01/Dirty Projectors/Swing Lo Magellan
Towards the end of the second to last track 'Unto Caesar', things get a little loose and rambunctious all in the name of making a joyful noise. Handclaps and tight harmonies abound beneath, around, and on top of the cacophony of voices wondering aloud what the hell it is they are singing, shouting in jubilee cause it feels right, and nearly having a laugh at the heavily verbose lines being spouted's expense. It's all so delightfully warm and silly, the Dirty Projectors being "the Dirty Projectors", as if they are in on the joke, but it also perfectly encapsulates who the Dirty Projectors are, and the sheer joy present in the creation of the sounds and tender loving care emanating throughout the 12 vignettes here that make up Swing Lo Magellan. "With our songs, we are outlaws," proclaims Projectors' frontman David L. on the plain spoken closing track, 'Irresponsible Tune', but David and the gang are only outlaws in the sense that they refuse to adhere to the rules of your coloring book.
Love in all its forms and pointed directions is a constant here, with the greatest love of all being reserved for the music itself. In their hearts, there is music, and in their minds, there's a song, and in their hands Swing Lo Magellan bursts at the seams with an unabashed love for creation, an unabashed love for melody, and an unabashed love for exploration, both working within and showing love for pop/folk/rock's ever reliable and always useful constructs. Before departing in full, 'Irresponsible Tune' reminds us that this is all par for the course with the Dirty Projectors, just another day. "Record and play. Drums and bass. And a guitar." And yelps. And handclaps. And light Y2K period R&B flourishes. And pitch perfect harmonies to the nines. Whatever fits, whatever works, for the love of the game, and the joy of creation. Cause it just feels right. And it is. Luckily for us listeners, it sounds damn good too.
KEY TRACKS: Offspring Are Blank/Dance For You/Impregnable Question
02/Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti/Mature Themes
03/Fiona Apple/The Idler Wheel
04/Miguel/Kaleidoscope Dream
05/Kendrick Lamar/Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
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