Ocean Songs (Reissue) (Vinyl 2LP, Green)

It's hard to accurately describe to the uninitiated what exactly Dirty Three sound like. Or how they affect you. They are similar to a movie, with it's emotional dynamics intrinsic in it's self-defined walls. But Dirty Three are barely defined, becoming something that Warren, Mick, and Jim could not conceive of without the other two. They are an emotional roller coaster ride, with all the good parts and the bad parts rolled into the climb and the fall simultaneously, making the listener pine for the best of times and romanticize the worst of times.

Recorded by Steve Albini at Chicago's Electrical Audio and released in 1998, Ocean Songs is Dirty Three's fourth album. It sees them straying a bit from the manic dynamics on 1996's Horse Stories, where the songs were at first coaxed into existence, only to be bashed apart in a raucous ending. Ocean Songs plies the listener with tales of longing and weariness, although hope is just around the corner.