Dosh + White Hinterland

White Hinterland

When Beyoncé’s sister Solange Knowles covered Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness Is the Move,” many wondered what had just happened. Here was an arty Brooklyn blog fave being appropriated by a genuine soul belter, whose version soared miles higher than the hopelessly stiff, melismatic warbling of the original. But it was a sign that the indies are perfectly in step with urban tastemakers, or vice versa.

It’s easy to imagine White Hinterland’s glitchy, glistening electro-soul being lifted by either Knowles. Singer Casey Dienel sounds light as a feather on the duo’s latest, Kairos, purring in her best Beth Orton on the twitchy refrain of “Bow & Arrow.” While strands of African-esque guitar suggest a minimalist Projectors, this music sputters and sparks with less predictability.

“Even though you may be out of the picture, baby, you can still call on me from time to time,” Dienel sings on the exquisite “Cataract.” That could be an Usher line, but here it’s like New Age for a new century. The Portland, Oregon, group’s ethereal hooks and breaks practically beg to be loaded into an MPC sampler.

Those bloops and bleeps find common ground with tourmate Martin Dosh, or simply Dosh, or even better known as the drummer behind Andrew Bird. Just as Chicago’s favorite whistler spins lush loops, Dosh layers percussion-heavy concoctions from an array of gadgets carefully placed around his kit, joined live by multi-instrumentalist Michael Lewis. The Minneapolitan’s been whipping up his own frenzied, funky and folky forays for some time, throwing marimba, kalimba, synths and God-knows-what-all into the mix. His Tommy (named for a former soundman, not the Who opera) shimmers and glows, but the fun is in seeing him pull it all off live.

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