March 7, 2000 by A.S. Van Dorston

The Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental trio who seemed to have peaked with their second and third albums, which reach the depths of despair and decaying beauty and the heights of middle-Eastern tinged rock fury. But where the disappointingly subdued fourth album Ocean Songs failed to even remotely touch upon their passion, Whatever You Love, You Are succeeds. Learning from their mistake that a stripped down approach does not necessarily result in a subtle masterpiece, this time around they spent more time manipulating the sounds to bring out the ethereal quality of their music. In particular, Warren Ellis’s violin is manipulated and multi-tracked, proving that it is Ellis who drives the band to greatness. It’s no wonder why his rustic, mournful tones have been retained by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds for the past several years, along with a recent album by German diva Ute Lemper. Y

et without the always perfect accompaniment of Mick Turner’s expressionistic guitar and Jim White’s ornamental drums, they just wouldn’t be The Dirty Three. The album is still missing the fiery crescendos of their live shows, but all is forgiven when one hears the heart-wrenching centerpiece, “I Offered It Up To The Stars & The Night Sky.” Nearly 14 minutes long and not a wasted second, the stately song has a classical structure, like a Beethoven composition if he had been commissioned to score a soundtrack like Ennio Morricone. It’s instrumental indie rock for those who are unimpressed by most instrumental bands who are often humorless and self-important. With titles like “Some Things I Just Don’t Want To Know” and “I Really Should’ve Gone Out Last Night,” Dirty Three keep it real with healthy doses of self-deprecation, which is charismatically displayed by Ellis in his hilarious, rambling drunken introductions to the songs. Think of it as ambient music with a humanistic edge and play it at your next dinner party or midsummer night’s mashing.