Bitte Orca

Pretty alright

I hated this. Will I listen to again: 0%

Bitte Orca? More like Bitte More-ca! I need more colorful, playful, quirky albums like this and much less stale, bland britpop. 8/10

Det sämsta hittills. Man vill vara så svår som möjligt. Fruktansvärt svårlyssnat.

Radiohead's ADHD kid brother. There are occasional flashes of genius, but the way it can't ever settle down to one thing becomes grating and irritating after a while.

Picture this album as a lego set. You give the set to a 5 year old to complete, and they don't follow the directions. Once assembled, you can kind of tell what the final product was supposed to be, but pieces are all over the place where they don't quite fit, and even though it could be interpreted as "alternative," it really isn't pleasing to look at. But the child is happy, so you play along and say, "Well done!"

Bitte shitte, innit?

2009. This band is one I know, but never loved. Listening to this album confirmed that feeling. I can't deny it's brilliance, technically and experimentally. But, it does not fall well on my ears. I think there is disharmony between the frontman's vocals and the other sounds that just do not sound pleasant. BUT, I will say, on a few tracks, what feels like being trapped in this cacophony will sometimes settle, and your left with a beautiful moment. And that I love. For me, there like a hyperish, jagged Vampire Weekend or entranced, shinier Vulfpeck. Obviously, you hear a lot of Animal Collective, too. The work is deft, but the tracks, aside from 2-3, don't resonate. Fav track: The Bride

This is such a strange and beautiful album and I would definitely listen again. The female vocals are just hauntingly beautiful, and Stillness is the Move will always be a banger.

Bad. Like Vampire Weekend but shittier.

Interesting enough to make up for some of the mis-steps.

Sounds great, liked it a lot, but minus one point for then being forgettable after it was over.

Interesting music. Odd rhythms and good melodies. Vocals are nice, too.

Favourite songs: Stillness Is The Move, Cannibal Resource Least favourite songs: Useful Chamber, Temecula Sunrise 2/5

Bitte stop this nonsense. One of the most mediocrate disc from my entire life.

Good

Why don't I already know this album? It is really good! a little lightweight maybe, and extremely 2009, but that isn't the worst thing in the world. The first two songs were particularly good, and I'm excited to find out more about them.

The very definition of trying to hard. I did not bitte on this one at all, bitte but no bitte.

Never heard this before. Pretty unlistenable. fluctuating between a 1-star and 2-star rating.

I liked this. I'm a fan of Vampire Weekend and DP reminded me of them.

Hated it.

Inventive cacophony. You can stay in the basement if you do the chores and the dishes, but if you play this music anymore do it across town.

Interesting, but not something I'd choose to listen to.

Really fun album. The vocals were outstanding.

Don’t waste my time

Okay-arty and semi-interesting, but lacks flow and one fails to connect too deeply for the bands' too much jumping around.

Never listened before and not a bad first listen

Welp, that was… something. The first track had me optimistic about where this album was headed, and then it took a 90° turn, and then another, and then another. There are some bright moments that feel like this band knows what they are doing and has a developing sound. Then there are others that feel like they enlisted a 6-year old with a Mattel Magical Musical Thing (look it up) to play random notes. Disappointing is a compliment.

This album reminded me of that sopranos episode where Adriana is trying to executive produce a record for the band “Defiler” (lol) and the exasperated studio engineer guy is like “CHORUSES?!? WHERE ARE THE FUCKING CHORUSES?!?”

I always wonder what this record sounded like. I kind of liked the artwork for this record. Pretty simple but effective. Never judge an album by its cover. Because this record was complete shit. Not a single memorable song. I remember one thing though... And that's how much I hated actively listening to this record. What a expected disappointment. This list at least is consistent.

It was alright

Indy folk rock? Hipster rock folk? Folky Hipster jams? Idk it’s not for me but I’m sure there’s a dude with nose piercings riding a fixie while drinking kombucha in San Francisco FUCKINGVIBING to this

Good album. Reminds me of tune yards. Love the freedom. 3 because I would pull the record out and know what else I wanted to play. Personally 4 because it's fun!

грязные прожекторы надо помыть

I don't even know where to start with this ramshackle amalgamation of noises. All I know is that I didn't enjoy it.

I don't really even know how to describe this album, but it's really beautiful. Great vocal harmonies, lots of music that feels a little unusual, but also feels like it makes sense. This is one that I'm going to come back to for repeated listenings 4/5

Dissonant, interesting chords and vocal harmonies. Super interesting album that I thoroughly enjoyed. The addition of orchestral strings made for a welcome change from a typical indie rock album.

Rappelle l’invocation désespérée d’Arcade Fire, avec des accents de Peter Gabriel et des harmonies féminines doucereuses

Un disco estupendo de una banda que no ha publicado nunca un disco siquiera regular, este Bitte Orca fue el 2º mejor álbum de 2009 en Pitchfork. Destacan Temecula Sunrise con una excelente instrumentación, Stillness Is the Move donde suenan modernos a su modo y con un final exquisito que se prolonga en Two doves. No intention con su guitarra poliédrica y coros pintorescos. Remade Horizon es otro temazo donde resuenan esas influencias africanas. No incluye la que para mi es la mejor canción de la banda: Little Bubble, de su 7º disco (este Bitte Orca es el 5º). En 2009 hubo discos estupendos: Animal Collective con Merriweather Post Pavilion, debut de The XX, The Flaming Lips con Embryonic, The Horror con Primary Colors, The pains of being pure at heart con su homónimo debut, Prefab Sprout con su Let´s change the world with music, Antony and the Johnsons con The Crying Light, Grizzly Bear con Veckatimest, Neko Case con Middle Cyclone, Real Estate con Real Estate, Girls con Album, el regreso de Dinosaur Jr. con Farm, Catacombs de Cass McCombs, My Maudlin Career de Camera Obscura, In and Out of Control de The Raveonettes, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand de Franz Ferdinand, It´s Blitz! de Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, God Help the Girl de God Help the Girl, Yo la tengo con Popular songs, Florence and the Machine con Lungs, Empire of the sun con Walking on a dream, Kings of Convenience con Declaration of dependence... también Yes de Pet Shop Boys, The Ethernal de Sonic Youth, Wilco con Wilco, Humbug de Artic Monkeys.

