Jan 22, 2008

Perfect Black Swan - Perfect Black Swan (Ambulance Records, 2006)

Having named his band after a Dirty Three album, one could safely assume that Australia's Toby Burke is well aware of the myriad of emotions that can be expressed in music without words. For those of you unfamiliar with the Dirty Three, they are a brilliant instrumental band - also from Australia - led by violinist and Nick Cave cohort Warren Ellis. The name of the Dirty Three album from which Burke took his band's name is Horse Stories. Knowing all this, however, will not prepare you for the tender, sublime beauty that lies within the music of Perfect Black Swan.
Following three albums with the aforementioned Horse Stories, that garnered praise for Burke's songwriting abilities from critics in the U.K, the U.S. and Australia alike; plus an excellent solo album, the aptly-titled Winsome Lonesome, Burke decided to put down his pen - at least as far as lyrics were concerned - and create a song cycle of six plaintive, guitar-based instrumentals.
Each of the songs has its own character, though as a whole, the album has a pastoral feel about it. Perfect Black Swan is awash with the feeling of wide open spaces; a feeling that has carried through the music of many of Australia's best songwriters, from The Triffids, to Paul Kelly, to Tex, Don & Charlie.
As a limited release available only through the mail, Perfect Black Swan is like a safely-guarded secret, that is far too good to keep.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/perfectblackswan