The Final Part of Prima- Dirty Three, Ocean Songs

Sorry, this blog's been asleep for a while. We're just coming to again.

The last part of my Prima adventures involves the Australian band Dirty Three and their album Ocean Songs.


As part of the Don't Look Back involvement in Prima, the band were there to play Ocean Songs [almost] in its entirety. I hadn't really heard any of the band's music prior to Prima and they were only the second act of the first day I saw. Fortunately there was a gap in our schedule to go see them and I was spurred on by Craig B of Aereogramme mentioning on his band's forum that Dirty Three are an absolute must-see live and that if we had the chance, to GO SEE THEM.

It turns out he was absolutely correct. My friend and I were basically spellbound from the moment Warren Ellis [who also plays in the Bad Seeds and numerous other Nick Cave projects] and his band took to the stage. The sounds that just a violin, abstractly arpeggioed guitar and gentle jazz drumming can make are incredible.

Ellis stalked the front of the stage, completely consumed by the sounds his band were making, chopping his arm back and forth over the violin like it was a third limb. The sound was perfect and his casual introductions belied the sheer emotional intensity of the music. I think it's the nearest hybrid I've found of classical and popular music, with the strong points of both.

Basically you should download the opening track of Ocean Songs, track down the album and go explore from there.

Dirty Three- Sirena

I'm starting my Roskilde retrospective sometime next week.

E!

Random Spirit Lover

Welcome back, summer recess is over and Radio Protector will be back in full swing now its contributors have stopped falling in/out of love and/or drunken stupors. Without these moments of indiscretion we would have nothing to base our aural lust on, and thusly we'll assume your forgiveness is attributed accordingly.

Back to business then...

Sunset Rubdown

The reason we run this blog is so that hopefully somebody somewhere will find a new artist to fall in love with, that our little niche on t'internet could give somebody (perhaps you) a little bit of pleasure to help you escape from your otherwise mundane and empty lives. However, the three of us behind Radio Protector also stumble blindly around t'internet looking for new music - usually whatever i decide to download is a disappointment of grand proportions, often rapidly tossed aside into the Recycle Bin with all the disdain a drag of a mouse can muster. That's quite a lot actually.

(Just how many bands have promo shots like this? Must be the same guy who does them all)

Once in a while something makes it all worthwhile though. This week, for me, that band is Sunset Rubdown. With new album Random Spirit Lover out in October, the taster track "Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days" has been released to vast acclaim - and it's easy to see why.

Sounding like a bastardised version of Sufjan Stevens covering Runrig covering Queen by way of everything that's right with alternative music today, "Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days" is about the most pleasurable five minutes i've spent with the headphones on since... well... a while back at least.

Those crrraaaazy Canadians and their crrraaaazy underground music scene. It's all so kooky and alternative and i hate it all usually. But Sunset Rubdown make it all better, like some Calpol and a hot water bottle when you're an sickly child.

(The album Random Spirit Lover by Sunset Rubdown, released October 2007)

There's not much i can say about this track that'll do it justice or give you any idea of how much you'll like/dislike it. All i can tell you is that if one person feels even half as invigorated as i did on first hearing it, then this entry was more than worthwhile.

As ever, if you like the track, support the artist. This isn't free music, this is taster music, like listening on the radio - if it grabs you by the cojones/breasts and refuses to let you go, then that's a good sign you should buy their album. Not download their album. Simple really.

Without further ado...

Sunset Rubdown - Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days (8mb)

Links

Sunset Rubdown Myspace
Sunset Rubdown @ HMV.co.uk