Horse Stories

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Though they're a small band--with only three members, that is--Australia's Dirty Three play music about big things. Are these songs really, as the title suggests, horse stories? (For that matter, was Ocean Songs really about the sea?) Well, the tunes don't gallop, or even canter. What they do is swirl and gouge and slope and crash, in part because guitarist Mick Turner has an impeccable sense of his instrument's mood-setting powers, in part because violinist Warren Ellis cuts through the air with long, thick-toned phrases, and in part because drummer Jim White holds the band together with sensitive, swishy percussion here and banging chaos there. This is proof positive of the jazz axiom that instruments can tell a story at least as well as language. And while this isn't equine stuff, generally, it's sure got the snort and the kick and the pull and the dogged strength of any four-legged wagon-pulling pal on earth. --Andrew Bartlett --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tracks:

1000 Miles
Sue's Last Ride
Hope
I Remember A Time When Once You Used To Love Me
At the Bar
Red
Warren's Lament
Horse
I Knew It Would Come To This

Amazon.com

Though they're a small band--with only three members, that is--Australia's Dirty Three play music about big things. Are these songs really, as the title suggests, horse stories? (For that matter, was Ocean Songs really about the sea?) Well, the tunes don't gallop, or even canter. What they do is swirl and gouge and slope and crash, in part because guitarist Mick Turner has an impeccable sense of his instrument's mood-setting powers, in part because violinist Warren Ellis cuts through the air with long, thick-toned phrases, and in part because drummer Jim White holds the band together with sensitive, swishy percussion here and banging chaos there. This is proof positive of the jazz axiom that instruments can tell a story at least as well as language. And while this isn't equine stuff, generally, it's sure got the snort and the kick and the pull and the dogged strength of any four-legged wagon-pulling pal on earth. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

IF YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MUSIC, PLEASE DON'T TALK!.......2007-07-16

To imply anything but an attenuated and meaningless connection b/w the Dead and the Dirty Three is to embody the very heights of pedantic stupidity.

Having said that, come to this record for achingly beautiful compositions capable of obliterating everything that is cynical and calculating in contemporary pop. Somewhere between chamber music and Robert Johnson you find this... RIYL: Cat Power, Califone/Red Red Meat, Giant Sand, vintage Will Oldham projects (Not to mention the collaboration(s) with M. Turner, obviously), and even bands like Bardo Pond, June of 44 who are doing similar things compositionally, albeit with a different sonic palette.

Hella-fine!

Intoxicating..........2006-10-23

I bought this CD a few weeks before seeing the band live for the first time in their home city and have since listened to it dozens of times. While it is not as intense as their "Live! At Meredith" album (recorded outside during a giant thunderstorm so not much can top that), it more than matches up to the most cracking work with vocals I have in my collection.

It is strange that it can help people recover from depression and help them wallow in it at the same time as it can be happy or sad depending on your mood. It is very addictive album and you have to watch yourself as I went through a period when this CD did not leave my stereo and I thought I was starting to lose my mind.

I will try to get to see the Dirty Three again next time they play in Melbourne, but even if I don't this CD will never be put away in the cupboard as I will listen to it at least once a week.

THE post-rock album?.......2006-05-07

Whoa.

That was my first thought upon finally getting around to throwing Horse Stories (my first Dirty Three album) into my stereo. I had heard some good things about these guys, and they struck me as a must for Godspeed You! Black Emperor fans, but I wasn't prepared for something this stirring, this unique, this...staggeringly brilliant. I think I'd even have to go so far as to call this my favorite post-rock album at the moment, as it seems to boast all of the genre's strengths with none of its weaknesses. The work of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, while certainly quite pleasant, doesn't boast the dynamic range that this does, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor's output (with the exception of the Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada EP) has become a bit formulaic over the course of their career, generally feeling rather unfocused and meandering in comparison to the Dirty Three's dense wash of sound. The closet analog I can think of to the Dirty Three would actually have to be ex-fellow Touch and Go outfit Slint, partly in sound but more in terms of overall approach and songwriting ability--much as with Slint (especially their classic Spiderland), even at Horse Stories's quietest and most minimal moments there's always a sinister intensity lurking beneath the surface, and you can never be quite sure when it's going to explode.

