Dirty Three
Horse Stories

It had been quite a while since I last made an appearance on Deb, and today I return to tell you about an amazing work I recently discovered that immediately captured my attention. 

A dreamy violin, a strident guitar, a drum as precise as never before: this is Dirty Three, unknown ferrymen, emblem of that compelling and experimental movement we call post-rock. They are among the bands I would describe as the most brilliant of that decade (the '90s) as criticized as it is underrated: in those years, there wasn't just Seattle's Grunge, English Britpop, the easy chart pop, but there were also bands that more than any other deserved success, ephemeral and never achieved. Among these, we have the Australian band, but let's analyze their history and origins properly: they were born in Melbourne in the early nineties when guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White, who had been playing together for some time, were joined by classically trained violinist Warren Ellis, who had the habit of playing a violin to which he had applied a guitar pick-up so as to exploit its feedback and play with the instrument's tone. But, in many cases, the past hardly matters. Let's focus more on the type of music they dedicated themselves to: a sort of chamber music influenced by noise rock, jazz, and psychedelic rock. In short, a genre of music that gets inside you and takes you to fly to unexplored places aboard a great sailboat. With these "horse stories," published in 1996, they began to establish themselves and gain recognition. Just analyzing the cover is enough to be part of this new world, magical and at times fun: A fantasmagorical watercolor stands at our feet. The album can be defined as a long ride to the end, full of highly experimental improvisations and memorable suites, among strong guitar solos and warm violin notes. I will not stop at a sordid track by track, there's nothing better than a single and personal interpretation of the tracks. If I stopped here to describe them, the album would lose all its magic. Syd has grown up. 

I recommend their entire discography, starting with the legendary Ocean Songs from 1998. After listening to them, you will never go back. 

Forget Nevermind or Californication...