| The Getty Address | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 5, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2005 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:18 | |||
| Label | Western Vinyl | |||
| Producer | Dave Longstreth | |||
| Dirty Projectors chronology | ||||
| ||||
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.
The album boasts over 25 musicians on it, 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 a new installment of Longstreth's songs involving 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 | |
"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.
New Attitude is an album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors. It is a combination of rock songs, orchestral songs like those on Slaves' Graves and Ballads, and one live song recorded in 2006. Dave Longstreth has said the central image of the EP is one of two sheep counting one another in order to fall asleep—a theme that appears on two tracks as indicated by the lines "Counting one, one, one, one, one..." The last song was the lead single from the EP, and was reviewed by Pitchfork Media a few months before the EP was released.
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Amber Dawn Coffman is an American musician, singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California, formerly based in Brooklyn, New York. A former member of Sleeping People, Coffman is best known as a former guitarist and vocalist for the indie rock band Dirty Projectors. She released her debut solo album, City of No Reply, on June 2, 2017.
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"Diane Young" is a song by American indie rock band Vampire Weekend, taken from their third studio album Modern Vampires of the City. It was released as the lead single from the album on March 19, 2013. A promotional video of the single, which features two Saab 900s burning throughout the duration of the song, was uploaded to Vevo and YouTube on March 18, 2013. The official video to the single was uploaded on June 3, 2013.
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City of No Reply is the first solo album from singer-songwriter Amber Coffman, the former guitarist and vocalist for the indie rock band Dirty Projectors. The album was released on June 2, 2017.
Pacific Daydream is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Weezer, released on October 27, 2017. The album is their second release by Crush Management, is distributed by Atlantic Records, and is trademarked by a modern pop sound, differing from their previous work. The lead single, "Feels Like Summer", was released on March 16, 2017. The second single, "Happy Hour", was released on October 31.
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