Dirty Projectors rounded off their 2009 US tour last Sunday at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. They were joined by The Roots for two songs then, for the encore, by David Byrne. Details and plenty pics at Brooklyn Vegan. The following Wednesday saw a return to the Jimmy Fallon Show for Amber and Hayley, joining house band The Roots in backing up Mos Def and Talib Kweli. If past experience is anything to go by, the YouTube clip of this appearance won’t be around for very long.
Further live shows are scheduled in 2010 including a very special one in Los Angeles with the LA Symphony Orchestra, followed by the group’s first ever dates in New Zealand and Australia. Before that, there are three shows at the end of this year in Brazil. Details on the Tour Dates page.
The UK’s Uncut magazine has placed Bitte Orca at #3 in its end of year Top 50, just behind Animal Collective and Super Furry Animals. The magazine also carries a feature on the Brooklyn scene (described as a “mutual support network”), with a lead quote from D-Lo and short interviews with him and assorted Grizzlies and Collectivists. Elsewhere in the magazine are some effusive endorsements of Bitte Orca from other musicians - Rachel Unthank (”Every time I put it on it sets my pulse racing. It’s just so bold and strident and fearless.”), Aaron Dessner of The National (”Dave Longstreth is the guitar god of our generation. Bitte Orca is his first masterpiece.”) and Hayden Thorpe of Wild Beasts (”It may seem like an inside job, we being labelmates and all, but truthfully, even if it were released by venereal disease, I’d have loved Bitte Orca all the same.”).
