Bob Dylan had a secondary instrument – his harmonica, an earthy, freewheeling piece to compliment his virtuosic voice and folksy guitar.
The pantheon of rock music is chock full of artists who stand outside of the paint-by-numbers band set-up of guitar/bass/drums/voice and bring something from the vast array of sounds. Melbourne Austrialia’s Dirty Three strip away the vocals and use a violin instead. Drenched in an arty melancholia, sharply crafted bursts of feedback and a distinct, lo-fidelity recording style, the classically trained Warren Ellis is the quiet star of one of the most unique bands on the planet.
The newly re-issued 2005 album She Has No Strings Apollo is their sixth (of seven) and distinct for a more reclusive use of Ellis’ instrument. The seven track album features more heavy hitting percussion, and a space filled song craft. Filled with some of the most sparsely beautiful tracks in their catalog (“Long Way To Go With No Punch”) and the pounding, anti-anthemic (“Alice Wading” or “Rude (And Then Some Slight Return”). Dirty Three seem to thrive on starting songs quiet, building layers, only to see them crash into a staggering crescendo; this is no different, example being, “She Lifted The Net.”
While Horse Stories and Whatever You Love, You Are seem to thrive on the violin, Apollo is a slight departure, featuring Jim White’s sense of tearful, throbbing rhythm. With no voices, no conventional structure, Dirty Three offers what few other bands can approach. They are pure ambience, and on Apollo the mood is a stormy fall afternoon. Sadness, reclusion, brilliance.
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