Bitte Orca

Offbeat elitist hipster-pop doesn't get much more up its own arse than this.

It's like Captain Beefheart pop

I can usually be objective and I understand that just because I don't like a thing that someone somewhere might love it. Perhaps it's just not for me. This album, however, made me angry. It's so bad. So so bad. I can't even figure out what they're trying to do here. There's no cohesion, no atmosphere, no point. Awful stuff.

I don't really get it. The album manages to be good, interesting, bad, and bland. Unfortunately, none of good parts are very interesting and all of the interesting parts are bad. The very best of the album sounds like it belongs on a better album.

OK, this was probably the strangest album yet. I have no idea how to start describing it. But I definitely really liked it a lot - without being able to describe why either. I have already saved the album to listen to it again another time. But first I'll just go straight ahead and listen to something else by Dirty Projectors. Update: I then spent the rest of the day listening to radio playlists based on Dirty Projectors and loved it all the way. Even though I still don't really know what kind of music this is.

Please, killer whale? That is all this reviewer needed to confirm that this album is lost, befuddling, and an object lesson in being a waste of time. Perhaps this album is for musicians, or math-rockers inclined to scramble the brain for no reason other than they can. The pretentiousness that seems to ooze from this album and its compositions is infuriating to where the ears wanted to vomit. With all respect and seriousness, if a listener has to search for an album's intention or motivation, this qualifies as meaningless drivel. Art, such as the one seeming to be promoted here, is meant to challenge and inspire, hopefully to remain begrudgingly respected. This album is just crap, an inspiration for insult and dismissal. If that is the reaction aimed for, then spot on it is. If a band wants to experiment and play chords at random, then re-arrange all that into something that makes enough sense to get a record label to distribute their drivel, then this was it. Every member seems to do their own thing, and they are bad at it. The band is not without some semblance of talent, the whole thing just feels wasted, as though the mindless mashing of chords as a child was praised by over-supportive parents who then paid for a recording session that then was just trendy enough to be looked at as some sort of priceless abstract determined to be refreshingly different. Yes, it is different. Yes, it is not the usual fare one can expect from the so-called mainstream, but at least there we can hear music that is infuriating for better reasons for sounding too good and formulaic. This album is so bad it makes one want to defend pop and mainstream, and that is a bad thing.

sounds very generic, hard to understand why it made the list. maybe I am missing something.

A great deal of this record is a guy singing in falsetto while two female voices do a weird "vocal hocketing" thing that I learned about today. Dirty Projectors is one of those art pop bands that think switching obscure time signatures in the middle of a song makes them worthy. Technical acumen is nice, but they occassionally forget to make the music listenable at the same time. Best track: Two Doves

What an absolutely infuriating listen with pretentiousness and dissonance in overflow. Absolute low-point is the useless hiphop beat in the middle of 'Useful Chamber' with equally useless spoken words(?).

Release the hounds

Life too short for this shit

Longstreth's voice sounds a bit strained on the first few cuts, but the compositions are intricate and the backing harmonies are delightful in stereo. Temecula Sunrise underlines the suburban angst with interjected "yeah"s. There's a prog-folk feel to first three songs, and they start in roughly the same way: minimal instrumentation and male vocals opening into movements and soundscapes. Stillness Is The Move is the proof that this is not the formula. It establishes that fact with its vamp. The sequencing continues to flow thanks to the string section linkage, until No Intention breaks the flow with a hint of a different kind of project altogether. The album ends with Longstreth in a halfway point between his early, more forced vocals and the more comfortable timbre of the couple preceding tracks. This time, he enters after an organ, and the song and album come to a close as the ideas on it come to fruition. I didn't expect something this accessible when I saw Trout Mask Replica comparisons, but this project earns it when its title is realized in lyrics.

thought it was pretty cool

I got slightly into Dirty Projectors around the time this was released. I don't listen to whole lot of indie rock anymore, and didn't even have a FLAC copy of this - so I guess it has been years since I revisited it. Damn, it's still good. I love the abstract songwriting and idiosyncratic delivery. I love the way layered voices are used, and I love how the music is crisp and precise, but carries a big sense of possibility, like they might go off in another direction any moment. Can't think of anything I would change about this, so 5/5.

