Dirty Projectors

Dirty Projectors are led by Dave Longstreth, a talented art-rock upstart who has taken listeners on a bizarre journey through releases like a 9/11-themed “glitch opera” and 2007’s Rise Above, an appropriation of old Black Flag songs played from memory. The 2009 album Bitte Orca is the group’s catchiest record yet, combining avant-garde pop, scratchy African-inspired melodies, and bumping R&B beats in a perfect marriage of eccentricity and accessibility—sort of like the bastard child of Mariah Carey, Steve Reich, and Yes. (But better than that would actually sound.) In 2010, the DPs teamed up with Björk to write and record seven new songs for Mount Wittenberg Orca, a charity EP to benefit the National Geographic Society for creating international marine protected areas. The band’s new full-length, Swing Lo Magellan, is due July 10.

Updated 06/27/2012