Pitchfork

Dave Longstreth looks like a big cock. No really; between the carefree crest of hair erupting from his brow and the man's penchant for straining his already long neck, the Dirty Projectors mastermind really does resemble an overlarge rooster. In keeping with the analogy, he's flanked by a pair of prized hens on guitar and bass, who heed Longsteth's secret language of neck-stretches and somehow keep up with his almost-random-seeming guitar scrapes (dude also flips his righty guitar into a lefty). The present combo is rounded out by a volatile drummer, although I'm not quite sure where he fits into this corny chicken coop setup.

Of course no one makes music in a vacuum, but a case can be made for Dirty Projectors being one of the most innovative and original acts organizing sounds into patterns today-- fractured bits of math rock and R&B being but two of the many strains that course through their songs. And like anything on the fringe, they're not for everyone: Longstreth's bleats (okay, so he's a rooster who sounds like a goat), at their bleatingest, make Joanna Newsom sound like Sade. But the group achieved a rather glorious synergy at moments, performing rejiggered versions of newer tunes here at Chicago's Beat Kitchen, as well as a bunch of selections from the forthcoming Black Flag reinterpretation disc Rise Above (out September 11 on Dead Oceans).

Old Projectors pal YACHT opened, doing his best to incite a fairly tepid Chicago crowd into believing the title of his latest LP: I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real. Some bought into it fully and danced with abandon, others just watched with amusement, befuddlement, or disinterest. Give YACHT a gold star, though, for taking it into the crowd to compensate for some sound hiccups.

Dates for both acts and more photos ahoy!

DIRTY PROJECTORS






YACHT




DIRTY PROJECTORS






Dirty Projectors:

09-05 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court *
09-07 Seattle, WA - Vera Project *
09-08 Portland, OR - Satyricon *^
09-11 Sacramento, CA - Fools Foundation *^
09-12 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *^
09-13 Visalia, CA - Howie & Son's *^
09-14 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo *^
09-16 San Diego, CA - The Casbah ^
09-17 Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
09-19 Austin, TX - Emo's #
09-20 Houston, TX - Rudyards #
09-21 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon #
09-22 Tallahassee, FL - Club Down Under #
09-24 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn #
09-25 Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse #
09-26 Washington, DC - Black Cat #
09-27 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's #
09-28 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge #
10-15 London, England - Cargo $
10-16 London, England - Barden's Boudoir
10-17 Manchester, England - Academy 2 +
10-18 Edinburgh, Scotland - Liquid Rooms +
10-19 Newcastle, England - Stage 2 +
10-21 Kortrijk, Belgium - Sonic City Festival ~
10-22 Tourcoing, France - Le Grand Mix ~
10-23 Lyon, France - Grrnd Zero
10-24 Poitiers, France - Conforte Moderne ~
10-25 Nantes, France - Olympic ~
10-26 Cherbourg, France - L'Epicentre
10-27 Paris, France - Georges Gorse (BB Mix Festival) ~
10-28 Düdingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn
10-29 St. Gallen, Switzerland - Palace
11-02 Castellón, Spain - Tanned Tin Festival
11-03 Berlin, Germany - Festsaal Kreuzberg
11-05 Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur
11-06 Heidelberg, Germany - Karlstorbahnhof
11-07 Berlin, Germany - Bastard
11-08 Hamburg, Germany - Westwerk =
11-09 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
11-10 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli
11-11 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Worm
11-12 Brussels, Belgium - Recyclart
11-15 Helsinki, Finland - Kuudes Linja
11-16 Gothenburg, Sweden - Berg211
11-17 Oslo, Norway - Spasibar
11-18 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
11-19 Cologne, Germany - Stadtgarten

* with YACHT
^ with White Rainbow
# with Ecstatic Sunshine
$ with the Blow
+ with Battles
~ with Deerhoof
= with O'Death

YACHT:

09-05 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court *
09-07 Seattle, WA - Vera Project *
09-08 Portland, OR - Satyricon *^
09-11 Sacramento, CA - Fools Foundation *^
09-12 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *^
09-13 Visalia, CA - Howie & Son's *^
09-14 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo *^
09-15 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Monolith Festival)
09-18 Paris, France - La Maroquinerie %
09-19 Bielefeld, Germany - Forum %
09-20 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Halle %
09-21 Vienna, Austria - Szene %
09-22 Munich, Germany - Ampere %
09-24 Milan, Italy - Transilvania %
09-25 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik %
09-26 Bordeaux, France - Le Krakatoa %
09-27 Toulouse, France - Le Ramier %
09-30 Dusseldorf, Germany - Zakk
10-05 Shanghai, China - Yue Festival
10-20 Paris, France - Point Ephemere
10-21 Bordeaux, France - Son'art
10-23 Toulouse, France - L'Ambassade
10-24 Lyon, France - Epicerie Moderne
10-25 Reims, France - Electricity Festival
10-26 Nancy, France - Badaboum Festival
10-27 Rennes, France - Electronik Festival

* with Dirty Projectors
^ with White Rainbow