The Dust Dive
Asleep or Awake Walk
( Own Records ) 2005

"I could drive around campsites, selling ice cream and fireworks - just talkin' to people '{and there’s no more time to kill}'"

So what's a cinematic band like The Dust Dive (calling Brooklyn home) doing on a fine label (Own Records) in Luxembourg? Ah yes, of course. With the surrounding areas of New York infested with the next cock-rock nothings to anyone with sense, any band with depth and variety has to pack up their saw, chord-organ and violins (all part of The Dust Dive creation) and find folks with logical expectations.

I'm getting ahead of myself - regroup.

According to the history books, in 2004 (September to be precise) a glorious nonprofit media arts organization in NY by the name of free103point9 "released"
Asleep or Awake Walk for those looking to invest priceless time on something worth listening to and sharing. My guess is Europe's Own Records (home to the latest 31Knots album as well - smart people) had keen interceptors and caught a glimpse of the beauty The Dust Dive had created.

For a kid who thinks the Velvet Underground ranks around number 3 in the list of most overrated bands for our time (insert 'crowd gasping' sample here), the traces of a lethargic Lou Reed that come across in Bryan Zimmerman's delivery on Asleep or Awake Walk (hear: "Olathe North Parking Lot") pass with favorable reception. Backed by a very busy Laura Ortman on guitar, violin, piano and vocals ("Lost Bird") and Ken Switzer's all important chord-organ (that makes up for at least half of the entire album's unique instrumentation), a breathy and occasionally stark (see: Can't Afford Much Money) Zimmerman unleashes his tales. Connecting the hungry and heartbroken path shared by tangled folksmen David Berman and Mark Linkous, Zimmerman's casual delivery of Summer's past and unobtainable dreams vanished ("Perkins Flag is Getting Ragged") make a cozy nest in your conscience and plead for repeat listens.

Ramble: [First band - to my knowledge - that makes living off corned beef hash sound kinda like an adventure worth taking. No small feat there. This album is the honest capture of true lovers of the trail (husband & wife Zimmerman and Ortman) crafting that which inspires them. Zimmerman's vivid nature photography (think Nagel shooting color in rural campgrounds) surrounds the album. "Southwick Swimming Hole" graces the cover for Own Record's release.]

+ kaleb :: (11.31.05)