I wish I’d discovered this album outside of this project, as one day is not enough to really rate and digest it. However, I think this is still a pretty clear 5 here; I love this creative and experimental indie.

Pretty tripped out actually and I ended up listening to a handful of the songs more than once

Reading the reviews I thought this was going to be pretentious rubbish, but it was actually enjoyable.

Pretty art pop/rock. A bit meandering and it often feels like random harmonies and notes for the sake of it.

What on earth was this?

A lovely album. I can't put my finger on what is so unique about them, but they just seem to have a way of composing and writing that is unexpected, unusual, and appealing to me.

I really liked this album. I discovered this band relatively recently and liked their album with Bjork. I think the way the use the male and female voices is interesting

Le nom du groupe annonçait la couleur toutefois je ne m'attendais pas du tout à cette horrible expérience visuelle. L'album est en effet projeté sur une toile blanche à l'aide de deux appareils qu'on devine à peine sortis de la cave. Les images sont de cet fait d'une qualité des plus médiocres la faute à une large couche de poussière et de toiles d'araignées recouvrant les deux objectifs. À fuir.

This is quite an attention grabbing bizarre album. This is almost a live 'jamming' session album, I couldn't really describe the genre, wiki calls it 'experimental rock' - experimental is right, rock - not so much, it's more modern classical folk singer-songwriter jazz? Anyway - there's lots of surprisingly elements, off key measures, tempo changes or skips - it could ALMOST be background easy listening music except for the injected surprise elements draw your attention back constantly. Unfortunately, not a fan of the singers - who sounds like a less controlled 'Mika' - high pitched, shaky, something I guess you need to get to like. I can understand the ideas behind the album, though it's not really to my personal taste.

Don’t tell the indie kids, but I think David Longstreth is a massive Steve Howe (Yes) fan. He laces Howe-isms in his guitar playing through out the record. If you don’t believe me, listen to the title track or “Temecula Sunrise”, if you’ve heard a few Steve Howe solos or enjoy Yes, it’ll hit you hard. Honestly, it’s pretty amazing, like if you dropped Steve Howe into Stereolab and it somehow worked. Ok, enough trying manipulate the generator into giving me a Yes record to review. (Serious about the Steve Howe thing, though). Bitte Orca separates itself from a lot of 2000/10’s indie rock with its complex, layered arrangements. It’s a daunting listen at first, but when it clicks, it’ll likely leave you wanting more. RIYL: “Point” by Cornelius, Steve Howe’s work in Yes.

Indie with a capital I. Not my thing.

This sounds like the kind of horrible jangly trash that dicks who work in record stores like to recommend just because it's obscure. Some music deserves obscurity.

What a disaster. No songs, just a guy pretending to have talent.

Pretty much unlistenable the worst album I've ever heard.

It's just a horrible mess of crap songs, badly played, badly sung. it was basically unlistenable. To call this hipster pop is an insult to hipster pop.

This was bad. Felt like a punishment. Would vote this off the list.

Like a bad open mic night - a new song starts every 15 seconds with no connection to the previous 15 seconds

Awful. Not even music.

Why is there a cat screaming in the first song? He was horribly out of tune in the bride. Why is this on the list?

The first album to cause me physical pain. After the first 2 songs I had to take a break, I felt like I was having knives shoved into my ears, I made it half way through the album and I regret not stopping sooner. Was not worth the migraines. 5/112

Very Yoko Ono-ish background vocals on the opening track, which at first were off-putting to me. But I decided to give it a shot and go deeper with an open mind. But no, I ended up absolutely, viscerally hating it. This is honestly one of the worst albums I have ever heard in my life. It can be characterized in one word: noise. Self-indulgent noise. I just don't get it at all. This album is the equivalent of an Ohio transplant who moved to Brooklyn to "discover" Crown Heights and now refuses to shop anywhere but Buffalo Exchange for his clothes. If you know, you know. Oddly mixed as everything is LOUD. All the sounds are competing with one another. It's an inharmonious, cacophonous disaster that should not be listened to with headphones lest you want to blow your hearing. The singer sounds like he's doing a half-rate Tiny Tim impression, the background singers shout over him, there are random claps interspersed everywhere, the music often changes key and time signature, and almost every song starts out slower and then has a "drop the beat" moment. It's just a mess. I bet when they were making this album, they were like "Fuck yeah! This sounds cool!" and nobody wanted to say otherwise. Because it truly doesn't. Offbeat hipster nonsense that is way too far up its own ass. Awful album. Right in the trash.

