Head over to MTV Hive to see my photos from Saturday night’s performance by Jherek Bischoff and the Wordless Music Orchestra, which featured an all-star cast, including David Byrne, Craig Wedren (Shudder to Think), Mirah, Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Zac Pennington (Parenthetical Girls), Sam Mickens (the Dead Science), Carla Bozulich (The Geraldine Fibbers, Evangelista), Charlie Looker (Extra Life) and Jen Goma (A Sunny Day in Glasgow). Seeing Jherek Bischoff grin from ear-to-ear was easily worth the ten bucks I chipped in on Kickstarter.

Despite the fact that I generally find it distasteful to call the album of the year halfway through the year, I really can’t help but agree with Stereogum on this one—Bitte Orca is just that good. A couple of days before the album’s release, I was lucky enough to catch the Dirty Projectors at the Rufustival in Baltimore and was equally impressed with the energy and mind-boggling precision that the band brought to their live show. The next morning, I called Dave Longstreth up on the phone and conducted a brief interview, wherein he discussed the album, the tour and his recent collaborations with David Byrne and Björk. There’s no denying that Longstreth is a thorny interviewee—he’s the sort of evasive fellow that rockcrits love to describe as “difficult”. Regardless, I was quite happy with how the interview turned out; my hope is that it reads more like a conversation and less like an inquisition. Check out the interview and photos over at PopMatters.

Despite the fact that I generally find it distasteful to call the album of the year halfway through the year, I really can’t help but agree with Stereogum on this one—Bitte Orca is just that good. A couple of days before the album’s release, I was lucky enough to catch the Dirty Projectors at the Rufustival in Baltimore and was equally impressed with the energy and mind-boggling precision that the band brought to their live show. The next morning, I called Dave Longstreth up on the phone and conducted a brief interview, wherein he discussed the album, the tour and his recent collaborations with David Byrne and Björk. There’s no denying that Longstreth is a thorny interviewee—he’s the sort of evasive fellow that rockcrits love to describe as “difficult”. Regardless, I was quite happy with how the interview turned out; my hope is that it reads more like a conversation and less like an inquisition. Check out the interview and photos over at PopMatters.