The Dirty Three - Ocean Songs (Studio 22)

May 1st 1998. ABC TV Studios, Melbourne Australia. 1.) Last Horse On the Sand, 2.) Distant Shore, 3.) Authentic Celestial Music, 4.) Sue's Last Ride, 5.) Deep Waters Dirty Three; Founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 1992, instrumental trio Dirty Three was formed as an offshoot of various established local bands, including Busload Of Faith, Fungus Brains, Venom P. Stinger and the Blackeyed Susans. During breaks from these bands, Warren Ellis (electric violin), Mick Turner (guitar, ex-Moodists) and Jim White (drums) worked together on a high-energy bar room set, which eventually made them one of the area's top live attractions. They soon picked up impressive support slots to touring acts including Pavement and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, before their debut album Sad & Dangerous was released on the small Boston label Poon Village Records. Essentially a repackaging of their home-made demo tape, its release was followed by an extensive north American tour. The trio's meteoric rise was confirmed by a place on the 1995 Lollapalooza mobile festival, before arriving in England to provide a live soundtrack to Carl Dreyer's silent film La Passion De Jeanne d'Arc, shown at the National Film Theatre. They were joined in this performance by fellow expatriate Nick Cave on piano, who had been enraptured by the trio's furious performances in Australia in 1994, often appearing onstage for impromptu jam sessions. Ellis later joined Cave's backing band the Bad Seeds and, with Dirty Three, Cave performed two unbilled songs on Songs In The Key Of X, a soundtrack album to the hit television show The X-Files. The trio also collaborated with Will Oldham of Palace prior to the release of their third album, 1996's Horse Stories. Their most restrained effort thus far, it nevertheless sustained the trio's reputation for lyrical instrumental work that transcends expectations and offers a genuine alternative to contemporary rock sounds. Ocean Songs (1998) and Whatever You Love, You Are (2000) were further collections of quietly evocative and atmospheric music. The trio put Dirty Three on hold after scrapping the follow-up to Whatever You Love, You Are, with Ellis concentrating on his Bad Seeds commitments and Turner starting up the King Crab label. They reunited in 2003 to begin afresh, teaming with producer Fabrice Lor to complete She Has No Strings Apollo. The follow-up Cinder featured vocal input from Cat Power ("Great Waves") and Sally Timms ("Feral"). NME Since then so much has been accomplished by all three of 3, solo and together. See; Warren Ellis Jim White Mick Turner