This was very much an impulse buy. I don't regret it as such, but I can think of countless records that I've not bought for £17 that would be better. Mick Turner is one third of the Dirty Three, a band I have a huge amount of time for. I'd consider myself a "big fan" of the band, despite not yet having all their albums - I've been working through their back-catalogue slowly, making sure I give each album the time it deserves. A lot of them are slow-burners, and I'm enjoying taking it at a slow pace.
On 18th May 2014 I was in Manchester to see Neutral Milk Hotel and spent the day record shopping. I don't often get to splurge money in different cities anymore, so made the most of it and spent a lot. A good percentage of that went in Piccadilly Records on a variety of things, including this record. I'd not seen it before, but figured if it was as enjoyable as a Dirty Three album it'd be worth it, and added it to my pile.
In short, it's not as good as a Dirty Three album, but maybe I shouldn't have expected it to be - I'm sure Mick enjoyed making this music outside of the expectations of the band, so I should try to enjoy it as such. Don't Tell the Driver is a perfectly warm and pleasant album, but not remotely memorable. Over the course of an hour and eleven songs, the music alternates between nice moments and moments so scrappy that you wonder if there's another album playing somewhere - the title-track is a prime example of the latter. The Navigator is a great example of a song where the instruments all build together (rather than at odds with each other) and it sounds great - it's the highlight of the album. Long Way Home is good too, with some nice horns. There are a lot of ideas within songs, some are given room to grow, others cut short. I feel like Dirty Three are a band known for letting those ideas go to beyond their natural conclusion, and I guess that's what I like about them.
I don't play this album often and the vast majority of times I think I could be in the mood to play it, I decide to listen to the Dirty Three instead. I should have known it was always going to fall into that category. Still, it's nice to look at that lovely artwork.
Format: Double 12", insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £17 new
Bought: Piccadilly Records, Manchester
When: 18/05/14
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: none