Eu gosto de indie, mas cadê a qualidade? a representatividade? a criatividade? A inovação? Que justique a presença desse álbum nessa lista. Eu sei que essa lista não é um dogma, mas nao não precisa agasalhar tmbm neh?! Tnc acho que é sobrinha de álbum jornalista por aí lamentável

a bit weird in places, but some tracks were ok

Not sure if it was intentional but this largely sounded like they were trying to lure in whales. Reminded me of some sub-par support bands I’ve had to suffer through before the main act. Meh.

One of the easiest 5s I could give. I already love this album. It took me many listens back in the day to get into this one, but I've loved it ever since. Actually, every Dirty Projectors album from this one onward has taken me a few listens to get into, but they grow on me every time. I highly recommend the follow-up to this one: Swing Lo Magellan

not my cup of tea

Very surprised this album made the book. The vocals are just really annoying. It doesn't do anything exciting. Every song kinda just sounds the same. It's not actually one of the worst albums I've ever listened to but compared to everything else in this list it's pretty shit

Hipster art without any real artistic merit. 1/5

never even heard of this one beforehand, ended up scratching itches i forgot i had...harmonic and melodic construction that is theoretically extremely spicy but delivered in a swirling sweet way. thought a lot about like, oil paints, mixing and unmixing in impossible ways to make impossible colors. fun to navigate, even more fun to fail to navigate. there are parts of my ears that can only rly be filled by songwriting like this...perhaps there is hope for me yet that i have not undergone full normieification after finding myself drifting towards more conventional and digestable music for a couple years. wish i had the proper words to capture this record's aesthetic experience, but rly thats just motivation to eventually return to it until i do!

Interesting album, although maybe nothing groundbreaking. It had hints of Flaming Lips and Bjork. Enjoyable enough listen, but doubt I'll revisit 3/5

I've heard of this band but never heard them. I'm glad I haven't heard them before today. I never want to hear them again. I know people like stuff like this. I used to have to suffer similar bands when I'd see live shows in NYC during the 00s. Anti-Music I belive is an apt description. Zero stars is too many

Complex to the point it feels random. Am I allowed to say it's too artsy if I like Björk, and it's surely influenced by her?

It was weird but it fit the mood as I was having a nightcelwalk stargazing

strano ma stranamente piacevole

I didn't like this 15 years ago and I don't like it now. Just when they get you in a groove they uproot everything with the most garish sonics or rhythm change they could possibly imagine. I get that they want to be \"indie art rock\" or \"avant garde\" but split the diff, folks. It's frustrating because when they toe that line, the project often works. These moments are often short-lived, however. It usually helps when the interesting thing that you're presenting an audience with is listenable. This is why people find this album pretentious.

If Geddy Lee from Rush made 2012 hipster music

Just felt like random stuff slapped together. Had its moments though.

Bitte nicht Orca

It sounded like everyone was trying to show off and forgot to listen to each other.

Pretty murder whale. This album was pretty not sure where the orca tidbit comes in but solid overall

Incredibly overrated by everyone, starting from Pitchfork. It’s over complicated, barely tuneful, the singers are annoying, etc. I didn’t understand the hype at the time and still don’t understand. Looking back, 2009 was a bad year in music, except for the xx.

Just ok

“Stillness is the Move” is a good song. Unfortunately this album has eight other songs on it. You just know that everyone in this band owns grooming products that cost more than my car and also smells bad all the time. From Wikipedia: “Longstreth notes that the music contained within the album "felt very [much] about colors, and their interaction,"”. Isn’t that just indie music in a nutshell? Other genres have songs about sex and drugs and dancing and frustration and divorce and violence and poverty and things real people deal with, and indie music has songs about things twenty-five year old sadboy trustafarians think about while they are high on mushrooms and meditating in their Brooklyn apartment next to their vegan kumbacha. They call it indie music because it belongs indie trash. On May 8, 2009, members of Dirty Projectors collaborated with Bjork to perform an orchestral composition for five voices and acoustic guitar composed by Longstreth as part of a charity concert to benefit Housing Works, a nonprofit dedicated to finding housing for homeless men, women and children with AIDS. Halfway through the concert the homeless people stood up and said "if it’s all the same to you, we'll stick with the AIDS!"

Such a unique album. I find a few of the songs a bit annoying but the variety of sound here is amazing. I would love to really dove back into this one someday because every time I listen it falls into the background. I find it very math rock at times and meditative but also sometimes a bit too spastic. Overall it is a unique piece of art.

Yesterday I had Skip Spence's "Oar", the unfinished studio project of a drug-addled mind. And it made a whole lot more sense to me, felt more coherent than this mess. Sounds like trying hard to be prog - sudden tempo changes, layers of textured voices, blue notes aplenty. Comes across half-baked, like they didn't actually listen to their first takes from the studio and wonder whether it sounded any good. Each song quickly reached my threshold of tolerance, so I suppose that's an achievement on its own. Congratulations, guys.

