Ear on TV: Week of 08.31.09: Dirty Projectors

It's been over two months since Dirty Projectors released their challenging masterpiece, Bitte Orca, and with each repeated listen, it is getting safer and safer to declare it the album of the year. Full of crisp Soweto-inspired guitar lines, three soulful voices, and the undescribable songwriting style of Dave Longstreth make it a must have for any music lover.

The New York quartet is getting ready to embark upon a massive tour in support of Bitte Orca (and a newly announced EP coming by September's end), but prior to that will be making their network television debut on Letterman, Monday night. It is sure to be an electrifying performance, likely the infectious first single "Stillness Is The Move". [In the song, vocalist Amber Coffman's impersonation of Mariah Carey is uncanny.]

Cheap Trick just released a live album, Sgt. Pepper Live!, that is a strange call back to me at nine years old. In 1978, the two albums (save K-Tel compilations) that I probably played the most were Cheap Trick's Heaven Tonight (thanks to "Surrender"), and the strange soundtrack to the movie disaster that was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (with The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton). Now, I realize Cheap Trick is paying homage to The Beatles original and not the cheesy (but fun) soundtrack. Just try telling that to my inner child. (Seriously, try -- they recently finished touring with Def Leppard and Poison, for goodness sake). I find myself listening to the album on repeat, for the same reasons you can't turn off that late night bad movie because it's got Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins in it.
Cheap Trick perform on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on Tuesday night.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, August 31
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Dirty Projectors
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
MTV: It's On With Alexa Chung: Pitbull
NBC: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Pitbull
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Jet
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Virgins (REPEAT)
Tuesday, September 1
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: DataRock
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Used
NBC: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Cheap Trick
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Michael Franti
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Method Man & Redman (REPEAT)
Wednesday, September 2
NBC: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: The Pretenders
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Smokey Robinson
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Wale (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Elvis Costello, She & Him, Jenny Lewis, Jakob Dylan (REPEAT)
Thursday, September 3
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: John Fogerty
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Peter, Bjorn & John
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Shadows Fall
Friday, September 4
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Maxwell
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Pet Shop Boys
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Ben Harper (REPEAT)
Saturday, September 5
NBC: Saturday Night Live: The Killers (REPEAT)
PBS: Austin City Limits: Foo Fighters (REPEAT)