Hackberry South: Southern(hemisphere) Icons: Dirty Three

Monday, December 15, 2008

Southern(hemisphere) Icons: Dirty Three

I saw the Dirty Three at the Echo Lounge in Atlanta around a decade ago. I remember sitting there in awe of the amount of control these guys had over their instruments despite the seemingly jumbled style they created of scatter shot drums that bounce in and out of time and guitar that often sounds like it's playing along with an altogether different band. While watching them I looked over and noticed the sound man's mouth was wide open, he was in a mixture of awe and bliss too, as he mouthed "this is so good.." over and over. Neither of us could believe how perfect they sounded, which is a long long way from the first impression most get from listening to them. Without understanding their background and other musical outlets it is pretty easy to assume they are rank amateurs, or even worse simply incompetent musicians trying to tackle Beethoven or Liszt. When I worked at a large cd store in Chattanooga,TN I would play them just to watch people cringe, for some reason the Dirty Three received more fevered demands to turn it off than any other band in my repertoire and they are most definitely no where near being the most abrasive music I could conjure. It's their relationship to classical music that sets them squarely on most people "bad" list. If only they knew they were infact the "Bad Seeds" that often back Nick Cave. The Dirty Three have created some of the most amazing music ever made(their song titles "Authentic Celestial Music" and it actually lives up to the hefty promise of it's name), each song tries to emotionally engage the listener, without falling into the same trap that other post rock bands tend to fall into where every song is constant build to an inevitable climax. You don't get the impression that they have ever plotted out a song, they just play and let it take them where it will, sometimes through fields and streams and others over bumpy, high altitude mountain roads. Most importantly Dirty Three made albums more so than they did songs, each song leans ont he one bfore it continuing expaning or retreating from other ideas on previously presented. The Dirty Three have hit a bit of a rough patch in the last few years, trying to reconcile their old intensity and patience with the current musical climate that can't get by without a disco bass lines and needs an extra psychedelic experience with it's folk. They helped define Post Rock which has all but faded leaving only a vestige of what it used to be for posterity. Their last outting Cinder had shorter songs and vocals by Cat Power on a few tracks as an attempt at sailing more contemporary seas. It was great, but not complete, they have yet to entirely regear their sound, we can only hope they find their sound and soul on their next album. Until then go see them live as they tour about, I assure you you will be a fan for life.

Great Waves w/ Chan Marshall