Dirty Three's Lyrical Instrumentals

An Australian instrumental trio that’s not Silver Ray. You didn’t think I’d be able to post about Silver Ray without posting about Dirty Three today, did you? And this doesn’t even mention The Necks.

Dirty Three is one of my all-time favorite bands and consists of Jim White (drums), Mick Turner (guitar), and Warren Ellis (violin). Don’t let this sparse lineup fool you, the group plays huge instrumental pieces drowning lyricism.

Here’s the group’s 2012 Tiny Desk Concert.

Here’s the group performing “Distant Shore” in 1998.

• Follow the group on Facebook.

• Visit the group’s profile at Bella Union Records.

• Support Dirty Three at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Dirty Three’s music at Amazon.

• Listen to "I Remember A Time When Once You Used To Love Me" by Dirty Three. From the 1996 album Horse Stories on Episode 03 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Silver Ray: Swirling Cinematic Instrumentals

An Australian instrumental trio that’s not Dirty Three (or the Necks), Silver Ray play sweeping, swirling, urgent pieces with piano, guitar and drums. The group consists of Cam Butler (guitar), Julitha Ryan (piano/keyboards), and Brett Poliness (drums). They put out four albums on Pharmacy Records, the last of which being (I think) 2008’s “Homes For Everyone.”

I don’t believe the group is active any longer but those four albums are all really solid and worth your time hunting down.

Here’s “Trail of Deception” from “Homes For Everyone”

Here’s “True Believer” live in 2004.

• Visit the group’s page at Pharmacy Records.

The Necks in Three Performances

The Necks are a piano jazz trio from Australia. Though it’s probably a bit misleading to let you think that they are filling smoking bars with jazz standards. “Avant-Jazz” might be a bit more appropriate. The Necks specialize in long-form improvisational pieces that blur the lines between jazz and minimalism.

As you might expect, they develop a theme and then deconstruct and recreate that theme. Their typical track is about an hour long. The Free Music Archive has made available three different radio appearances, which you can stream or download below.

The Necks Live at WFMU 2/10/2009 

The Necks Live at ISSUE Project Room (1/28/2010) // Night One Set Two

The Necks Live at ISSUE Project Room (1/28/2010) // Night Two Set Two

• Visit the Necks official website.

• Visit the group at Facebook.

• Purchase The Necks’ music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase The Necks’ music at Amazon.