Some of the worst, self indulgent crap I've ever heard. The worst part, is that sonically this album sounds FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. There are a smattering of good ideas in there too, they just forgot to put them together in any kind of meaningful way. Plus it's a stupid album name, with an arguably as stupid band name. Would give zero if I could.

Bitte, no more.

I hate millennials

Great band. Saw this album played in person in Dallas. Still love it.

Reeeally nice. It reminds me of tune yards a lot

Loved it when I was 14, still love it now.

This is a great experimental indie album, reminds me of Discovery. A big fan of some of the strange cadences and the colorful sound.

Mellow melodies, soft voices, a good indie album

Noticed one of the songs form 2k13 lol but really enjoyed the album!

Try it, you'll like it!

I listed to it many times in a row.

I couldn’t get into the earlier Dirty Projectors releases, but Bitte Orca was one of my favorite releases of 2009. The songs were more conventional in structure than past works but maintained the eclectic playfulness that Dirty Projectors was known for. While there is a lot going on throughout the release, it somehow is all grounded. Well done.

Awesome album! Very unique, vocals are different but fit the feel very well. Loved it.

crazy good alternative album just a 10/10 for creativity alone actually amazing

I listened to this a lot when it came out. It didn't sound like anything i was listening to at the time. I loved it then and i love it now.

The mix is crisp and creates nice separation while bringing elements forward as punctuation or focal points. Strings, electronics, and acoustic guitar all work together. The harmonized backup vocals are inventive and unique. Lots of flavor of world music African guitar and beats. Vampire Weekend influence for obvious reasons (roots in Ali Farka Touré?). Vocals have similarities to Jeff Buckley, or is that just me?

One of my favorite indie rock albums of all time. 2009 the GOAT year. The guitar and vocal harmonies on this one are chef’s kiss.

Stillness is the Move is one of my favourite songs, but I’ve never listened to the other songs on this album. I really like the unique sound of the whole album, I’ll definitely be revisiting this album. 5/5

Lush, complicated, fresh

So original, great fun, catchy and edgy. Brilliant

I am a sucker for interesting vocal harmonies, and this manages to be cool and pretty and diverse and fun and fascinating and just all around awesome.

Such a good album. Experimental yet very listenable and catchy with BANGERS!!!

This one caught me off guard, great album all the way. I really like the funky rhythms with the starts and stops and how they fill the space but it still seems sparse, if that makes sense. Every instrument from vocals, guitar, to percussion seems to have a unique spin on it that makes you listen a little more closely.

This was nice. Has some ups and downs but overall enjoyed a lot

Boy oh boy did I love this album. I had no idea anything like this existed. The time signatures are wild, the tempo changes are wild. Having access to multiple lead singers really helps break up the album. The only song I favorited my first time through was Stillness is the move, but the second time I added Cannibal Resource, Temecula Sunrise, Remade Horizon and Two Doves.

Isn't life under the sun just a crazy, crazy dream? Surprised this has such a low average because I think it's brilliant! A very nice blend of experimental and catchy. I particularly like the wonky sounding guitar riffs and vocal melodies. Standout tracks: Cannibal Resource, Temecula Sunrise, Stillness is this Move, Useful Chamber, Fluorescent Half Dome

