DIRTY PROJECTORS Bitte Orca Domino ****

The number of indie bands coming into the mainstream in the last 18 months has been remarkable. Leaving aside the abundance of long-tail theories, Pitchfork equations and shifts in tastes, it’s welcome to see these acts gain audiences and extra traction.

Still, it's surprising that Dirty Projectors should have benefited from this change in mood. Yale grad David Longstreth and friends have never taken the easy option when they could do a geeky concept album based around Black Flag or Don Henley. Over the course of seven albums they've attracted adjectives like "precocious", but also raves from such art-rock luminaries as David Byrne (with whom they dueted on this year's Dark Is the Nightalbum).

But the backing of Domino Records and this brave new world of indie bands didn’t mean that album No 8 would be an easily accessible affair. Yes, Longstreth is doing pop, but he’s still heeding his own counsel, so you’re unlikely to hear much of this coming at you on any daytime pop station. It’s the radio stations’ loss, to be honest.

Bitte Orcais the sound of a band making merry in the riggings. The great dash of sounds (from African hi-life guitars to r'n'b vocals) employed throughout is just the jump-off point for an album that knows no bounds and sees no stop signs.

No Intentionstarts out as a sinewy soundtrack for your favourite North African bazaar before turning into a smart, cute pop belter. Similarly, Cannibal Resourcerevels in how disparate components (dizzy post-rock projections and tribal croons, in this case) can be melted into bona-fide, sticky ear-candy, while Stillness Is the Moveand Temecula Sunriseare just as textured, tricky and triumphant.

As far as Dirty Projectors are concerned, their future is unwritten – and all the better for that. www.myspace.com/dirty projectors

Download tracks: Cannibal Resource, Stillness Is the Move, No Intention