Clearly didn't click with me today. Thought it might, but no. Initially I was going to give it a 2 but the more I listened...

I tried to hate this album from the get-go, but I actually really liked it. It's a little chaotic, but in a creative way. The vocals are great and the guitar work is impressive.

The weirdos doing music

Exploratory pop, lots of variety

Pretentious and annoying. Hard pass.

Nothing too exciting, but not bad either. The album was alright, nothing really happened but we have had far worse ones, so I would say this goes somewhere in the middle.

Cannibal Resource 4 Temecula Sunrise 2.9 The Bride 3 Stillness Is the Move 4 Two Doves 2.8 Useful Chamber 3 No Intention 4 Remade Horizon 2.8 Fluorescent Half Dome 2.9 Score: 3.266666667

I feel like I'm listening to someone demonstrate what ProTools 2009 could do. Just way too much engineering.

Nope

8/20/24. Interesting avant-garde style album with multiple vocalists. Couldn't attach to the songs as much, but still enjoyed the album as a whole.

boh mi sembrano tutte uguali.

Super Great. Adore adore adore the vocal arrangements. Some of the later songs need more listens because they are a little dense

Strong start with first two songs, but gets a little less strong in the middle. Do think the sound is very cool though, and like the band ofc.

Not really my deal.

this started out well and declined very quickly

Easy listening but a bit boring

Didn't see the point to this one.

Just totally insufferable fart sniffer music. I am 100% positive that I can beat every single Dirty Projectors fan on the planet in arm wrestling

Just blends in. Nothing special

I don't get it.

Reading their wiki entry I had high hopes on liking this album. Boy was I wrong. The whole thing sounds like a normal, indie / alternative band wrote some proper songs, but then gave the multitracks to someone with no idea how to use Pro Tools, who re-edited, rearranged and repitched everything completely at random. Its one saving grace is “Stillness Is The Move” which was really quite nice. Even as a fan of the experimental (I gave Einstürzende Neubauten a 3!) I found this to be a horribly painful listening experience. “Stillness Is The Move” gives it the one star.

Should have been up my alley but it wasn't. It's just fine.

3 out of 5. It's a unique album with beautiful staccato singing but doesn't grab my attention otherwise. Favorite song: Two Doves

A Monet of an album - looks OK from a distance, but when you pay some closer attention it's a right old mess. Half the time the rhythm section seems to be playing a completely different song to the rest of the band, and there are moments when it settles down into a more regular type of music and then they realise that they need to be more avant garde and it jets off even further up it's own arse.

Too experimental.

Meh

Acceptable background music. Won't go back to this

Damn good album. 3.5

full mikið listaskóla krútterí fyrir minn smekk. en inn á milli eru skemmtilegar melódíur með góðum ryþma. 3,5.

This one didn't do much for me. Started to get on my nerves after awhile. 2.5

It’s okay 🤷🏻‍♂️

Might be the most overrated album of the era. Should be right in my wheelhouse but I just can't get behind it. 1.5/5

This was interesting. 4/5

Weird. Good weird, even if it's not my style. Lots of Regina Spektor vibes, though very much their own thing. At another point in my life, this would have really resonated with me. For now, I recognize that it's very good, I'm glad I listened, but I doubt I'll revisit this, at least any time soon.

This started out inventively interesting but got really hard to listen to. Not too catchy but that seems like the point.

Weird, I like it. But the only reason I'm giving three stars is the song Two Doves: it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot of stuff.

This album was so big when it came out. I’ve tried but I could never really get into it. Holds up for the most part but can’t say that I was wowed.

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

A pointless, disjointed mess of an album. Like the 2000s got together to figure out if you could make music unpleasant to listen to that still managed to not provoke any strong emotions in the listener.

I can't say I enjoyed any of this so 1 star or F for me.

could i write poetry to this? n

I'd heard of Dirty Projectors before, but didn't know what to expect. This was a pleasant surprise. Artsy-fartsy, but still tuneful.

I hated everything about this.

Interesting, arty, and here and there whimsically charming in an off-kilter sort of way. Though it lacks flow, some cuts have an ebullient, even orgiastic feel. The strength is its uniqueness and unpredictability – one's a bit on edge not knowing what to expect as individual cuts develop – "the arbitrary life" indeed! The song titles alone speak to what's different. Best cuts are "Stillness Is the Move" and "Two Doves" even though the songs cohere overall and don't necessarily differentiate themselves terribly much as individuals. One's reminded of other art-school bands (Talking Heads, Pylon). Still, this is decent-plus and well worth knowing.

After a random hangout with the band during their tour for this album I picked it up and gave it a listen. It didn’t really hit for me and every few years I’ll give it another chance hoping it grows on me differently. 15 years later and it still doesn’t hit. I don’t know if it’s how it was mixed but for the most part it doesn’t sound right and is hard to enjoy. Maybe David just doesn’t have any rthyme with his guitar. 🤷‍♂️

A little weird, but some interesting parts!

4.5/10

Very much a 2009 record. Lots of reviews say this is hipsters with their heads up their collective asses. Sure, I’ll agree with that. But also it’s a weird fun record. Two things can be true.

I think I liked this album a lot more before I discovered David Longstreth is a complete knob.

Unusual and interesting

Didnt like

This is a very puzzling album. At times it was melodic and pleasant…….other times it sounded like a bunch of preschoolers were given instruments and told to screech in the highest pitches possible…..all during the same song. The love of falsetto is confounding and unpleasant. And the more of these albums I must hear before I die, the more confused I get. THIS is one of them?! Because it is better than the billions of other albums that have been released? 🧐

3.44 rym indie pop.... no merda 1/5

Nice! Lekker indie man, zaten paar nice dingen tussen

ja nee leuk hoor maar hoeft van mij niet zo, niks echt achter gebleven bij me

beetje weird Niet mijn ding

Nah.

