Released in 1998, Roach & King's vivid world of desert reveries continues to engage new listeners with a sound that rides trails no electronic artist has travelled before or since. Dust to Dust’s guitars, harmonicas and washboard rhythms find their place next to a wagon full of electronics on nine tracks revealing the slow heat of wide open spaces and barren environments. The ambient-blues grows in the cactus shadow swathes of haunting atmospheres and Morricone-like nylon twang flourishes.
Western music in the truest sense, it's a bold narrative of bygone eras with haunting melodies drawn from the desertscape told with the instruments of old and new pioneers. This is the music, and even more the soundtrack, to lingering ghosts and lost but not forgotten dreams of restless souls driven to "Go West by God!" The story shifts between the present and the recent past when a well-worn trail was the only road west. The rails were freshly laid, still wet with the sweat and blood that built them. It’s a transcendent musical masterpiece, an alluring, provocative legend inspired by the rolling tumbleweeds, barren landscape, and hardscrabble lifestyle of the Old West.
 
Alternative Press: Steve Roach's relationship with the desert has long sustained his spirit and fed his muse. After looking toward these desert vistas for visions deep within and far beyond the earth, Roach pays homage to the brave souls who forged the hard road west. Joined by fellow Arizonian and guitarist Roger King… Roach's deep synths and King's Kottke-esque guitars sing and moan, allowing the sound to tell the story of an era when pioneers risked everything in pursuit of new worlds and promised fortunes… Like a ghost train winding through layers of memory and history, Dust to Dust has the mystery and allure of 150-year-old photographs of strangers whose eyes and stoic faces suggest a thousand untold stories.
John Diliberto of Echoes Radio: Dust to Dust explores the mythology of the west with a ‘country & ambient’ soundscape… The music feels like torn leather chaps that have been out on the virtual-trail for a while, making Dust to Dust one of Roach’s most melodic, yet gritty albums to date… It sounds like the musicians have strapped on six shooters in a Sergio Leone spaghetti western.
A 2024 review by Kevin Ryan from The Blaze: The right playlist for that high and lonesome mood; a list of some of the best country Western ambient albums, an interesting genre that doesn’t get enough attention. (Dust to Dust) bursts with dedication to the sounds, emotions, tropes, and images of the frontier. The authenticity of this endeavor is what makes the album so lovable. At times, you can almost feel a cowboy hat growing out of your skull.
 
Original release: 1998 • First time on vinyl • Edition of 500
140g Ultra Clear with Gold Splatters. With credits insert.
Genres: Ambient, Electronic, Americana, Desert Ambient, Desert Blues
For Fans Of: Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas soundtrack, Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois' Apollo soundtrack.
 
Steve Roach / Roger King | Dust to Dust (2025 remaster) | Vinyl