Dirty Projectors

Formed in 2002, Dirty Projectors emerged from the Brooklyn indie boom of the aughts with a unique sound that oscillated between stripped-down acoustic productions and textural chamber music. The project is the brainchild of singer/songwriter David Longstreth, who began crafting songs focused on dreamy narratives and layered vocal arrangements while studying at Yale the year prior. After a string of small, independent releases, Dirty Projectors evolved into a full-fledged band with singer/bassist Angel Deradoorian for 2007's Rise Above, which reimagined songs from Black Flag's 1981 LP, Damaged, as baroque, shape-shifting memories. (Longstreth is the band's sole permanent member, although the lineup has at times included his brother Jake, vocalist and guitarist Amber Coffman, and Vampire Weekend cofounders Rostam Batmanglij and Ezra Koenig.) Their 2009 breakthrough LP, Bitte Orca, included indie and R&B crossover hit “Stillness Is the Move”, and also established the adventurous vocal experimentation later showcased on their 2011 Björk collab, Mount Wittenberg Orca. In 2020, Dirty Projectors released 5EPs, harnessing creative spontaneity and spotlighting the work of band members other than Longstreth.