Interesting. Not my overall favorite type but interesting

First listen Saved 1/9 Top track: Stillness Is The Move

Gear: Hifiman Arya Artwork: 🔵🔴 Mix: 〰️ Musik: 🤨 Wertung: 🔵🔴/5

reviews led me to believe I was about to experience torture but this one was actually pretty neat👍

Não conheço, terei que ouvir.

Chamber-Pop? This was pretty interesting, at least 4 vocalists, lots of skeletal backing vocals reminding me of ‘we suck young blood’ / ‘you and whose army?’ Radiohead. 3/5 and as a new-ish band a solid 0/5 on the yewtree scale

Yes! I really love this, although it's definitely only for the experimental mood Favorite tracks: "Cannibal Resource", "Two Doves", "Useful Chamber"

Very interesting.

Kinda fun but I didn't get into it.

Indie triphop with lots of wailing

The sort of album that would really benefit from a few more listens, but there's no way it's getting them. Fairly incoherent on a first run through.

I liked Stillness Is The Move ... otherwise

Goes alright. Should listen to more DP

I don't hear anything groundbreaking here. Mostly just late 00's indie rock that was played all over the radio at HMV when I worked there as a teenager.

So chill

That's not my taste in musik.

Maso

Stillness Is the Move is the only song I kind of liked.

Enjoyable 3.5

Did not like this..

When they sound like the Flaming Lips I like it. sometimes the vocals grated a little

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

Very, very bad. Very bad

Not very coherent. Favourites: stillness is the move, two doves, useful chamber. Very artsy and hard to enjoy. 2/5

Ummm… what is this lol. It might just be late but I can't really see the vision here and I don't love it. This is like the pop equivalent of Schoenberg.. probably uses some novel theory or composition techniques but unfortunately sounds like poo. I would have given this a better rating, but considering the fact that listening to this means that I couldn't listen to literally anything else tonight I'm giving it a rare 1. The only song that I would consider naming as a favourite was the beginning of Useful Chamber, but then it went back to sounding bad. Maybe Fluorescent Dome as well, but that's pushing it.

Very 2000s

4+/5

uninspired and unmoving to say the least. coke zero version of vampire weekend

After reading some of the reviews I was prepared to hate this but I didn't. Weird but interresting. Probably will never listen to it again but happy I heard this once.

Did not enjoy in the slightest

Trippy, fun, definitely worth another listen.

Interesting enough album. High 2

I get and appreciate what they're trying to do, it doesn't work for me, but still getting a 3

Shitte Orca

Começou um pouco interessante, daí ficou meio chato, então irritante e no final insuportável. Foi dificílimo terminar

This entire album is the band standing on their soapbox screaming “look how quirky and interesting we are!” I guess my question is, who gave them a soapbox? This was awful.

Some may enjoy this album, I did not

Så er den også hørt. Fik en lille smule Blur vibes ind imellem, men ellers for mig at se en rimelig gennemsnitlig plade. Det var lange 90 min at komme igennem den udgave jeg kunne finde af pladen.

Virkelig et høretelefons album. Lyden sejler på finurlig vis fra side til side, og sang fra hvert øre mødes i hjernen og bliver fine harmonier. Lyden er lige fra Balkan toner, og mathcore guitar riffs ala Fall of Troy, men pakket ind i det pureste elektron pop pis. Ikke dårligt, men ikke noget jeg behøver høre igen foreløbigt.

Der er nogle interessante elementer. Men som helhed bliver det kedeligt på trods af den skævhed der er i musikken.

Brightened up a dull rainy morning. Not exactly my cuppa coffee but wasn't at all bad.

LOVED!

Strange sounds

What an album. Big game changer for me when it comes to new sounds and ways of playing music. African, disjointed funk, choral, R&B, rock, noise, math - you name it. Great record, though not for everyone I imagine.

Fun strange record from a fun strange band.

out of all of the albums on this list, this is one of them

This album was all over the place. It couldn’t decide if it wanted to be good, bad or boring. It had shades of all 3, but mostly landed on the boring, bordering on bad.

Included in the late 2000s hipster starter pack

The first track was ok, just the right side of wanky, but it leeeaped way over that line coming into track 2. Track 3 doesn't show any sign of stepping back. This guy singing is annoying me enough just listening to him, I have no idea what I'd feel if I saw them live. It's just so pretentious and pleased with itself, but the content is so bad. "Stillness is the Move" has something about it. See, this is a bit more cohesive and works for that reason. I seem to have inadvertently done a 'track by track' review again, so may as well continue. Track 5, "Two Doves", what have you got? Ehhh.. it's quite nice. I like the violins as usual. If I heard this track in isolation I might be more dismissive, but maybe on the back of the poorer tracks, something like this stands out a bit more. Track 6... Ooh I like the weird synths, but oh wait, this stupid bloke is breathing sensitively over the top again. He's starting to really wind me up. They're being all weird with the music now, seemingly just for weirds sake. Good job! I do like these mad guitars rounding out the song though. "No Intention" is a more palatable track, but nothing special. Track 8, mmmm, a delicious cup of weird indie wank, delicious. God they must be so pleased with themselves. Nearly done, track 9! Oh whoops, I completely tuned out and didn't really pay attention, I only really caught the end. Erm, let's just say that it was probably 'ok at best'. Overall grade: 2/5, "Mostly Bad"

Not going to pretend I'm crazy about this one. I think it's well made and I can see the appeal. Maybe on a second listen I'll connect with it more

Strano, non ho finito di ascoltare

Sympa mais pas démentiel

Uninteressanter Art Rock.

