Get Free by Major Lazer feat. Amber of the Dirty Projectors is not only making me wish I had the beautiful voice of Amber Coffman– major swoon–but I’m mentally on a summer long weekend right now. No offence, winter…
Get Free – Major Lazer feat Amber of the Dirty Projectors
Here’s a Yellow Claw Remix of the song as an added bonus:
Image via The Owl Mag
I have a musical crush on GIVERS, a quintet of twenty-somethings from Louisiana who came together after Hurricane Katrina swept their lives away in 2005.
After the Hurricane demolished New Orleans, singer-percussionist Tiffany Lamson and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Guarisco’s belongings were submerged in fifteen feet of water. Poor Lamson had just moved into a new apartment to start her freshman year at University of New Orleans. Instead of turning a national disaster into a personal crisis, Lamson and Guarisco – previous hometown homies from LaFayette, Louisiana – partnered up to form GIVERS.
Finding themselves without school and without a home, they went back to Lafayette to work on their music. In 2009, after playing together for three years, they asked drummer Kirby Campbell, keyboardist Nick Stephan, and bassist Josh LeBlanc to join them for a two-hour set at a local pub, with Guarisco taking on lead guitar and splitting lead vocals with Lamson.
They caught their big break by opening for Dirty Projectors at a local pub – a band whose off-kilter guitar riffs and polyphonic male-female vocals are a primary inspiration for GIVERS. Frontman and guitar-savant David Longstreth was so charmed by GIVERS’s tumultous, happy sound that he invited them to open for Dirty Projectors’s their East Coast tour. A riotously successful performance at the 2010 Austin City Limits festival landed GIVERS a record deal with Glassnote.
This fall, they’ll be taking the reins and headlining their own North American tour. This includes a concert at Wrongbar in Toronto with Lord Huron on October 26th! (Tickets are $13.00 and available here). Time to discover GIVERS before they explode! (Cults, anyone?)
RIYL: Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors, Ra Ra Riot.
MP3: Up Up Up – GIVERS from In Light (Glassnote, 2011) Download on Stereogum.
MP3: In My Eyes – GIVERS from In Light (Glassnote, 2011) Download on Stereogum.
North American news stations have a nasty habit of picking up a story about a devastating natural disaster, blasting the public with updates for about a week or two, then promptly dropping it to cover more important news. (What would I do without prompt updates on the whereabouts of Sarah Palin’s hairdresser or the fluxuations of Kim Kardashian’s ass size? Die, probably.)
However, back at the locations of tragedies, victims don’t just disappear when we flip to TLC to catch a rerun of Cake Boss. It’s really sad that our attention span for global tragedy is so shortsighted.
Remember the Japanese Tsunami on March 11th, 2011?
The earthquake in Haiti on January 12th, 2010?
The BP oil spill on April 20th, 2010?
Yeah, they’re still cleaning up after those.
So imagine my happiness to discover that a few of my favourite artists have pieced together a benefit cd called Recorded for Japan. It’s chock-filled with psychedelic guitar licks, silky keyboard pulses and funky drumbeats. Proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross. Keep your ear out for contributions by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Chairlift, Kurt Vile, and R. Stevie Moore (feat. members of MGMT) in the sampler below.
Various Artists – Recorded For Japan – Visual Player from RECORDED FOR JAPAN on Vimeo.
If you’re looking for another awesome cd that supports relief efforts in Japan, the Morning Benders put out an incredible benefit EP called Japan Echo this year. Click here to buy it; you won’t regret it.
Another amazing compilation that supports a worthy cause is 2009′s Dark Was The Night, released by the Red Hot Organization in support of HIV/AIDS awareness. Produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, the compilation cd features amazing covers and collaborations by Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird and over two dozen other indie heavyweights.
Two of my favourite tracks off Dark Was The Night are Knotty Pine and Deep Blue Sea by Dan Rossen of Grizzly Bear, which was recorded in Rossen’s own home.
Knotty Pine – David Byrne and The Dirty Projectors:
Listening to music helps people. So the next time your mom starts shouting at you to “…shut off your Goddamned boom box and come help with the groceries!“, tell her you’re helping to save the world, one track at a time.
If you haven’t seen an episode of Breakfast at Sulimay’s I am so excited to expose you to it. This web series consists of three retired Pennsylvanians who listen to newly released music and comment during breakfast at their local restaurant. I was shown it a few years ago and have been obsessed since because it always makes me laugh.
Here's the gang. Bill,Ann and Joe.
Here is an episode where they critique Wilco’s self titled song, Wilco, and Dirty Projectors Stillness is the Move (and wonder if their music is ‘oriental’)
My personal favourite of these three characters? One might assume the heavy metal loving Ann, with her potty mouth, but the reviewer that wins my heart is Joe. Some episodes he looks like he is falling into a coma, or maybe he just needs a series of small catnaps during his day? All I know is that he has compared Eminem’s music to Gilbert and Sullivan (for those who have no idea what that is. It’s opera. I googled it) and I think it’s really cool when old older people don’t write-off/enjoy new music.
I'm still here guys. Alive and kicking.
Hope you enjoy the show. Ta-ta for now, TTFN.
Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing the talented and entertaining Dirty Projectors perform at Opera House from three feet away from Angel Deradoorian’s feet. THEN, Owen Pallett, my all-time favourite musician, appeared from off-stage to accompany the band for the song Two Doves (which just so happens to be my favourite Dirty Projectors song). Oh, and I happened to be standing right beside Gentleman Reg the entire time.
Tomorrow, I’m going to see Born Ruffians at LOLA (London Ontario Live Arts), a free four-day downtown concert planted in London, Ontario. There are going to be a ton of experimental art installations (including some stuff by the one-and-only Yoko Ono!).
On Saturday, Caribou is playing for free at LOLA too (I will obviously be going to this as well). Land of Talk and Zeus are also going to be playing, among many other awesome bands. Between concerts, I’ll be lounging on the private beach owned by the aunt of my dear friend Maria.
Yep, I feel lucky.
Even when your life is crashing around like loose change in a dryer,
And your nerves are fraught as twisted thread,
The one thing that you can be sure of – the one thing you know feels right – is your favourite song.
MP3: Two Doves – Dirty Projectors
Cheers, Dirty Projectors. I’ll be seeing you at the Opera House on September 15th.
Image by Francis Chung
AUGUST
BIG VENUE
Arcade Fire @ Olympic Island
Aug 14, 2010
$56.00
MEDIUM VENUE
Blitzen Trapper @ Opera House
Aug 3, 2010
$15.50
SMALL VENUE
Javelin @ Wrong Bar
Aug 11, 2010
$12.50
Forest City Lovers and Gentleman Reg @ The Great Hall
Aug 12, 2010
$12.00
SEPTEMBER
BIG VENUE
The xx @ Massey Hall
Sept 22, 2010
$34-54
MEDIUM VENUE
Dirty Projectors @ Opera House
Sep 15, 2010
$30.25
School of Seven Bells @ Mod Club
Sept 15, 2010
$20.00
Rogue Wave @ Opera House
Sept 24, 2010
$19.50
Foals @ Lee’s
Sept 27, 2010
$15.00
SMALL VENUE
OCTOBER
LARGE VENUE
MEDIUM VENUE
Temper Trap @ Phoenix
Oct 5, 2010
$22.50
Miike Snow @ Kool Haus
Oct 10, 2010
$26.00
Dr. Dog @ Phoenix
Oct 16, 2010
$20.50
NOVEMBER
SMALL VENUE
This guy does Dirty Projectors covers so well! Also, this video is trippy.
That’s all for now, friendz.
