Ocean Songs
Studio album by
Dirty Three
ReleasedMarch 1998
RecordedAugust–September 1997
StudioElectrical Audio, Chicago, Illinois
GenrePost-rock
Length66:32
LabelTouch and Go
ProducerSteve Albini, Dirty Three
Dirty Three chronology
Horse Stories
(1996) 		Ocean Songs
(1998) 		Whatever You Love, You Are
(2000)

Ocean Songs is the fourth major album by Australian rock band Dirty Three, released in March 1998 by Touch and Go Records. It was recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago during August and September 1997. Its cover was designed by guitarist Mick Turner. David Grubbs plays piano and harmonium on some tracks.

A special version was issued by their UK record label Bella Union in 2005, containing the original album and a live DVD.

In 2005, the entire album was performed live in London as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series. It was later performed in Barcelona, and in Mt. Buller, Australia and as part of the 2009 ATP New York Festival (curated by The Flaming Lips).

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[2]
Mojo[3]
NME8/10[4]
Pitchfork7.8/10[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Uncut[7]

Rolling Stone Australia said, "Eschewing the now patented violin-led raveups, the Dirty Three turned the atmosphere up to 11. With Warren Ellis playing sans distortion for the first time, Ocean Songs ebbs and flows with its own inevitable momentum: quiet, reflective and painstakingly slow."[8]

AllMusic considered the album "easily their most controversial, and a decided change in direction. The music here keeps all tempos reigned in and all instrumental flurries to a minimum, creating the feeling of waves lapping and pouring into and out of one another. It's as if the D3 were on a vessel, playing to the ocean itself."[1]

In October 2010, Ocean Songs was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.[9]

Track listing

All compositions by Mick Turner, Warren Ellis, Jim White

  1. "Sirena" – 4:06
  2. "The Restless Waves" – 5:09
  3. "Distant Shore" – 5:50
  4. "Authentic Celestial Music" – 10:04
  5. "Backwards Voyager" – 4:34
  6. "Last Horse on the Sand" – 4:52
  7. "Sea Above, Sky Below" – 6:04
  8. "Black Tide" – 4:35
  9. "Deep Waters" – 16:27
  10. "Ends of the Earth" – 5:11
Special Edition DVD
  1. "Last Horse on the Sand"
  2. "Distant Shore"
  3. "Authentic Celestial Music"
  4. "Sue's Last Ride"
  5. "Deep Waters"

2021 Deluxe edition

Disc one

2021 Remaster of original album

Disc two – Recorded live at ATP
  1. "Sirena" – 5:16
  2. "The Restless Waves" – 7:26
  3. "Distant Shore" – 4:46
  4. "Authentic Celestial Music" – 9:39
  5. "Backwards Voyager" – 3:17
  6. "Sea Above, Sky Below" – 8:50
  7. "Last Horse on the Sand" – 4:30
  8. "Black Tide" – 3:45
  9. "Deep Waters" – 16:27

Note: Recorded live September 11, 2009 at Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club, Monticello, NY, USA

Personnel

Dirty Three
Additional personnel

References

  1. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Ocean Songs – Dirty Three". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  2. ^ Weingarten, Marc (3 April 1998). "Ocean Songs". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Dirty Three: Ocean Songs". Mojo: 123. Ocean Songs is an album of spume-flecked, salt-gilled melancholy.
  4. ^ Oldham, James (28 March 1998). "Dirty Three – Ocean Songs". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  5. ^ Mirov, Nick (May 1998). "Dirty Three: Ocean Songs". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 21 April 2003. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  6. ^ Fricke, David (14 May 1998). "Dirty Three: Ocean Songs". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Dirty Three: Ocean Songs". Uncut: 102. [I]ts violin-and-piano moods are beautifully shaded and its sadness elegantly expressed.
  8. ^ "The Year in Recordings". Australian Rolling Stone Yearbook. Tilmond Pty Ltd. December 1998. p. 139.
  9. ^ O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
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