| The Getty Address | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 5, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2005 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:18 | |||
| Label | Western Vinyl | |||
| Producer | Dave Longstreth | |||
| Dirty Projectors chronology | ||||
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The Getty Address is an album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors.
The album is a concept album and is described as "a glitch opera" about musician Don Henley, although it also explores themes like ancient Mexico, post-9/11 America, and oil.
25 musicians are featured on the album, most of whom contributed to the orchestral and choral backing of the album. These parts were recorded at Yale University as well as other locations in New Haven, Connecticut over a period spanning five months and were chopped up digitally to create the backings of the album. Dave Longstreth then overdubbed his own vocals, guitar, bass, and other instruments to create the songs on the album. Although the lyrics have been described as gibberish, the words actually do tell a narrative beginning with Don Henley contemplating suicide, and ending with the last of Longstreth's songs about brown finches.
Jason Crock, in a review for Pitchfork, for example, noted that "Longstreth's thorough deconstruction of classical elements gives the colonization theme [of "confrontation between Hernan Cortes and the Aztecs in the early 16th century"] some precedence." [1]
In a letter to the Eagles' Don Henley, Longstreth described the album's ambitious themes as examining the question of "what is wilderness in a world completely circumscribed by highways, once Manifest Destiny has no place to go - but in the end it is a love story." [2] Despite seeming a "disjointed listen" in which songs toss "verse-chorus-verse out the window," [1] the New York Times' Jon Pareles finds the album "far more a contemporary chamber opera than indie-rock." Its "dissonances and complexities" juxtapose the "sustained with the pointillistic," mirroring the characters' "pensive but restless" wanderings. [3]
A slightly abridged version was released as a DVD with original animated videos directed by James Sumner in 2005 for all songs except "Tour Along the Potomac," "Jolly Jolly Jolly Ego," "Drilling Profitably" and "Finches' Song at Oceanic Parking Lot."
In 2010, Dirty Projectors collaborated with Alarm Will Sound to create a live-performance version of The Getty Address. Transcription and arrangements were done by Alarm Will Sound members Matt Marks, Alan Pierson and Chris Thompson. The piece was performed by both groups at Lincoln Center, Disney Hall, and the Barbican Centre.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.2/10 [4] |
The Getty Address has received widespread acclaim from contemporary music critics and retrospective reviews.
In their Top Concept Albums list, Consequence of Sound ranked The Getty Address at number one. [5]
All tracks are written by David Longstreth
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Sit on the Ridge at Dusk" | 4:55 |
| 2. | "But in the Headlights" | 1:50 |
| 3. | "Warholian Wigs" | 4:32 |
| 4. | "I Will Truck" | 5:17 |
| 5. | "D. Henley's Dream" | 4:18 |
| 6. | "Gilt Gold Scabs" | 5:27 |
| 7. | "Ponds & Puddles" | 3:50 |
| 8. | "Not Having Found" | 4:43 |
| 9. | "Tour Along the Potomac" | 4:13 |
| 10. | "Jolly Jolly Jolly Ego" | 5:34 |
| 11. | "Time Birthed Spilled Blood" (Uses a string figure from Grandfather's Hanging on Slaves' Graves & Ballads ) | 3:03 |
| 12. | "Drilling Profitably" | 4:29 |
| 13. | "Finches' Song at Oceanic Parking Lot" | 4:08 |
| Total length: | 56:18 | |
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in North America and are one of the world's best-selling bands, having sold more than 200 million records worldwide, including 100 million sold in the US alone. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and were ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Founding members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner were recruited by Linda Ronstadt as band members, some touring with her, and all playing on her third solo studio album, before venturing out on their own on David Geffen's new Asylum Records label.
"All She Wants to Do Is Dance" is a song written by Danny Kortchmar and performed by Don Henley, co-lead vocalist and drummer for Eagles. It was released as the second single from Henley's second studio solo album, Building the Perfect Beast (1984), and was Henley's sixth solo single overall. It was one of Henley's most commercially successful singles, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard Hot 100 and also became his third song to top the Top Rock Tracks chart.
"Dirty Laundry" is a song written by Don Henley and Danny Kortchmar, from Henley's debut solo studio album I Can't Stand Still, (1982). The song hit number 1 on the Billboard Top Album Tracks chart in October 1982, prior to being issued as a 45 rpm single. Lyrically, the song describes mass media sensationalism.
Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's current line-up consists of Longstreth, alongside Mike Daniel Johnson (drums), Maia Friedman, Felicia Douglass and Kristin Slipp.
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About to Die is an extended play studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors, released digitally and on vinyl on November 6, 2012.
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