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- Verified Buyer
I bought Dirty Baby when it was first released, and I've spent some time thinking my way through its considerable contents - Nels Cline music, David Breskin poetry and images of Ed Ruscha paintings orchestrated together in a beautifully designed book. It was immediately clear, and became even more obvious later, that this is a brilliantly considered offering, and a rare occasion when I felt like I got way more inspiration, thought and poetry than I had paid for.The book and its slipcase are modern and lush with a visual sensitivity that makes it something to admire as an object. And, embedded in the cover is literally one thin dime - a loaded and thought provoking surprise! I found the physicality of the book, its proportions, paper, and reproductions, worth studying as a graceful minimalist object in itself.The reproductions of Rusha's paintings focus on two separate bodies of his work, each starting from a different end of the book. The works in the book include many that I hadn't seen, maybe some lesser-known pieces? Certainly not lesser quality though, these are striking works, and they are wonderfully paired with Breskin's text.The book comes with four CD's, two of Nels Cline's music, and two with readings of Breskin's poetry. If you are familiar with Cline's solo work you already have an idea of what he does, and these contain some of his best work. He is clearly a virtuoso guitarist and an imaginative composer, but the thing that keeps me interested is how fresh and seemingly in the moment he plays. There is never a sense that he is wanking off a memorized lick or showing off some obscure inverted fingering or something.Breskin's poetry comes in the form of ghazals - a structure consisting of a series of rhyming couplets - a form that I was unfamiliar with before this book. This is a tight structure, tight like Rusha's commitment to the rectangle, or Cline's nomadic rhythms. Maybe it's the restraint of the structure, or maybe just Breskin's celestial imagination, but his writing takes me places that I didn't know existed, and I don't know how the hell he did either. It's serious, funny, and zooms from the unexpected details of a subject to the emotional monster standing behind it.Anyway, this Dirty Baby left me inspired, challenged, and slightly shaken. I love this thing, and I am sold on whatever Breskin puts out next.I'm a little ashamed to admit that before I ever listened to a proper Nels Cline record (w/ Nels Cline Singers or solo) I only knew him as the tall Wilco guitarist who adds avant-garde flair to what would otherwise be alt-country tunes. I have since gone on to become huge fan of both the Nels Cline Singers and Nels' solo efforts.The release of Dirty Baby more than satiated the Nels Cline music fiend in me while also introducing further the work of Ed Ruscha and the ghazal poetry of David Breskin. Note that I have the coffee-table-like book containing the work of all three artists.Celebrated cuisine often rewards the chef who had the vision to combine three otherwise different ingredients into one homogenous and delicious morsel. While all three of Dirty Baby contributors' work can stand on its own, Dirty Baby as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts and David Breskin is the chef who combined the ingredients.The format of the book is a delight to the senses... the texture of the book feels "dirty" itself while the interior contains gorgeous facsimiles of Ed Ruscha's work along with David Breskin's poetry. Having both the poetry and the art together with the music reminded me of the days when I would sit and listen to a brand new vinyl record while taking in the album's art and liner notes. Having new Nels Cline music along with outstanding art and poetry is truly a trifecta of senses (sound, sight, touch). Also included in the book is a recording of readings of the poems by Breskin (and Cline if you're listening).Although the featured work of Ruscha is not new, you can feel the inspiration that Cline and Breskin take from the art. It is possible to sense both artists pushing themselves to realize the potential of the project. It should be noted that this is not Breskin's first attempt to marry art, poetry and music into a glorious threesome. His previous effort, Richter 858, combined the art of celebrated artist Gerhard Richter, musician Bill Frisell with a variety of poems from various poets (including Dean Young). Richter 858 is now out of print so my advice would be to snag a copy of Dirty Baby before it goes out of print too... art of this kind is rare and precious.BTW- Kudos to Nels Cline and David Breskin for assembling the many musicians who performed on the project (including musical-savant-like Jon Brion) and of course writing, recording, and producing the absolutely lovely and downright terrifying music that is found on Dirty Baby.
