Hollow Earth

In actual fact Longstreth's passion for music reaches as far back into his past as anyone I can recall. OK, he wasn't playing the piano at 5, but he did have has own band aged 12, and in my book that qualifies as quite precocious enough thank you very much. Actually it's this sustained obsession with all its twists and turns, from Nirvana influences to the chronologically subsequent impact of Minor Threat, Pavement, The Beach Boys and The Beatles, Wagner and the Portland scene that paradoxically really makes me buy into Dave's ethos.

The early 4-track recordings we hear often reveal really stunning music. The Beatles-y stuff Dave and his brother were making when he was 16 was really excellent. I can't think of anything else I've heard which I thought does as much justice to the Sergeant Peppers/White album sound - those burnished, round, plangent, peeling guitars and stroppy, clippity-clop drums. Without Abbey Road and its million-pound compressors and valve amps to boot. And I love the fact that they never sought to get this stuff released, as if why bother?

The absolute crux of the interview, which gets to the heart of why Dirty Projectors matter as much as they do is Dave's almost casually discarded (but clearly considered comment) that they're trying to turn "something idiosyncratic into something shared". If you've missed the connection this is exactly what Captain Beefheart achieved with Trout Mask Replica and he went about it the same way as Longstreth too, by coaching and dictating terms to a bunch of sympathetic others. This must be as difficult-as-hell social situation to engineer. The band in this instance becomes practically a cult. Its constituent parts happy to unquestioningly accept its leaders position.

Beefheart legendarily was a total asshole in this context, and was deeply ungenerous with regards to acknowledging and accepting the sacrifice his band made for him. Their genius was to abdicate responsibility, they were aware that they would be unable to turn in "something idiosyncratic into something shared" if they all stuck their oar in. Even if they would have made sensible and musical contributions it would have weakened the message. Longstreth on the other hand seems to be quite reasonable. In the course of recording when the band are wheeled out to demonstrate some concept or other, either Angel or Amber volunteers an approach and, with a decent degree of cheerful humility, Dave gives it the enthusiastic thumbs up. There was no awkward pause.

The Dirty Projectors concerns are essentially very Proggish. One thing that continually springs to mind when I hear their stuff is Gentle Giant and their counterpoint. But equally I suppose the hocket recalls Steve Reich's "Drumming" which was also made the point about communality. I don't have a problem at all with this degree of pretentiousness but it is brilliantly leavened by Longstreth's attitude, which shows a marked awareness of the preposterousness (even hilariousness) of him being a Modern Composer - even if that's exactly what he is.

So yeah definitely check out "Bitte Orca". The last album, The Black Flag one, was great too if not as crisp. Me I'm off to investigate the very early Dirty Projectors stuff which (small orchestra in tow) actually looks like it might have predated Vampire Weekend's thing by a number of years.