Dirty Three

First, a few words for anyone who hasn't heard of Dirty Three. They are an Australian instrumental rock trio - Warren Ellis (violin), Mick Turner (guitar) and Jim White (drums). So no vocals to be found here, but not a moment of musical indulgence either. This band tells stories through their music, which is hypnotic, beautiful, angry, violent, delicate, impassioned, human. Journeys play out on fiddle, drums, guitar and occasionally digeridoo and evoke nostalgia, melancholy and the land of their country.

I spot Warren before the gig in the downstairs bar - huddled at a table with some other guys. There is a restless energy at the table, a sense of gravity and purpose as well as a sense that they are passing through. In comparison the rest of us seem lacklustre. I am already mesmerised.

Resplendent with wild hair and jet black beard ('When in France', he tells us), Warren later beats his way through the crowd, yelling for passage with his violin case held high over his head. The atmosphere is intimate, with affectionate heckling from the many Australians. He'll play some new songs and then take orders, he tells us. Before long the Barfly is hanging on every scratchy note as the three musicians weave their way through our imaginations. The songs are carefully plotted journeys, and you sense that they are never the same every time, that the players are living through them as intensely as they ever did. I've been listening to Dirty Three for some time, but to see these songs unfold live is an entirely different experience. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

When: 6/10/05
Where: Barfly, London
Who: Dirty Three
Review by: Jane Rich
Pitchfork reviews: Dirty Three

Malcolm Middleton, Absentee

Absentee was an unexpected treat. I see now that they regularly support The Magic Numbers and played The Green Man Festival in August but I hadn't heard of them. My first assumption was that they were American, with the lead's bottom-of-the-beer-glass baritone (reminiscent of The Handsome Family's Brett Sparks), the girl's off-key 'doo doos' and their warm alt-coutry sound. They are not, but have been called the UK's answer to My Morning Jacket. Definitely one to watch - have a listen to Rainy Days Swimming.

Malcolm Middleton was miserable (of course). He was happiest when his backing band left the stage and he sat alone on a stool and sang moving, miserable songs into the crowd. Self pity is an ever-circling vulture to the carcass of depression though (what a metaphor!) and MM does fall prey to it from time to time. Only to be taken in small doses, preferably when low. Unsurprisingly it didn't register with Jake at all, who doesn't do brooding, introspective, woe-is-me moody.

When: 3/10/05
Where: London Barfly
Who: Malcolm Middleton, Absentee
Review by: Jane Rich
Pitchfork reviews: Absentee