said it would be easy, just accessible. But to people that have been waiting for 7 years now, this is the sound of a band settling down, getting a real job, leasing a Prius, and deciding to stick around at the top of the indie game, at least for now.