(2023) Dirty Projectors & Björk - Mount Wittenberg Orca (Expanded Edition)    


Review:
…includes 13 bonus tracks of never-before-released material, including the full Housing Works performance from 2009, early demos of ‘Mount Wittenberg Orca’, and rehearsal recordings. The Dirty Projectors and Björk might not seem like the most obvious pairing, but their collaboration on Mount Wittenberg Orca is nevertheless inspired. Like Björk, David Longstreth and company share a fascination with vocal interplay, unusual arrangements, and songwriting that balances pop and experimental impulses. Indeed, it was the Dirty Projectors' involvement in a Björk tribute album curated by Stereogum.com that was the catalyst for this project, which benefitted the National Geographic Society Oceans Project. Fittingly, water is the main inspiration for these songs, which flow into one another like tributaries. The Dirty Projectors and Björk wanted Mount Wittenberg Orca to have a spontaneous feeling, so the EP was recorded in a matter of days, creating a fascinating tension between the intricate pieces and unstudied performances. Vocals are the main focus here, and the Projectors' female singers teeter between sweet coos and tart braying on the opening track “Ocean” and “On and Ever Onward,” which features Björk singing lead and showcases the avant-pop leanings of both acts to their finest; “Sharing Orb,” meanwhile, contrasts her free-form singing with structured backing vocals worthy of an operetta or ‘40s and ‘50s vocal pop. Longstreth takes the lead on the childlike-yet-complex “When the World Comes to an End” and the particularly lovely “No Embrace,” which sounds like ‘60s soul sung by mer-people. It all culminates on “All We Are,” a duet between Björk and Longstreth surrounded by backing vocals that are as beckoning and changeable as sirens. A brief but powerful statement, Mount Wittenberg Orca brings remarkably creative artists together for a good cause, and ends up bringing out the best in all of them in the process. — allmusic


   


Track List:
01 - Ocean
02 - On and Ever Onward
03 - When the World Comes to an End
04 - Beautiful Mother
05 - Sharing Orb
06 - No Embrace
07 - All We Are
08 - Intro (Live from Housing Works 2009)
09 - Ocean (Live from Housing Works 2009)
10 - On and Ever Onward (Live from Housing Works 2009)
11 - When the World Comes to an End (Live from Housing Works 2009)
12 - Beautiful Mother (Live from Housing Works 2009)
13 - Sharing Orb (Live from Housing Works 2009)
14 - No Embrace (Live from Housing Works 2009)
15 - All We Are (Live from Housing Works 2009)
16 - Wave Invocation (MWO I Inverness Demo)
17 - Motherwhale Song (MWO II Inverness Demo)
18 - Whale Watcher Song (MWO III Inverness Demo)
19 - Fugal Swim (MWO IV Inverness Demo)
20 - First Duet (MWO V Inverness Demo)
21 - Migration (Unfinished MWO VI Inverness Demo)
22 - Jubilation (MWO VII Inverness Demo)
23 - Benediction (MWO VIII Inverness Demo)
24 - When the World Comes to an End (Freewrite Demo)
25 - When the World Comes to an End (Vocalise Rehearsal Rough)
26 - Beautiful Mother (Vocalise Rehearsal Rough)
27 - On and Ever Onward (Full Rehearsal Rough)


Media Report:
Genre: art pop
Country: Brooklyn, New York, USA & Iceland
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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