Roll The Dice — In Dust

For some people, it is easier to appreciate a musical genre or movement when free of the exigent cultural pressures associated with said genre or movement. That is, it’s more enjoyable to listen when a chunk of society is not telling you that a certain album or band DEMANDS your attention. For example, it was much easier for me to enjoy listening to Faust after they initially folded and before the nouveau appreciators (hipsters) were telling anyone who would listen that Faust Tapes was beyond brilliant…..and that they scored a copy for 3 bucks at a local flea market. Or, learning actually to enjoy the Deftones without someone screaming about their importance to Western musical culture and covering you in toxic flop sweat. Having a calm re-appreciation in a quiet corner is more conducive to having an open mind and ears; no noisome hucksters trying to bludgeon and sell you the hype du jour. Not to mention friends ruining your tequila buzz with some partially-regurgitated promo bilge while you vainly try to enjoy that GYBE album being played at an otherwise interminable party. 

When it comes to In Dust by Roll the Dice (their second release) one must ignore the zealous ‘analogue is so cool’ crowd and the occasional exhalations of promotional hoo-hah. Music of this craftsmanship and quality deserves to be heard in spite of how the cultural winds are blowing.

The Roll the Dice sound is a colloidal musical suspension containing elements of Cluster, Coil, Brian Eno, moody Funki Porcini, and globules of Broadcast syrup. The In Dust album reverberates with a somewhat incomplete aural history of electronica, which means it’s fascinating and frustrating. Frustrating because if you are looking for the album to settle into an obvious narrative, like many albums do, you will be disappointed. Not a bad thing because it may get some listeners outside their (narrative) comfort zone and into something rather un-pop. Also, if you are familiar with the bands mentioned above then In Dust might veer a bit much towards the cozily familiar. On the other hand, the album is fascinating in the way it pulls apart the last 30-odd years of electronica (i.e., the neo-Clockwork Orange sounds towards the end of “The Skull is Built into the Tool” or the TDream-style sequencer line that concludes “Way Out”) and recombines it into warm, new shapes. The non-narrative cast of the album could make it attractive to the more chilled adherents of ADD-electronica as well. 

The Swedish duo Roll the Dice have crafted a wonderful album which is moody enough for deep headphone-listening, while providing adequate bounce for those cool trips down an icy highway in January. Just take the time to enjoy all those landscapes drifting by…..