"Cause a distraction. I can get your attention. I am getting through somehow."
From Samuel Langhorne Clemens to Charles Dodgson to Nora Roberts, many famous authors have written under pseudonyms so they could explore genres outside their usual realm. But these efforts rarely get the label so often pasted on Canadian indie musicians' who perform under their own kind of pseudonym: the side project.
"The bruise is so hard to cover when both of your arms are swinging, when they're keeping their guard."
No wonder some tend to bristle at the term, which seems to suggest that these personal expressions are somehow less than their collective alter egos-- in Brian Borcherdt's case, Holy Fuck. We'd argue that the only thing "side" about projects like Dusted is the privilege of getting to hear another side of these multi-talented artists, as we did on Thurs., Oct. 4 at Windsor's Phog Lounge.
"Heard you saying something about someone. But you don't know... no, you don't know. Some kind of static distracts us."
Dusted is Borcherdt and producer-engineer-mixer-musician Leon Taheny, who has an impressive pedigree when it comes to Canadian indie. Borcherdt's plaintive songwriting and soprano dusted with fuzzy reverb plus Taheny's one-man band command of drums, keys and bass pedals equals a truly transcendent experience in alt-rock, especially on songs like "(Into the) Atmosphere." Some of the songs on Total Dust (pressed on beautiful mahogany vinyl) did gather dust for two years; we're sure glad Borcherdt decided to cut them free.
"Some random image, some kind of message, well I couldn't tell. I couldn't catch it. Yet I got caught up in the spell. When will it all come down?"
Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images
Lyrics from (in order) "Dusted," "Bruises" and "All Comes Down" from Total Dust.
