Also this issue: Flash Forward Costumed lip-synchers Fischerspooner are not out to shock you. -Sean O’Neal Jayhawks -Sam Adams Gabriel Yacoub -Mary Armstrong VERSIONsound -Sean O’Neal Brentano String Quartet -Peter Burwasser Vir Unis/James Johnson -A.D. Amorosi The Funk Brothers -Nicole Pensiero CD Reviews -Sam Adams, A.D. Amorosi and Collin Keefe

April 10-16, 2003

musicpicks

Dirty Three

Australian ex-pats Dirty Three don’t really play sweeping, dynamically supercharged instrumentals -- more like wordless soundtracks to everyday scenarios. Still, either working alone or with Smog, Cat Power and Nick Cave, this trio does bring a devilish majesty to everything they touch. From the grand nautical themes of Ocean Songs and the last-call bliss of their self-titled second album, to the meditations on relationships from Whatever You Love, You Are, it’s Dirty Three’s tendency to create music of mood and emotion that draws the listener in. Their latest, She Has No Strings Apollo (Touch & Go), is no different; Warren Ellis’ aching violin is able to go from moments of utter abandon to poignant refrain. Dirty Three displays Joy Division’s sense of urgency, and in the live setting can run through a spectrum of emotions soothing the most jaded of hearts.

--Paul Burress

Sat., April 12, 9 p.m., $14-$16, The TLA, 334 South St., 215-336-2000.

—Paul Burress