Rise Above (Dirty Projectors album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Rise Above
Type = Studio album
Artist = Dirty Projectors


Released = September 11, 2007
Recorded = 2007
Genre = Indie rock
Length = 45:41
Label = Dead Oceans
Producer = Dave Longstreth, Chris Taylor
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:hnftxzygldje link]
*Pitchfork Media (8.1/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/45053-rise-above link]
*Rockfeedback Rating|5|5 [http://www.rockfeedback.com/article.asp?nObjectID=5213 link]
*Tiny Mix Tapes Rating|4.5|5 [http://tinymixtapes.com/Dirty-Projectors,4155 link]
*Dusted Magazine (Favorable) [http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3840 link]
*The Onion A.V. Club (B+) [http://www.avclub.com/content/music/dirty_projectors link]
*PopMatters rating-10|8 [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/reviews/article/47494/dirty-projectors-rise-above/ link]

Last album = "New Attitude EP"
(2006)
This album = "Rise Above"
(2007)
Next album = "-"

"Rise Above" is the latest album by indie rock band Dirty Projectors released on September 11, 2007.

All the songs have already been performed live and are often paired with material from the New Attitude EP, released in 2006. While the disc could be considered a concept album, the main idea and driving force is an attempt by Dave Longstreth to rewrite the entire Black Flag album, "Damaged", from memory. Rather than short, angry shouts of protest, the songs often double or triple (quadruple in the case of Spray Paint (The Walls)) the original lengths of the songs and present the lyrics in an array of highly melodic tapestries of music. The album boasts strong string and wind arrangements, most of which came from the album's original 4-track demos. A large clip of the first take of one such arrangement appears as a post scriptum to Room 13, and another chunk of unidentified strings are the bonus track.

Miscellanea

*Depression is the only song that shows a heavy amount of the trends used for "New Attitude". Heavy sub-bass tones come in during the line, "Get away, I don't need your fucking sympathy," and continue afterwards under the next verse after the chorus. These tones featured heavily in Fucked For Life and Imagine It, as well as serving as a main source of the bass on "The Getty Address".
*An oddity in the lyrics happens during the song Six Pack, where Longstreth completely abandons Black Flag lyrics and instead uses an array of foreign words for a slow bridge twice in the song. Not counting the instrumental bonus track, this marks the only time where the lyrics aren't related to any Black Flag songs or resemble any of the lyrics what so ever.
*On the leaked version of the song Police Story, the triple tracking on Dave Longstreth's vocals can be heard to go off on the line "Nothing I say." One voice in the background adopts the harsh screaming style he uses in later lines while the other voices retain the melodic singing of the word "Nothing".
*The vocal pattern used on Gimme Gimme Gimme mimics the style of picking used many times on the New Attitude EP, as well as the explanation of the central image of that disc. Rather than following straight arpeggios, the female vocals break into an interlocking pattern, with one voice singing on the 1st and 3rd beats and the other singing on the 2nd and 4th beats, thus creating what sounds like a single melodic line as in Javanese imbal. These interlocking patterns can be found vocally and instrumentally in many recent Dirty Projectors arrangements.
*The other songs from "Damaged" that were abandoned are: T.V. Party, Damaged II, Padded Cell, Life Of Pain, and Damaged I. In a recent interview, Dave Longstreth admits regret about forgetting Life Of Pain and Damaged II.

Track listing

#What I See - 3:27
#No More - 3:48
#Depression - 2:48
#Six Pack - 3:05
#Thirsty and Miserable - 5:55
#Police Story - 4:23
#Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie - 4:50
#Spray Paint (The Walls) - 3:38
#Room 13 - 4:47
#Rise Above - 5:03
#Untitled (Bonus Track) - 3:49

Vinyl Edition

"Side One"
#What I See - 3:27
#No More - 3:48
#Depression - 2:48
#Six Pack - 3:05
#Thirsty and Miserable - 5:55
#Untitled (Bonus Track) - 1:14"Side Two"
#Police Story - 4:23
#Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie - 4:50
#Spray Paint (The Walls) - 3:38
#Room 13 - 4:47
#Rise Above - 5:03

External links

* [http://www.deadoceans.com/onesheet.php?cat=DOC001 Release information] from the Dead Oceans website (including link to the MP3 of "No More").
* [http://www.daytrotter.com/article/730/dirty-projectors-have-you-seen-the-new-red-its-like-nothin-youve-ever-seen Interview with David Longstreth] from the Daytrotter website, published May 7, 2007.
* [http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/02/dirty_projectors_rise_above_with_dead_oc Interview with David Longstreth] from the Line-out section of "The Stranger", published February 23, 2007.