| Dirty Baby | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | Nels Cline |
| Cover: | Dirty Baby.jpg |
| Recorded: | January 24–26, 2008 |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Label: | Cryptogramophone CG142 |
| Producer: | David Breskin |
| Prev Title: | Coward |
| Prev Year: | 2009 |
| Next Title: | Initiate |
| Next Year: | 2010 |
Dirty Baby (stylized as DIRTY BABY) is an album by American guitarist Nels Cline performing compositions inspired by Edward Ruscha, which was released in October 2010 on the Cryptogramophone label.[1]
Dirty Baby is also the name of a multi-media book of Cline's music, paintings by Ruscha, and the poetry of David Breskin, also released in 2010. It features sixty-six paintings by Ruscha, Cline's original music, and poems by Breskin that employ the ancient Arabic poetic form of the ghazal.
Dirty Baby received mainly positive reviews on release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 74, based on 6 reviews which is categorised as generally favorable. The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars out of 5, stating "Dirty Baby is a singular accomplishment, presented in a fashion that demands more of the listener's attention but buy pays off handsomely. It adds immeasurably to the depth of Cline's contributions as a musician -- and offers another way of seeing and hearing this body of Ruscha's work". Writing for All About Jazz, Mark Corroto stated "Cline and his collaborators perform an encyclopedic array of styles and forms, the pieces clocking in from a half minute to three-and-a-half to explore noise, rock, free jazz and chamber classical, much like the work of John Zorn". The Guardian's John Fordham rated the album 3 stars out of 5, saying, "Nels Cline has been an uncategorisable innovator for two decades, and certainly remains one". Rolling Stone's Will Hermes rated the album 3½ stars out of 5, noting "Overall, it's less about abstract guitar heroics than his usual projects. But hearing Cline get freaky with such a wide palette and such a sharp ensemble (including twin brother Alex on drums) is a new shade of thrill". PopMatters' John Garratt stated "the eclecticism of Dirty Baby makes for such a strong listening experience. You will be more fascinated than bewildered (though I can’t rule the latter word out for some listeners)".
All compositions by Nels Cline
Disc One:
Disc Two:
The Dirty Baby multi-media book was published by Delmonico Books/Prestel Publishing in 2010. It features sixty-six paintings by Ruscha, Cline's original music, and poems by Breskin that employ the ancient Arabic poetic form of the ghazal. The book consists of two parts or "sides": side A describes the rise of human civilization, and side B provides an account, in a variety of voices, of the second Iraq War.[2] [3] The book includes four CDs, two featuring Cline's music and two of spoken-voice poetry.