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Group Members: Mick Turner
Melancholy instrumental trio Dirty Three formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1992, led by classically trained violinist Warren Ellis, who began writing and performing music for art openings and plays and also tenured in the groups Blackeyed Susans, Paranoid, and the Nursing Mothers. After enlisting Blackeyed Susans guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White -- veterans of Melbourne bands including the Sick Things, the Moodists, Fungus Brain, and Venom P. Stinger -- Ellis formed the Dirty Three; at the group's debut performance, he used a rubber band to attach a guitar pickup to his violin, giving the instrument a distorted, feedback-drenched feel far removed from its original sound. Recorded as a demo, the trio's debut Sad & Dangerous appeared in 1994; subsequent tours in support of Pavement, Sonic Youth, and John Cale helped win the Dirty Three a deal with the Touch & Go label, which issued a 1995 eponymous effort and 1996's acclaimed Horse Stories. In 1998, the Dirty Three resurfaced with Ocean Songs; Whatever You Love, You Are followed two years later.
Celebrating their tenth anniversary, the Dirty Three headed back into the studio. Initially, the trio had recorded songs for a follow-up to Whatever You Love, You Are in early 2001; however, the songs were scrapped. White went on to tour with Smog and Will Oldham. Turner founded his own label, King Crab Records, and worked with Marquis de Tren. Ellis joined his fellow mates Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds for a monumental world tour in spring 2002. Somewhere amidst all this activity, the Dirty Three reconvened with producer Fabrice Lor, chief of Prohibited Records who recorded part of the soundtrack to Amelie. Together, he and the Dirty Three arrived with the enigmatic, dark album She Has No Strings Apollo in February 2003. Cinder, which features appearances by Cat Power's Chan Marshall and Sally Timms from the Mekons, followed two years later.
from Wikipedia:
Dirty Three are an instrumental trio consisting of Warren Ellis (violin), Mick Turner (electric guitar) and Jim White (drums), originating from Melbourne, Australia. Since the Dirty Three formed in 1992, they have spent a lot of time overseas. Mick Turner is currently based in Melbourne, drummer Jim White travels a lot, and Ellis lives in Paris.
History
Prior to Dirty Three's formation Warren Ellis studied classical violin and worked briefly as a schoolteacher in regional Victoria after completing a degree; he was a member of The Blackeyed Susans, Paranoid, and the Nursing Mothers; he subsequently traveled, busked, wrote music and performed for art openings and plays. Mick Turner and Jim White have a shared musical history via the numerous bands they played in during the 1980s and early 90's. Throughout the Dirty Three's existence, both have contributed their respective talents to numerous artists and groups. Turner was a member of The Moodists for a few months prior to, and including the length of, their first European sojourn (1983-5), and was also a member of the Sick Things (as Mick Sick), Fungus Brains and Venom P. Stinger. White was also in Venom P. Stinger . He has also been a member of People With Chairs Up Their Noses, Feral Dinosaurs (this group also featured Conway Savage, later a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and The Blackeyed Susans. He has also played on records by Hunters and Collectors and Tex, Don and Charlie.
The Dirty Three first played as a pub act in 1993, in Melbourne, Australia. At the trio's first live show, Ellis attached a guitar pickup to his violin with a rubber band, providing the instrument with a distorted, feedback-drenched tone unlike the violin's more traditional sound. From then on they grew in stature within the Melbourne music scene, and went on to become the support act for many groups such as Pavement and the John Spencer Blues Explosion before the release of their debut album, Sad & Dangerous in 1994- essentially the trio's demo tape. The album, along with subsequent tours with Sonic Youth, John Cale, and again Pavement, led to a record deal with Chicago's Touch and Go.
In 1995, Dirty Three performed with Cave (also a participant on the Palace project) in London for a live soundtrack to the Carl Dreyer silent film La Passion De Jeanne d'Arc, at the National Film Theatre.
In late 2005, the band released their seventh major album, Cinder, which, though following in the spirit of Ocean Songs, diverges from all of their previous works on several points. It was the first Dirty Three album to feature vocals (those of Chan Marshall aka Cat Power and Sally Timms of The Mekons), though only on two of nineteen songs. The songs are also generally much shorter and more concise than their early work, which allows for the rather large number of tracks. Perhaps most notably, instead of the usual recording live technique, they opted, for the first time in their career, to record in the studio individually.
In May 2007 the band curated a weekend of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival, booking bands they admired in addition to performing twice themselves. 2007 was also the year of the release of a live concert DVD, shot in Tokyo in HD by Taiyo Films with a multi-track sound record. Film director Darcy Maine also has completed a feature length documentary on the bands history for release worldwide. Outtakes and clips of which can be seen at [1]
Collaborations
Ellis since 1996 has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Ellis and Turner have both released solo albums. In addition, Turner and White have released several EPs as The Tren Brothers, and appear as backing musicians on albums by Cat Power, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and PJ Harvey (White drums). Turner is also an internationally exhibited painter with his own work gracing the covers of all of their major albums except Sad & Dangerous. He also runs the band's own record label Anchor & Hope Records. In 1999, Dirty Three with Low recorded an In the Fishtank session for Konkurrent records.
Dirty Three have released albums on Touch & Go Records and have toured with Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Low, Pavement, Throwing Muses, Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Devendra Banhart, Josh T. Pearson and Shannon Wright to name just a few.
Style
The Dirty Three's sound is distinctive, composed of folk melody, rock energy, elements of classical, chamber music, jazz and blues, Celtic, and other European folk styles - a diverse collection of influences, though the style of music the trio play is uniquely their own, born from years of musical experience.
Their latter releases differ somewhat to their first few albums as a trio, which are harsher, more experimental in quality and form. The releases that followed have a prominence of melody, and are at times slower and sparse, but the music still retains the rawness and raucous sound of their earlier albums. The first few albums are typified by consistent fast and aggressive playing, while the later albums rise and fall and have slower moments.
Discography and filmography
Albums and documentaries
Sad & Dangerous (25 April 1995)Dirty Three (25 July 1995)Horse Stories (10 September 1996)Ocean Songs (31 March 1998)Whatever You Love, You Are (7 March 2000)She Has No Strings Apollo (18 February 2003)Cinder (11 October 2005)Live! At Meredith (2005)Dirty Three (2007)Toward the Low Sun (2012)Featured in:
Sticky Carpet (2006)Meredith Music Festival: A Weekend In The Country (2006)All Tomorrow's Parties (2009)