Bright and lush art pop with math rock instrumentation, chaotic punk energy, and a fun operatic vocalist (and angelic back vocals), that all reminds me of Animal Collective, tUnE-yArDs, Bjork, and to an extent Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes. This record has the edge over its competitors for its accessibility. Despite how chaotic and messy it is, it doesn't come off as too pretentious or inconsistent, with easily recognizable pop hooks, and some simple tracks (like "Two Doves") that people can relate to. With a dense album like this, it benefits from only being 41 minutes. Each track is distinguishable with their own tricks that never get old. The track order is also optimized for your listening. - "Cannibal Resource" eases you into the record like a sunrise. - "Temecula Sunrise" follows that up with mild melodies that occasionally step out of the comfort zone, to help you understand what you're getting into. - "The Bride" and "Two Doves" are 2 of the simplest tracks, which help keep you listening without a sensory overload. - "Stillness is the Move" is the mega hit that comfortably utilizes what the record has taught us to create a triumphant pop hit. - "Useful Chamber" is the most technologically advanced track, and suitably placed so far in the record. It's a lot to take in but very impressive, and I appreciate the slow and quiet pace to help digest the 6.5 minute length. - "No Intention" and "Remade Horizon" are some fun art pop tracks. More chaotic than earlier tracks, and not as memorable, but they're still fantastic and deserving to be on the record. I just felt the impact has slowed down or become exhausting by the time of "No Intention". - "Fluorescent Half Dome" is a satisfying appropriate closer. Fitting with the themes, it's atmosphere and ethereal while soft and slow. Nothing crazy, but it was an appropriate finish. 5 of the 9 tracks are beyond incredible. The other 4 are fantastic too but just not as strong. Nevertheless, it's a highly innovative and influential record that knows what it's doing, able to pull in all kinds of audiences. For those recognitions, it is a landmark of the 2000s indie scene.

Love this album, I listened to this album so much back in the day. Stillness in the Move is still one of my all time favorite songs.

LOVED!

A wonderful work that expands artistic pop exploring the ordinary in an extraordinary way. The music is complex but still infectous. Love it.

So chill

Não conheço, terei que ouvir.

Maybe the 5 stars is for nostalgia, but I don’t care. Seeing Dirty Projectors in Berlin was beautiful.

Very cool freak folk record

Excellent album by Dirty Projectors. Some people say the vocals are like soap, but I love this dude, and the abstract sounds they're putting out.

Another great album from an indie rock band I didn't know. Keep them coming!!

Very into this. Cool indie vibe with catchy melodies and pretty vocals.

REALLY COOL MAN

didn’t really need to be on this list but cool. liked it more when listened twice.

Very chill and soothing. Not an every day listen.

Great album, always fun to listen to this unique band.

Wonderfully quirky and inventive. I think The Dirty Projectors and Grizzly Bear were two of the best indie acts of the early 2000s. Like any offbeat and complex works it’ll take a few lessons to grow on me but then it’s gonna stick for a long time, unlike the formulaic pop on mainstream radio

Un disco con popurrí de canciones, parecen inconexas. Pero las canciones están bien. Folk, africano, inde, Rufus... popurrí.

Experimental music can be very very good or can miss the mark completely. This is the former. Reminiscent in places of a Zaireeka-era Flaming Lips and a more polished Deerhoof, which is very much my jam. I'd never heard of Dirty Projectors before, but enjoyed this enough to want to check out more of their back catalogue. If it is as good as this, I will be in for a treat, but suspect 'hit and miss' may go with the genre... 4/5.

"I think you're more than a terrified witness Behind the arbitrary line" (Cannibal resource) "On top of every mountain There was a great longing For another even higher mountain In each city longing for a bigger city" (Stillness is the move) Pues bastante bien, me gustan mucho las letras y el arte es muy bonito.

Klinkt als wat ik al luister. Leuke rock :)

Surprisingly good album from a band I've never heard of!

even the most accessible dirty projectors is probably fairly niche. regardless, i think i probably love this album. i love the weird time shit he does.

This really captures a particular area of indie pop for me. I've heard it before and will listen again.

а ниче прикольно так

Truly a first listen for me, probably my first album on the list that I really didn't have much context on. Like, heard of the band before, had some sort of indie rock context, but that's it. And, I'm liking it - a good surprise. Not sure how much I'll want to stick with it over time, but I could see it growing on me (the way Of Montreal's "Hissing Fauna.." did, or could see it getting old. But, for now, I like the layered vocals, the mix of soft and hard, the general feel of orchestration to the whole thing.