See all other 1 and 2 star reviews to sum up how I felt about it. It wasn't unlistenable, but I did FFW through a couple towards the end, hoping for something that I would enjoy. Really thought it was rubbish though. 1.5 stars

This album was on my wishlist for a long time, and when I finally listened, I was a bit disappointed. That’s not to say it’s a bad album, just not really what I was expecting. On further listens, and listens to other Dirty Projectors albums, I think I’ve begun to enjoy this album more, although I much more enjoy their follow-up Swing Lo Magellan.

Pretty good

I almost died in Temecula

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.

3.5

mostly unlistenable

this album is like birds wings fluttering and voices so beautiful singing through quiet nights guitars ascending in songs through skies of familiar madness for us dearly

cool experimental

Somewhat experimental vocals: strange, halting, random trills. Easy to see influence this album has on later music scene. Highlights are Stillness in Motion and No Intentions.

Feels weird to type, but I got "Stillness Is the Move" over a fucking decade ago through some promotional means (CD I got at a festival? iTunes free single? No idea). I always really liked that track, but never really dug further in, and maybe I saved myself some time. The pretentious part of me says this is fine, but the one looking for anything else isn't super satisfied. There's some great guitar work here, and at certain parts it feels like they're going for an orchestral movement rather than your traditional pop song, but at the end of the day, it just feels like Williamsburg's blog-indie response to Captain Beefheart. Favorite tracks: "Stillness Is the Move", "Useful Chamber"

Yeasayer / grizzly bear aber berührt mich nicht Noch nicht alt genug um wieder richtig cool zu sein

I listened to almost this whole album and felt a familiarity to it, then heard No Intentions and realized I saw them at Lolla one time. Its weird music, but something so serene and beautiful. Makes me want to sit in a green hillside and watch the clouds go by.

This one is interesting because I was actually pretty familiar with this album already. I think if I was listening to it for the first time right now, I’d think it was too weird. But I have memories attached to it and enjoyed listening to it when it came out, so it’s fun and nostalgic and I like the weirdness of it. I especially like the songs when the woman is doing the main vocals. Groovy stuff!

For some reason this gave me a more wholesome bjork vibe mixed with like talking heads and it was great. Off beat 2000s indie rock with some absolute bangers (stillness is the move, useful chamber) but also kinda peters out after useful chamber.

It’s certainly an album. Some of the music reminded me of Battles. 2.5 stars.

This is interesting and original sounding but not sure if that is a positive thing.

A fine, occasionally interesting, but in essential album. Had some fun stuff with time signatures, but nothing that grabbed me and made me amazed.

Good listen

Band and album had been all new to me. And this album seems to divide the reviewers in Lovers🥰 and Haters🤮. For me it is somewhere in between. I hear many things that I like. But it´s - like the strange title indicates - also very weird. Partly sounds like someone singing in a room with both the TV and the radio on.🥴 Glad to discover this interesting, alternative-listening-experience. Definitely not an every-day choise but I get more and more used to it.😉 Favourite: "Cannibal Resource", "Temecula Sunrise", "Useful Chamber", "No Intention" Worst: "Remade Horizon", "Fluorescent Half Dome" 3,5

Urgh. I can be a wankery indie hipster at the best of times but this was too much for me. There were brief flashes of something resembling a tune, but every time something interesting happened they seemed to shoot themselves in the foot straight away. Neither vocalist is as good as they think they are and it was a difficult listen.

No thank you

This is the highest level flaming lips could hope to achieve. 3 stars!

The first song on this album gave me such severe sensory overload that I'm not sure how I feel about the rest of the album, I just wanted all sounds to stop. I'm not sure music is meant to make you feel like that. The album had some moments I didn't hate (Two Doves wasn't bad), but it was mostly kind of annoying and I did not enjoy the 40 minutes I spent on it.

This album epitomizes hipster pop, embodying its eclectic, seemingly random mix of styles. To some, it may seem like a messy art project, but to its creators, it's a masterpiece. As for me, it’s just a pile of shit, trying to be something that it’s not.

It’s not the worst album on the list. But it didn’t need to be on the list.

2009 is often seen as the last gasp of mainstream vitality in the indie rock genre and Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca was one of the more cornerstone releases of that time. At once bewildering, sublime, confounding and scattershot, the album leaves no stone unturned in its forty minute runtime and its dizzying disposition often leaves the listener scratching their heads in regards to how to approach what was heard. Ultimately, the upside is more plentiful as there is opportunity to discover what remained possible in the paradoxically faint yet potent buzz of the indie landfill. Now, clean those projectors, please? Favorites: Cannibal Resource, Temecula Sunrise, Stillness is the Move, Two Doves, Useful Chamber, No Intention, 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.

Well this pick is a dud. It's not unlistenable, but it was testing that line for sure

Where there is pretentiousness there is an indie opus of keyboards, acoustic guitar, fuzzed electric guitar, drum machines, with a cacophony of vocals. There are flashes of interest but it tries too hard at being avant garde.

Weird and not great

some songs when the guy wasn't singing were ok but this was not good

3.5/5

Wat een bende

A difficult listen.

Indie rock standard. I guess theres production value behind it but unless you are still really into 500 Days of Summer you can skip this.

That's too experimental for me. I don't like the voice, I don't like the melodies and I don't like the arrangements. 1/5

It's a tough listen, a real mixture of styles, often in the same song that is just confusing. I'm usually drawn to bands labelled alternative but this is just a mish-mash of styles, tempo and forget melody.

