Dirtmusic

Presentación del Álbum

Take three disparate souls, put them together, and see what happens. Chris Brokaw is an alumnus of Codeine and Come, Hugo Race is a former Bad Seed, while Chris Eckman has a long history with the Walkabouts. The results of this collaboration, under the Dirtmusic moniker, is something best described an as Americana of the imagination, fresh ground for two of the participants but not a million miles from Eckman's past (indeed, both "The Other Side" and "Ballad of a Dream" could have come from the Walkabouts' catalog). Their beauty isn't that they find common ground, but real unity in the sound. They have a pretty equal division of material, finishing with a cover of "Morning Dew," and there's some powerful stuff even if it is quite low-key; only "Panther Hunting" gathers enough steam to be really called indie rock. It's deliciously atmospheric and melodic, hitting a peak with the gorgeous descending mystery of "The Returning." It's a testament to songwriting, and to mature artistry.

© Chris Nickson /TiVo