Much as with Slint, everything here is a bit off-kilter--Warren Ellis's violin playing isn't exactly perfectly in tune; Mick Turner's guitar hardly ever plays any actual riffs, and Jim White's drumming doesn't keep too many straight beats--but that's all part of the album's messy, off-the-cuff charm. Unlike with many post-rock bands (and most bands period, come to think of it) the whole in this case is much more than the sum of its parts. It's incredibly easy to get enveloped in the warm, inviting musical head-rushes contained on this album; it became somewhat of an obsession for me over time, prompting an almost unprecedented five listens over the last three days. If you're anything like me, you won't be able to stop listening until you've absorbed every detail.

Whether at its most slow and languid or its most blurry and intense, the music on Horse Stories is always expressive, emotional, and expansive, like the soundtrack to a Western that was never made. The lack of vocals is actually a major strength of this album, leaving the music open to interpretation, but whatever you feel listening to it--I mostly sensed regret and sadness with an undercurrent of hope and defiance--you'd all but have to be dead not to feel *something*. Sue's Last Ride and I Remember a Time When Once You Used to Love Me are two of the most moving and cathartic songs EVER, building from seemingly innocuous beginnings to high-speed maelstroms of frenzied strings and drumming that will have you banging your head as enthusiastically as any metal album. Red manages to maintain that level of ferocity for its full running time, actually sounding somewhat like a fight as Jim lays waste to his drum kit while Mick's eyebrow-singing anti-riffs clash with Warren's screeching violin. For its part, the beautifully shambolic Horse wavers and staggers like a drunk, with Warren's elongated notes swirling and ducking around Mick's shambolic guitar strumming and and Jim's lockstop beats. Even the songs that provide somewhat of a respite, such as the mournful, elegaic At the Bar and Warren's Lament, have a distinct edge to them that you're not going to get from groups like Tortoise or Rachel's.

To say Horse Stories is a great instrumental album would be selling it way short--this is a great album, period, with appeal well beyond its genre. Sure, the lack of vocals may initially be a stumbling block for some, but it doesn't take long to realize this album doesn't just say something through its music; it says a lot. Personally, I like to think the band were playing to express feelings to profound to express in words, pretentious though that may sound. Whatever the case, though, if you're a fan of individualistic alternative music of any sort, Horse Stories is easily a must-buy.

Classical, awe inspiring beauty, and fury combined, loosely..........2005-09-27

Few instrumental albums outside Miles Davis' electric period are as captivating and original from start to finish, and "Horse Stories" is the perfect snapshot of the Dirty Three in all their ragged glory. Lead electric violin player Warren Ellis alternately croons or cries with his violin, never uttering a word but taking you with guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White, on faraway emotional journeys to heights of intensity rarely reached in instrumental musicor any music of any sort these days. The sound is so full, cathartic and boundless that you need to stop reading this review and go hear this "classically" inspiring album. Excellent and liberating! They are also incredible live as I saw them steal the show from Sonic Youth and Pavement on different tours.

amazing.......2005-06-06

The Dirty Three do something with music that can only be described as magical. I am truly fortunate that an amazing DJ by the name of Kim Sorise in Louisville, KY turned me on to this group.

This album is my personal favorite, but please do not pass over their other brilliant outings. I can listen to "Hope" and "At the Bar" over and over.

Average customer rating:

Horse Stories
Dirty Three
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000KLQZ3A
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Tracks:

1000 Miles
Sue's Last Ride
Hope
I Remember A Time When You Used To Love Me
At The Bar
Red
Warren's Lament
Horse
I Knew It Would Come To This

Album Description

2007 reissue of the Australian instrumental trio's 1996 release. The Dirty Three are three gifted and creative musicians: Warren Ellis (violin), Mick Turner (guitar) and Jim White (drums). The music they create is unique, enchanting, melancholy and sometimes disturbing. Nine tracks. Bella Union.