Never heard of the band or the album yet I come away disappointed. Theres a good album here hidden amongst a forest of disjointed guitar and captain beefheart meets Mariah Carey and mika. At no point does the guitarist simply play what the song requires preferring instead to use it as a canvas to Jackson Pollack over.

More indie. Not for me. Nourres would love this though

Skip

Not my favorite. Little too whiny to let me enjoy the melody.

Favourite song stillness on the move

Audacious sonic exploration 3.8

Strange start but gets more refined. Stillness is the move is great! No intention was nice. Finished well. Memorable. Original.

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

This did not feel like 2009 and I liked that. Kind of felt like the Beatles in some ways with voice and simplicity. Other songs were a little more complicated but I enjoyed most of these. These are the kinds of albums I'm looking for on this list. New faces.

Oh man, I really like the Dirty Projectors. I first heard their album from 2018, Lamp Lit Prose, which I really dug. The lead vocalist has such a unique quality to his voice, something sharp about his timbre that I really enjoy. This album is really awesome too, such an unpredictable ride. What genre can you even call something like this? Really glad it was included. Favorite tracks: Cannibal Resource, Temecula Sunrise, Stillness is the Move, Useful Chamber, No Intention. Album art: Two women, one's face obscured with a blue blob, the other with red. Are they crips and bloods? Democrats and Republicans? Doesn't matter, looks cool. Dirty Projectors seem to do some self-referential covers, as there is a previous one that is two connected, round shapes, and then Lamp Lit Prose is that again, repeating the red and blue scheme. Just a fun little easter egg. 4.5/5

3.3/5 Best Track: No Intention

Found this really irritating.

Kind of interesting but overall didn't hit

I enjoyed their more focused songs. But overall this album wasn't for me.

Meh... not that bad but too distracting.

The first song started off with some ripping bass lines and went down hill from there. Listened to the next 2 or 3 songs and decided this is not the album I was looking for

It's like it's close to being good, but it's just weird in the wrong ways to be good. It feels like it doesn't know what it's supposed to be or where it should go. It was mostly just unpleasant to listen to.

"Bitte Orca" is the fifth album by American rock band Dirty Projectors. Indie rock, art pop and prog pop are the listed genres. I honestly would have a hard time categorizing this to any genre. The album was producrd by band leader, multi-intrumentalist and vocalist David Longstreth. Other members include Amber Coffman (vocals, guitar), Angel Deradoorian (vocals, guuta, keyboards), Brian McOmber (drums), Nathan Baldwin (bass, keyboards) and Hale Dekle (percussion, backing vocals). The album hit #65 in the US and had wide-spread critical acclaim. Distorted guitar slashes open "Cannibal Resource." An idiosyncratic drum beat. Multiple vocals going off. Longstreth singing about, well, maybe carnivores vs. herbivores. An acoustic guitar opens "Temecula Sunrise." But, the instrument to follow is the electric guitar; it's all over the place including a solo. Strong female backing vocals. I'd guess this is about urban sprawl. Amber Coffman takes over lead vocals on "Stillness Is the Move." Strings and a drum loop. A great keyboard melody. This song has a groove too. It's a love song and probably their best song. It's Angel Deradoorian's turn for lead vocals on "Two Doves." It's a pretty song with acoustic guitar and strings. I think you might need a flow chart to describe "Useful Chamber" as it goes all the place but I like it. Strings. Keyboards. Electronic drum beat. Acoustic guitar. This songs starts, stops, goes into EDM territory, turns chaotic and reminds me a lot of the Flaming Lips. Longstreth closes things out taking the lead vocals on "Fluorescent Half Dome." Synth-heavy with strings. He seems to be confronting performing in front of people. Some more beautiful backing vocals. This is a unique album and hard to describe. Weird beats with song styles changing within songs. I'd call it experimental pop. I like this album quite a bit. The songs are catchy for me even though at times the band seems to be improvising. The vocals are strong especially the backing vocals. If you're up for an intriguing ride, this is for you.

I reserve 1 ratings for albums that I just can’t bring myself to listen all the way through. This one I was at least able to get through. I often like experimental / noise rock, but this one I just don’t see it. Odd choice for this list, IMO.

Indie art pop from the late-2000s. Pretty good.

This album was weird but I don’t know if in a good way or a bad way. I’m leaning more towards bad

Absolute bob... terrible. I can fart better tunes....

I disliked this quite a lot. I found it particularly frustrating because I kept hearing slivers of things that sounded like I might like them, but it would only be fleeting.

I have heard of this band and remember the album cover but had never heard the actual album. I had no idea what my ears would be hearing but somehow the sound met my expectations. This is very experimental rock and there are so many ideas here that I think it could have used more focus. Of course, I guess that's the purpose of experimental rock. A bunch of ideas thrown together. "The Bride" is a great example of this. It starts off with an acoustic guitar, followed by the female vocals, the song speeds up, slows down and then speeds up again at the end. The whole time, the acoustic guitar dominates my ears. I really find albums like this difficult to judge, because highs like "Stillness is a Mood" is countered by "Cannibal Resource" which blasted my ears with sounds I didn't love. So, here I go again...I'll give this a middling grade because I think it belongs in the book due to the nature of the music, but this is also something I would not listen to it again.

I liked a couple of the songs however the majority of the album was chaotic!

Strange and interesting but good sounding! Strong 3, would listen to this again

C'est fou

Strange, but I kind of liked it. Has some decent grooves and the delivery of the lyrics is unique. 3.5/5 Might listen again.

Some pretty moments but this really didn't resonate with me.

