Dirty Projectors: Swing Lo Magellan

"It’s pretty tough to give an exact style to the Dirty Projectors. The brainchild of Connecticut native and Yale grad Dave Longstreth, the Projectors’ method of alternation with stripped down guitars, vocal harmonies and seemingly random samples shifts between songs, nevermind albums. That being said, there’s a different feel about their latest effort, 'Swing Lo Magellan,' set to be released tomorrow. There is a bit less of those jagged chords and difficult melodies, though that’s not to say things are simple- just interpolation that’s a little more familiar to a less, um, visionary audience. Percussion and beat on 'Magellan' stays interesting, with some pretty thick riffs on the deep end. The track ‘About To Die’ begins with what sounds like a rapid-fire kickball before settling into a solid bass strut. It’s followed up with the suave ‘Gun Has No Trigger,’ a soul-noir jam with an unforgivably slick rhythm. ‘See What She Seeing’ is another standout in that vein, with Longstreth’s wistful voice as a blanket over subterranean beats with the pitterpatter rain-like drums on the roof above. Claps are liberally peppered through the record, just begging for a happy audience clap-along. That could work just fine, especially on the track Unto Caesar, a fun stroll of a jam session filled with laughter, missed beats, and background banter" (Nick Caito, "A Look at Dirty Projectors' 'Swing Lo Magellan,'" Sound Check, 7/9/12).

View catalog record here!