Home Quarantine: Day 106

Even when performing from different homes in different states, Dirty Projectors' harmonies are still startlingly precise and clear. 

Dirty Projectors

You probably missed it, but here's Brooklyn's Dirty Projectors last night on the TBS show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

Dirty Projectors

Another new video of another new song from the new Dirty Projectors' album.

Dirty Projectors

The third new song from the forthcoming new album by Dirty Projectors, apparently the titular track, is the best one yet and gives us reason to anticipate the release of the new record.

Not Dead Yet

Contrary to the rumors and the impression I may have created with my lack of posts here lately, I'm not dead (yet).  Further, not planning to go down any time soon.

I am, however, struggling with the concept of a music blog in the Age of Trump.  Given the threats his neo-fascist tendencies represent to our freedom, our liberties, and our right to Free Speech, daily postings of little videos and Soundcloud clips seems somehow, well, frivolous.  Posting nothing but rants and protests, on the other hand, seems vitriolic.  I'm struggling with finding a middle way.    

It's obvious there needs to be some changes here, if for nothing else than to accommodate the New Year much less the new gestalt.  Happy times are gone, my friends. and this sad song by Dirty Projectors, seeming confirmation that not only is Amber Coffman no longer in the band, but the other vocalists beside frontman David Longstreth are apparently gone, too.  It's not a direct metaphor for the times, but the sadness certainly seems an appropriate match.

I can't promise anything more in the future, as I honestly don't know where all of this is heading.

One Of My Favorite Things

Dirty Projectors

Dirty Projectors at Variety Playhouse, August 9, 2012

Dirty Projectors claim that this will be the last video from 2012's Swing Lo Magellan.  I hope that this means they're back in the studio working on the next album, and that means they'll be touring again soon (too long!).

Dude, I Was There!

One of my favorite concerts of the year was held during MusicFest Northwest, but wasn't actually a part of MFNW, when My Morning Jacket played an outdoor show in McMenamin's Edgefield in rural Troutdale, Oregon.  Some magic combination of MMJ's epic jams, the beautiful setting, the sunset, and the fact that my being there was totally unplanned (my itinerary had me seeing Kishi Bashi in the basement Doug Fir Lounge over in Portland) all made it a very special show.  The quality of this fan video isn't professional but it isn't all that bad either, and it does give a fairly good impression of what the show was like.  As I recall, this number was about a third of the way into the set.

I don't like to rank anything as "Concert of the Year," as that's such a relative title, and many shows deserve top ranking for one aspect of the performance or another.  But, because such things are traditional at the end of the year, here in chronological order are some of my favorite concerts of 2012:

1. Akron/Family, Drunken Unicorn, January 14
2. Thurston Moore, The Goat Farm, February 8
3. Allo Darlin' & The Wave Pictures, 529, April 28
4. Damien Jurado, The Earl, May 23
5. Sonic Generator performing Steve Reich's Drumming, The Goat Farm, July 27
6. Dirty Projectors, Variety Playhouse, August 9
7. M83, Bumbershoot, Seattle, September 3
8. Low, Bumbershoot, Seattle, September 3
9. Black Mountain, Doug Fir Lounge (MFNW), Portland, Oregon, September 8
10. My Morning Jacket, McMenamin's Edgefield, Troutdale, Oregon, September 9
11. Animal Collective, The Tabernacle, September 30
12. David Byrne & St. Vincent, Cobb Energy Center, Marietta, Georgia, October 3
13. TOPS, Farm 255, Athens, Georgia, October 6
14. Sharon Van Etten, Terminal West, October 27