Didn't have any expectations coming into this and I was unpleasantly surprised. Clashing, crashing drums and instrumentals, falsetto singing, arrhythmic and rhymeless lyrics. Not much idea why this an album I should listen to before I die. Maybe it's typical of the era?

GARBAGE

I'm only not rating this a 5 because I need more time with it--it's sort of absurdist rock (Velvet Underground meets Car Seat Headrest?), twists and turns everywhere. Love the backing harmonies. Really cool discovery!

It was fine, but not interesting to me.

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.

# Playlist track - Two Doves # Notes - The male vocals are overstretched in pretty much all the tracks. - Never ending unnecessary harmonies feel pretentious. - Boring as hell. - One star for being kind of unique sounding but that's all.

Did not understand this one at all

Not even a little bit…

Zu durcheinander, kaum klare Linien. Free Jazz im Alternativ Gewand.

No thank you. This album sounds like it's trying to decide whether to be good or ironically bad every few seconds. It just ends up being unpleasant and unlistenable.

So many emotions. All negative. This reminds me of an 8-year old's school project. You know the one. They just got glitter pens so everything is glitter. Lots of pretty pictures with no content. That they manage to earn money from Rhoda triple is an embarrassment.

Not my cup of tea.

Found it frustrating. Kept almost loving it. Then it would just get a bit too abstract and jarring. Almost like a not so good yeasayer! 2.5

Well, I suppose we all have our limits. I honestly wanted to like this band, they had those moments where they almost seemed quite brilliant, but each and every time they went into some experimental off key or weird mixy thing that threw everything off. I was like "you had this!" why did you throw your voice off like that? What did you do with that amazing riff? Why do you feel the need to be so Brooklyn hippy?

I hate millennials

I didn't think this was going to be so bad based on the opening few measures, but then the guy started singing. I couldn't stand his voice and the music didn't really flow in a way that worked for me. Not as bad as some of the "bad" albums from this list, but not something I ever want to listen to again. 1.5/5

Intolerable. I can't do it. I fuckin' hate this album and had to quit the first song in. It's Vampire Weekend, but I can't stand their vocalizations even more. I remember renting this album from the library in high school because of its hype on Pitchfork or some shit, and it didn't click then. Instead, it gave me misophonia. Still does, apparently.

They’re okay. Some interesting sounds and melodies. Sound very early 00s indie so surprised they are from 2010. But that tracks so I guess that’s okay. I liked Temecula Sunrise a lot… wonder if they are local?

I should like this for it's experimental tendencies but it doesn't really grab me for some reason. In fact I'm finding that it is frequently annoying me. It comes across as somewhat "lightweight" to me. Beautiful in a way but also perhaps trying a bit too hard to be so.

Too quirky and annoying

Ok

Je peux comprendre le statut de cet album dans le monde du art rock, mais j'avais vraiment de la difficulté avec les voix du chanteur principal par moments. Il faudrait que je redonne une chance à cet album. Clairement ça s'entend que beaucoup d'aristes plus expérimentaux des dernières années s'en sont inspiré. 4/10

Nice to be reminded of how great Stillness is the Move is. The rest is more clever than loveable.

meh.

2.5

Just a Bitte above horrible. While I am sure many may pretend to revere this record in the most pretentious hipster coffee shops anyone can imagine, “Stillness is the move” is interesting enough to barely get this to a 1 for me.

This probably needed more than one listen but it didn't get it. Nothing grabbed me though it all seemed very workmanlike. Chamber pop.

It was interesting, not quite what I wanna listen to

Not for me

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

High minded conceptual rock just must not be my thing.

1. canibal rezource - 0 2. temecula - 0 3. the bride - 0 4. the move - 0 5. tuuo dovez- 1 6. chamber - 0 7. no intention - 0 8. horizon - 0 9. half dome - 0

Felt too indie for me

Maybe not as bad as some make out this isn't really that groundbreaking and allied with the fact the genre isn't up my street I wouldn't rate it highly. Some interesting sounds but quite generic framework.

If I was to pick a sound of 2009 this specific brand of Indie would be it. Dirty Projectors with their fifth outing were able to perfectly encapsulate this Indie/Art Rock sound. Best: Temecula Sunrise Worst: Fluorescent Half Dome 3.5 stars

Why? Why is this album here? Why was this album made? Why do critics like it so much? Why did I sit through it? The first two songs are basically unlistenable. The next few tracks have areas of promise, but they inevitably devolve into noise and weirdness. At some point I kind of stopped paying attention and didn't even realize the album had ended and the streaming algorithm was playing related artists. I can appreciate the idea of playing with sound and textures to create more of an art piece (a painting, if you will) than a song, but that's just not how or why I listen to music. I listen to it for the stories and the emotional connection, and there's just not a lot of that here. There’s some interesting guitar work, I guess. Otherwise, unless you enjoy Tiny Tim trying to do Bjork and pretentious bloviating about nonsense, don’t waste your time or torture your ears. 2/5

It's not that I don't get it- I do get it! It just sucks! It's not doing anything new or interesting or even weird? And every now and then there's a 5-10 second moment where you think Aha! They're doing something good here! It's fun to listen to, or maybe it'll move into something exciting! And then it goes back to that smug boring slop from before. Oh well. I'm free! I'm free! I never have to listen to it again!!

This was interesting! Hadnt heard of them or seen this album cover. Released in 2009 definitely had me curious. Not really my style of music but overall I enjoyed it!

En voyant le cover je pensais que ça allait sonner comme de la bitte, dans les faits ça sonne un peu comme de la bitte mais ya du bon stock quand même qui élève le gland

Accomplished but ass

Struggled to enjoy much of this one.

