Sometimes words are unnecessary.
Classical music conveys profound feelings in epic instrumental ways. In genres like hip-hop and rock, artists like DJ Shadow and Sigur Rós have taken unorthodox approaches.
Whereas Shadow speaks through haunting samples and drumbeats, on Sigur Rós' 2002 album, "( )," all the vocals were done in an invented language.
Both Shadow and the band from Iceland succeeded in creating music that, even if you don't completely understand it, will still speak to you.
Dosh, or Martin Dosh, 34, from Minneapolis, lets his music do the talking in much the same way.
His 2006 mostly instrumental third album, "The Lost Take," uses organs, drums, saxophones, violins, samples and whatever else he can find to make atmospheric soundscapes that seem to wrap around you like a blanket.
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Also on the album are appearances by members of the band Tapes 'n Tapes and a solo artist who also knows his way around a loop pedal: Andrew Bird.
When we talked to Dosh last week, he was traveling in a van from Cleveland to New York City after having just played a show with Bird.
Dosh has worked with Bird since 2005 and helped craft Bird's upcoming CD, "Armchair Apocrypha," due in March.
The pair will tour together this year, but first we get a Dosh solo show Tuesday at Solar Culture.
How did your collaboration with Andrew Bird change his sound?
"He writes all the songs, but he's very open to new ideas and to what I'm doing with loop-ing. . . . I definitely feel like I was able to leave a little bit of a thumbprint on this record."
You're also putting out a record later this month ("Triple Rock") with four tracks dedicated to Henderson, your family's cat. Why the honor?
"He got hit by a car. It was a really traumatic experience. I was going out to play a show (in Minneapolis in September) and I had just loaded my amp into the car and I saw him lying in the street. He must have just gotten hit like two minutes before. I have two kids (Tadhg, 8) and (Naoise, 2), too, and they really liked Henderson. It was a good way to remember this awesome little cat."
How did that show turn out?
"I didn't end up playing. I was so devastated."
Can you describe your live show?
"If you were watching it, it would sound like electronic music with repeating patterns of things. I don't use a computer or anything. I'm actually making it onstage. . . . I basically just make layers of music. . . . The audience is just basically watching me spin a bunch of plates."
Would it be easier for you to use a laptop?
"It would be easier for me to use a laptop, but I think that would be boring. I'm not trying to dis people that use lap- tops. . . .
So your dad was a priest and your mom was almost a nun, and instead they decided to get married. But you also called them "hippies" in another interview. Could you talk about that?
"They're not hippies at all. They're just very liberal, progressive people. My dad works for the church all the time. He's a real kind of a 'change the world' kind of dude. I was just saying they were hippies because they named me Martin Luther King Chavez Dosh. Kind of a crazy name."
Were you raised Catholic then?
"Yeah, absolutely."
How do you think your son will describe you and your wife when he grows up?
"I hope he's at least inspired that someone could make a living doing the kind of music that they want to do. . . . I would definitely encourage him to do what makes him happy, too."
What: Dosh in concert, with Sole and Skyrider.
When: 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: Solar Culture, 31 E. Toole Ave.
Cost: $8.
Info: solarculture.org.
Hear more: at myspace.com/doshanticon.
Album Leaf tonight
If Tuesday seems too far away, you can get your experimental, atmospheric fix of sound tonight when the airy textures of the Album Leaf engulf Club Congress.
The San Diego band, which has opened for and collaborated with Sigur Rós, plays a breezy, daydreamy mix of strictly instrumental and vocal tracks.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 at the door.
For more information, go to hotelcongress.com/club.
