A poem by writer King Grossman, inspired by the Dirty Projectors concert. May all our shows inspire you thusly.

Dirty Projectors, 31 July 2012. Photo by Alex Marks.

Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who came out to the Dirty Projectors + Wye Oak show on Tuesday. Best bands, best touring crew (Matt, Megan, Tim, Max, Andy, Mike), best Ballroom crew (Gory, Rob, Chris, Cory, Adeline, Jessica, JD, Hilary, Rosa, Rocky), best audience, best night. Was such a treat to hear Dirty Projectors tear up “Offspring Are Blank,” and to finally hear “Civilian” live. Dang sons. We’re waiting on show photos, but in the meantime, check out Alex Marks‘s Polaroids portraits of the bands. I literally (LITERALLY) cannot say enough good things about this project. See the whole thing scattershot here (some day we will make a book). –NI

Wye Oak, 31 July 2012. Photo by Alex Marks.

Dream concert. –NI

The Dirty Projectors posters just arrived! Hand-painted underneath, with a black silkscreen layer on top, each poster is unique and totally beautiful. Designed by Daniella Ben-Bassat, and only $25. A legitimate steal bargain. And for those of you interested in the show, pre-sale tickets are sold out, but we’ll be selling a limited-number of standing-room tickets ($10) at the show. Doors open at 8 pm — get there early for seats. –NI

Hipped to this by old Chinati intern and friend Jack Murphy: these five Peaking Lights mix tapes, which you can download over at Gorilla vs. Bear. Listening to Lucifer #5 right now. (Also you can stream John Maus’s soon-to-be-released A Collection of Rarities… over at GVB, too.) –NI

p.s. So super late to everything, what has happened to me, but I’m listening to Gorilla vs. Bear’s Best of 2011, and let’s be honest, it’s quite good. I mean, Run DMT, yes. And ALSO! They favorited Grouper‘s “Moving Machine,” which she recorded for us during her residency. Get to know me, about 15 months behind the curve.

Made for the fourth of July, but let’s be honest, just as good for a summer Friday afternoon two days after the fourth. Thanks to Chances With Wolves for the mix, and pal Carolyn Merriman for bringing it to our collective attentions. –NI

From the Pitchfork interview with Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors:

But maybe the expectation that what a lyric means to you is not what it’s going to mean to someone else is at the core of an idea like Dirty Projectors; maybe it’s just very contrary of me to try to write simple shit. I don’t know. I just don’t want to do the same thing over and over again. I do feel like the hardest thing is to do something simple and tap into whatever remains of our common language rather than cultivating your own willfully esoteric vocabulary.

A common language. I also love where Longstreth talks about “the idea of letting a recording be a moment in time.” As he says, “With digital recording, it’s easy to create a perfect text of whatever song you have, but we kept on coming back to imperfection and fragility.” I’ve always been drawn to this idea, especially in music (like the door squeaking open in that one Guided by Voices song). –NI

At the Drive-In, photo by Sandy Carson, in the pages of Spin Magazine.

Photographer Sandy Carson‘s photo of our At the Drive-In concert is in the latest Spin Magazine (probably the first and last time we’ll be in there, unless we start really amping up the rock & roll behavior) (Dirty Projectors, maybe let’s do this thing?).

I love Sandy’s description of the show: “There were more kids in the audience now than there were back then. The band was feeding off that energy. Everyone was going at it. It was how you want a reunion show to be.”

Check out more over at Sandy’s site, and special thanks to Sandy, the band and Transmission Events. –NI

“Gun Has No Trigger” from Dirty Projectors’ latest record, Swing Lo Magellan

Melena Ryzik talks to David Longstreth, lead singer of the Dirty Projectors, about their new record Swing Lo Magellan, which comes out July 10 (they’re also streaming the record) (just on the very first listen of the very first song, “Offspring Are Blank,” I hear a little David Bowie vibe? Just in that guitar riff in the chorus? Jang jang “He was made to love her” jang jang Bowie guitar?). At any rate. Excited. Dirty Projectors and Wye Oak play Marfa on July 31 — tickets available online and in the gallery. –NI

Just got back from Austin (hence the lack of blog posts), where I went to the Alamo Drafthouse, where they had a preview of their upcoming events, with this song behind it. Made me want to see all the movies and also listen to this song A LOT. Twin Shadows‘s new record Confess comes out July 9. –NI