The first thing that caught my eyehere was the beautiful Van Gogh like cover. Then the name of the artistrang a few vague bells, I seem to remember it being dropped a few timeson the SWANS and Scott Walker e-mail lists and in The Wire magazine,all reliable sources for great music recommendations. A half minuteinto the first track at the listening station I knew this was for me.Dirty Three are an instrumental 3 piece from Australia with at leasthalf a dozen full length albums in 8 years. The music is composedsolely on violin, guitar and drums ... deceivingly simple consideringthe rich and full sound. Each piece is slow and melancholic as theclean guitar tones, violin and light percussion gently play off eachother. "I Offered It.." is the exception as it begins with severalminutes of solo violin then slowly builds into a barely contained rockfrenzy in the latter half. It's for the best that these tracks areinstrumental because the titles and music say everything that needs tobe said. "Whatever You Love, You Are" (great title) is a delicatelybeautiful album and I'm sure the more musically hip (i.e., fans of NickCave, the Legendary Pink Dots, SWANS, Godspeed You Black Emperor!,etc.) will agree. It looks like I have some back catalog catching up todo.Read More
