Dirty Projectors / Rise Above
Album: Rise Above   Collection:General
Artist:Dirty Projectors   Added:Aug 2007
Label:Dead Oceans  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2007-12-02 Pull Date: 2008-02-03
Week Ending: Jan 27 Jan 20 Jan 13 Dec 16 Dec 9
Airplays: 2 1 1 2 2

Recent Airplay
1. Oct 04, 2018: Jams Run Free
Rise Above
4. Oct 16, 2015: A Visit From Drum (Treasure Island)
Rise Above
2. Nov 08, 2017: The Nick & James Show
Police Story
5. May 14, 2015: A Visit From Drum
Depression
3. Oct 18, 2017: The Nick & James Show
Thirsty And Miserable
6. Apr 02, 2015: A Visit From Drum
What I See

Album Review
Guest DJ Account
Reviewed 2007-11-27
The Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
Weird, vocal-centric, indie pop/rock. Somewhat in vein of Animal Collective, Fiery Furnaces, Danielson, and even Sufjan Stevens. Unique vocals very prominent in songs. Lead is male, backed by a collective of females. Many times songs have lead calling and female responding. Male vocals a bit reminiscent of TV on the Radio, but singing higher notes to much different beats. He drags out a lot of the words letting his voice run up and down the scale. Female vocals a lot of times are looping in the background. Music in general really hits like a wave - a jarring crash of vocals and instruments, some turmoil, and then calm before another sonic wave. Apparently this album is a "reimagining" of Black Flag's 1981 punk rock album "Damaged". As a result as the often story-time-like instrumentation and vocals immensely clash with the song names ("Depression", "Thirsty and Miserable") and lyrics ("I wish I was dead", "This fucking city is run by pigs"). This clash definitely makes the album interesting, but that doesn't mean it is a pleasant listen (especially the first time). For the most part the songs get a bit less weird as album progresses. Picks: 10, 6(FCC), 2, 1 FCC: 3, 4, 6

1 - Funky opening beat. Male/female vocal interplay. "I wanna live... I wish I was dead". Flute interlude ~2min. Guitar enters, drives the song to a strong finish.
2 - Violin intro. Bass, drum beat. Light quick guitar picks. Takes off into stratosphere with lead vocals.
3 - "Fucking" 1:30. A bit of rocking here with electric guitar strums.
4 - Huge shifts in beats in this one. "I know it'll be OK, I get a Six Pack and be alright"
5 - Soothing opening. Fragile. Gets a bit repetitive. Builds to a crash in last 30 sec.
6 - Flute intro... story time?... no. "This fucking city is run by pigs... I walk down the street, I flick them off, they hit me across the head... I tell them to go get fucked..."
7 - Guitar opening sets a happy, sunny day mood until jarring crash... alternating speaker female “ohs” backdrop a very pleasant middle of song
8 - slow, quiet start, picks up at 1:30
9 - slow‚ breaks out with electric guitar with 2 min left, ends w/ scratchy old cinema bit
10 - title track. strong drum beat. In contrast to rest of cd: more dynamic guitar, actually got my head nodding, upbeat message "rise above" slows 3min in only to come back.
11 - 2:40 of silence, then some violin
-Kyle Macomber

Track Listing
1. What I See   6. Police Story
2. No More   7. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
3. Depression   8. Spray Paint (The Walls)
4. Six Pack   9. Room 13
5. Thirsty And Miserable   10. Rise Above