Funky style, I really enjoyed it.

Good indie music

Chaotic eclectic sporadic fun. Build ups followed by sudden drops. Smooth guitar work interrupted perfectly by the crash of a cymbal then followed by intentional offbeat drum solos and it all works. Wonderfully unintelligible cannons and echos and dynamic duets between two strong vocalists. Bold new sound seems right here and I will definitely seek them out for more like this. Very unique sound. Cannibal resource, Temecula sunrise, remade horizons, stillness is the move

I've heard of the Dirty Projectors, but I wasn't sure if I've heard any of their music. I've probably heard at least one of their Tiny Desk Concerts. I wasn't sure if "Stillness Is the Move" was a track I've heard before, or if some of the sounds used on the record just remind me of other music. Most of the album felt that way - new music to me but with hints of sounds I've heard before. This isn't bad. The album was put together in a way that I think that it qualifies as a potential re-listen of the whole album.

Flaps around more than an erotic bat, yet somehow appealing. Most songs went places unexpectedly, which I like. One song in particular had off-key singing, was not a fan

Didn't like temecula sunrise, but the rest of the album turned it around for me.

The first album and group that was completely new to me on this list. I enjoyed it as something fresh and different.

Lots of melodic and rhythmic unpredictability on this one. Interesting vocals and instrumentation, too. Sometimes it's really interesting and fun and sometimes it's hard work to listen. I loved Cannibal Resource, particularly the backing vocals and the guitar in the instrumental section mid-song. I loved Stillness is the Move, including the title (this is a band that likes a juxtaposition I think). Two Doves sounds like contemporary musical theater (that's a compliment coming from me) and contains the line, "But our bed is like a failure." And Remade Horizon is really great, again with the hooty backing vocals that I find so charming. Most of the rest didn't really work for me. Temecula Sunrise has extremely pedestrian, extremely depressing lyrics. ("Definitely you can come and live with us. I know there's a space for you in the basement, yeah. All you gotta do is help out with the chores and dishes." Poetic in its banality? Actually, kind of yes.) In The Bride, the handclaps after the line, "no one has any good reason to live," were...surprising. I'm giving this one a 4 because the songs I love, I really love, and I am giving them each a star.

What is this? And how can I get slightly more but not a lot more than this?

A defining sound of the late 00s, much like Vampire Weekend, Acade Fire etc

Somewhere in the early 2010's, a "facts" page in Facebook once boasted: Japanese scientists have created an MRI machine that can record your dreams and reconstruct them for you to watch while you're awake. And that made me think: considering the illogical and very, very weird stuffs that we see, do, and experience in our sleep-worlds, what could we watch if such MRI machine exists. And more importantly, how will we REACT? But apart from images, our brains actually created SOUNDS too. And of course, the sounds isn't any less weird. A lot of people are probably aware of those non-existent symphonies and synths and voices screaming random words like opera singers. I experience such music when I am about to sleep or about to wake up. And thinking about the fact that my skills in music stuff is zero, I guess that EVERYONE'S brain creates unique music too. My point is, what if instead of recording what we see in our dreams, we record what we HEAR in our dreams? What would we hear? Well, in 2009, some people who call themselves "Dirty Projectors" made a pretty convincing impression of those weird dream-music. They called this album "Bitte Orca". Please killer whale. And hearing those while awake? Weird. Weird. And weird. And perhaps I would have the same reaction if I saw my dreams in that MRI machine. I would see all the eccentric adventures and the illogical stuffs in it. I would find it weird. And this is how I describe "Bitte Orca". Surreal lyrics, unpredictable sounds, and tense yet fun overall atmosphere. It's dream music (no, not the Minecraft YouTuber). It reminds me why I love dreaming. It is where we temporarily throw logic and rules aside, and just have fun and face the chaos and surprises of human imagination.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: No intention, Remade horizon

Reminds me of Tune Yards and Vampire Weekend in parts, that sort of 'New York, we all went to music college' indie. That said its got some really interesting bits particularly vocals wise and the album flowed nicely. Probs a 3.5 but will round up

Too much for me, but great rhythm