Average customer rating:

Travelling Mercies for Troubled Paths
Horse Stories
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000N9E482

Product Description

10 tracks

National Writing Project: Rural Voices Radio: Vol. III Kentucky / Nevada / Texas / North Dakota

Average customer rating:

National Writing Project: Rural Voices Radio: Vol. III Kentucky / Nevada / Texas / North Dakota
National Writing Project: Rural Voices Radio , White Horse String Band , Audrey Wright , Kit Julianto , Dan Christianson , and Gladys Porter High School Atzlan Mariachi Band
Manufacturer: NWP
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000MOWDX6

Product Description

1. Eastern Kentucky: Sweet Dreams of Home 2. Northeast Nevada: They Walk the West 3. Something Holds Us Here: Writings from the Red River Valley 4. Crossings: Border Voices Along the Rio Grande -------------------- Rural Voices Radio III is the third in a series of half-hour productions that features students and their teachers reading original poems, stories, and essays about the places we call home. The programs offer an honest and refreshing portrayal of places off the beaten path through the words of emerging writers, some as young as first grade. For students, Rural Voices Radio helps connect writing, reading and speaking; for listeners, the programs are a bridge to new places, perspectives and cultures. Contributions come from teachers and students in western Kentucky, eastern Nevada, the Red River Valley of North Dakota, and the southern Texas border. The spoken anthology shows the complex nature of rural life, from the lowering boom of a gold mining shaft to the resounding call of a tobacco auctioneer. The third release takes on new territory with the voices of students living along the Texas-Mexico border. Here, listeners will see the Rio Grande through the eyes of children in the languages that they speak in their homes. With each edition of the Rural Voices Radio series, NWP has sought to celebrate excellence in America's rural schools. Drawing on the tradition of storytelling and oral language, Rural Voices Radio awakens listeners to the richness of heritage and the universal importance of home.

Average customer rating:

Everyone's a Photographer
Horse Stories
Manufacturer: Japanese Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B000BYY1J6
Release Date: 2006-03-06

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24/45
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You Explained Away Everything
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Album Description

Horse Stories is led by the Austrailian singer-songwriter Toby Burke who's spent time in the States and a drummer from Texas who has spent time in London. They're joined on the new record, Everyone's A Photographer, by multi-instrumentalist Beth Balmer. The new record (their most "up" record to date) has been produced by Black Heart Processional's Pall Jenkins. Loose. 2006..

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Dave Alvin and the guilty Men, Cathal Coughlan Brian Wilson , Alejandro Escovedo, Frank Zappa, The Handsome Family New York Dolls , Horse Stories, Tift Merritt, Gary Numan Jason and the Scorchers , Teenage Fanclub, Kasey Chambers, Yaya3, Pulp Roddy Frame , and Mary Gauthier, BB King The Von Blondies
Manufacturer: Uncut
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000O9GUL0

Product Description

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One Hundred Waves

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

Country | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0001YNJZI
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Album Description

2nd album from the Melbourne-based songwriter who collected a band on his travels. Nonzero.

Average customer rating:

Famous Horse Racing Stories
John Mccririck
Manufacturer: Disky
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

International | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00009P9R3

Average customer rating:

SWEET!

War Horse & Other Stories
Rick Bell
Manufacturer: Cap Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

Hard Bop | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000069KC
Release Date: 1998-02-24

Tracks:

Weaselin'
That's Close Enough
Sweet Six Tune
Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
Warhorse
Soundmeister
Uneven Steven
Chuckle
Swallowtail
Joy Juice

Customer Reviews:

SWEET!.......2005-02-03

Maybe I'm biased because this is my grandpa's CD, but it's awesome. You all should listen to this sweet jazz!

love - manda

Average customer rating:

Horse Stories
Dirty Three
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000254G8U

Album Description

Japanese edition of the Aussie indie instrumental trio's 1996 album with two added bonus tracks, 'Rope' & 'Irish Red'. 2001.

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