by Stephen Howell
On their debut, Dirty Three seems to be working out future ideas. Most of the songs are quite lengthy, and some of the more repetitive numbers are often hurt by this (&Kim's Dirt,& &Turk Reprise&). As a result of the band's experimentation, however, we see a different side of the group not witnessed on later efforts. For instance, Warren Ellis sets down his violin to play bass on &Jim's Dog,& a song that seems like it would fit perfectly on a film-noir detective movie soundtrack. One of the greatest moments on the record arrives in the form of &Turk,& appropriately the last song and the biggest epic. Here, Dirty Three emits dark Eastern melodies that build until they finally climax into a shrieking, stuttered middle section. In the end, there are two sides to the material on the album: pure emotional feeling and meandering filler.