*Sigh* I wanted to like this album. I really did. And while I can acknowledge its immense creativity and interesting musical choices, I honestly didn’t really enjoy it. I get its experimental. But I feel like sometimes “experimental” is code for “hipster experimental music the artists think is really clever and makes them look smart.” The song titles don’t help with that. (“Cannibal Resource”? “Useful Chamber”? “Fluorescent Half Dome”? What do these mean?) And that’s what this felt like to me. I hate to reduce an album to that. But I just couldn’t really jive with this album. There’s things to like, but I just didn’t get it overall. I don’t really know what else more I can say. It felt like Vampire Weekend’s first album if that album took like, a step further and discarded some of the common conventions of song structure and rhythm. I will not be relistening and I will not seek more of them out unless presented with more through this project. Not bad by any means, but not worth writing home about. 3 stars. Standout tracks: Cannibal Resource, Stillness is the Move, Useful Chamber

Not really my thing

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.

Ik word er al na een paar nummers knettergek van, laat maar zitten.

Recuerdo que en aquella época, en el auge del indie rock, la búsqueda de individualidades y de la expresión del talento único llevaba a todo el círculo que rodeaba a la música, pero especialmente los bloggers, a ensalzar y levantar cualquier propuesta que fuese lo suficientemente única y propusiera una identidad apartada del mainstream y del alternative mainstream y el off-off alterna-mainstream. Los Dirty Projectors son un ejemplo claro de aquello. Tan claro que superan la inocuidad de sus contemporáneos y llegan a ser molestos. Hay tanta intención que termina aburriendo.

Voice is used very much as an instrument in this album. Rollicking and unpredictable, minimalist at times and insane at others. Feels like the car ride across a state line.

Interesting textures and sounds.

Ik gaf deze week een 4 voor salsa en een 4 voor disco: Ik sta momenteel wagenwijd open om me buiten m'n eigen hokje te begeven (al trek ik een harde grens bij carnaval), maar ik merk eigenlijk tijdens track 1 al dat het me te ver gaat. En dan is de vraag: Gaat dit het hele album zo door? Jazeker meneer. Gekke kunstacademie shit. Types die zichzelf te interessant voor een vierkwartsmaat vinden. Chris Martin van de Xenos met een paar vriendinnen die Harley Quinn verheerlijken. Die vriendinnen zingen op een dermate irritante manier mee, dat alles wat wel leuk is aan dit album een beetje kapot gedrukt wordt. Wij hadden op de middelbare school (en ik ga er vanuit dat dit een redelijk universeel fenomeen is) altijd wel twee van die stille meiden, beste vriendinnen, achterin de klas waarvan je weet dat er ééntje echt knettergek was (achteraf gezien waarschijnlijk door een tragische thuissituatie) en de andere ging dan ook maar een beetje in die gekte mee want anders had die geen vrienden. Een gekke leider en een volger met bewijsdrang. Als je ze dag in dag uit meemaakte wist je dat ze raar waren, maar voor de buitenwereld leken het normale, rustige types. Grijze muisjes, maar tegelijk zou je er niet gek van opkijken zijn als minimaal één van de twee wel eens had gehad gezoend (of meer) met een getrouwde man van in de 40. Opeens hadden die dan het plan om in de klas zelf een navelpiercing te gaan zetten, omdat dat de voorloper van likes opleverde: aandacht. Een enkele keer zag je ze dan een paar weken niet samen, want dan hadden ze weer eens zieke ruzie gehad waarbij de echt gekke van de twee de volger fysiek in de haren was gevlogen, maar even later waren ze dan weer een soort Siamese tweeling omdat ze zelf ook doorhadden dat ze min of meer tot elkaar veroordeeld waren. Dit is hun album. Ik vind het maar lastig aan te horen en met name door die vrouwenstemmen die in elk nummer maar wat lopen te kloten neig ik naar een 1. En dan zie ik Astrud Gilberto alweer naar me kijken: Is dit echt een 1?

This just felt like chaotic gibberish to my ears. Indy pop rock bullshit, really. Many of the songs didn't even seem to have a consistent rhythm, it all felt like very low effort creativity from the artist. Very much not for me.

Nothing special. But not bad.

честно? я не проникся. есть какие-то отдельные прикольные моменты, но общий вайб вообще как-то не про меня. музыкальный выебон, который очень сложно понять

р а з Ъ ё БББББ

Инди инди инди, прикольное инди. Вторая половина как-то удачнее попала в меня. Классный фузз звук, который мешается с акустическими вокализами и гитаркой. Но всё равно чего-то не хватает. Напомнило Grizzly Bear, к которым в состав вдруг иногда стала заглядывать Нико.

I have always had a hard time connecting with this brand of piercingly optimistic, menacingly sweet yet self-important indie. (like jess day). But, this was definitely interesting musically. Damn I wish I could give half stars here.

Radiohead’s biggest sin is convincing the world that polyrhythms mean it’s good

Fucking unlistenable

We’re gonna need a bigger boat to reel this whale of forced art rock in. Some cool production here and there gets masked by too many elements colliding leaving very little breathing room to find melody or hook. If a Jackson Pollack painting made sound I imagine this is what it would be like. I’ll find my indie art rock elsewhere with the likes of The Talking Heads, XTC, etc.

I’ve mostly known Dirty Projectors from occasionally showing up on Sirius or a Spotify playlist, and have never listened to an album in its entirety. An oversight by me, because I really enjoyed this. Lots of ear candy and creativity throughout. And I appreciate that it’s a brisk 9 track, 40 min album too.

Meh.