One of Dark Was The Night Live's many, many, many highlights Sunday night was the onstage pairing of David Byrne and Dave Longstreth, fleshing out one of the compilation album's most logical pairings. When Byrne first announced their Red Hot tracks, he wrote "I'd been told more than once that we should all work together, and it seems the suggestion was fated to be realized." There's good reason for the suggestions: with each successive release -- and particularly on the back of the revelatory Bitte Orca LP -- the aesthetic lineage between the two is unmistakable. For DWTN, the Davids penned two tracks together: "Knotty Pine" made the comp, while "Ambulance Man" was shelved. The only logic I can find for that decision should be filed under Embarrassment Of Riches; Sunday night's performance of "Ambulance Man" went even further than its accompanying "Knotty Pine" to frame the pair's shared DNA. It's a ballad, dressed in Dirty Projectors arty garb -- the Davids share striking harmonies, Byrne updates some of "Once In A Lifetime"'s material concerns (he found his beautiful house years ago, now it's his suit and tie he's seeking), all spiraling into a seamless, subtle a cappella climax. Listen:
Dirty Projectors & David Byrne - "Ambulance Man"
Download "Knotty Pine" here. Hopefully there will be more. And this Friday, Dave Longsteth collaborates with another of his admiring predecessors, penning and performing a piece with Björk at Housing Works bookstore in SoHo. We'll let you know everything about how that goes.
