The Dirty Projectors’ latest full length Bitte Orca has already been hyped by some publications as the greatest album of 2009.  Honestly, I can’t really disagree, especially when Led Zeppelin III can be cited as a sincere influence on the album’s more acoustic cuts.  Bitte Orca is dynamic and flexible, gracefully exhibiting band leader Dave Longsreth’s acute ear for pop sensibility and musical gamesmanship that spans many genres and moods.

The album’s eclecticism is most confidently evidenced by “Stillness is the Move” which narrowly defeats “Cannibal Resources” as my favorite Bitte Orca track.  I was happy to hear this soulful dance romp was the album’s lead single, accompanied with a video the provides a fitting metaphor for the band’s approach to their catchy sound.  The band runs with wolves, heards Llamas, and has the three female members bumpin’ in some druish garbs out in the thick of a northern forest.  The Dirty Projectors makes the Timbaland-esque production of “Stillness is the Move” seem as natural as the wind blowing through a hundred pines.

Mr. Andrew Bird, whose own show at the Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland is slowly creeping up on April 7,  gets to be the poster boy for Speed of the Pittsburgh Sound’s new, spiffier, more comprehensive concert calendar for April and May that has just been posted (and because I’m in a fairly euphoric mood after compiling all that concert data, I’ll post a couple tracks off Andrew Bird’s latest, Nobel Beast, down below).

It’s chalk full of small local acts, quality national tours, and massively huge arena shows that will no doubt cost an arm and leg to attend.  Some highlights include:  Andrew Bird (obviously), Kings of Leon with The Walkmen, TV on The Radio with The Dirty Projectors, and last but certainly not least, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.  It’s not easy to prioritize such a healthy concert calendar and with a new job on the horizon, I don’t see myself getting to as many shows as I would like.

There are also a couple shows I clipped off because I refused to keep any March dates present on the page and they would be: Antlers w/ Olympus Mons and Casino Bulldogs this Friday at the Brillobox, Meeting of Important People’s CD release party on Saturday at the Brillobox, The Gaslight Anthem w/ Heartless Bastards and Good Old War at Mr. Small’s on Sunday, and Handsome Furs w/The Cinnamon Band at the Brillobox next Tuesday.   For Pittsburgh’s music scene it’s business as usual, kicking ass and taking names.  Let’s hope the summer months can keep the city bumping.

P.S. If we don’t have your band’s gig posted on the concert calendar, feel free to email us at bowmanpatrick@ymail.com and we will add it as soon as humanly possible.

Andrew Bird – Fitz and the Dizzyspells

Andrew Bird – Effigy