Assembly of Dust (also known as AOD) is an American rock band formed in 200… Read Full Bio ↴Assembly of Dust (also known as AOD) is an American rock band formed in 2002 by former Strangefolk frontman Reid Genauer.

Hearing Assembly of Dust has the flush of meeting a stranger who will inform your life in profound & happy ways, someone whose wise counsel might help you see the world in a fresh light. They possess the same tuneful philosophizing as storytellers like The Band, Paul Simon and Crosby, Stills & Nash, giving the listener good songs playing on a daydream radio.

Led by Reid Genauer, they make great homespun music. Parts are gentle and tempered with an earthy wisdom that understands whiskey and tears are often the best cures. Other moments find a more forceful voice supported by top-notch musicianship & blistering emotion. Formed in 2002 after Genauer left cult jam stars Strangefolk, AOD is made up of some of the finest East Coast musicians going. Along with Reid's perfect pop vocals and acoustic guitar, there's keyboardist and co-songwriter Nate Wilson, bassist and backing vocalist John Leccese, drummer Andy Herrick, and guitarist and backing vocalist Adam Terrell. Together, it's a holy sound that speaks to modern life amongst tall buildings and cell phones.

The result is a collection of beautifully constructed songs where each chorus and verse is right where it needs to be. The songs are played with professional flair and electric country kick. You can hear how their sound has quickly coalesced into some of the purest organic pop out there today on their second album, The Honest Hour (Hybrid Recordings). Taken from an early 2004 show at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY, it betters many studio releases in its pristine production and carefully nuanced performances. The single Man With A Plan hit the Top 40 on AAA radio charts and was nominated for a Jammy Award. The album also breaks with live tradition by featuring mostly brand new material as opposed to just a rehash of old songs.

The sharply tuned, kinetic energy one picks up on during The Honest Hour is evident in every AOD live show. The band made their Bonnaroo debut in 2005 and received high marks from critics & fans, as well as having their whole set broadcast on XM radio. Other radio nods include an appearance on the celebrated World Caf with David Dye that ran on NPR stations nationally and a Sirius in-studio session from Summer 2005.

A growing following has them selling out legendary venues like the Knitting Factory in NYC, Higher Ground in Vermont, and the Paradise in Boston, where they were also nominated for a 2005 Boston Music Award.

They've shared a stage with members of such luminaries as Phish, The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead, The Talking Heads, Cake, Spearhead, Keller Williams, Edie Brickell, Peter Rowan, and Chuck Berry. Their thoroughbred rock n roll pedigree that has earned them spots on bills with Ratdog, The Dead, Bruce Hornsby, The Who, Susan Tedeschi, David Crosby, and Govt Mule.

The road figures prominently in their work, and one feels all the miles they've traveled in the maturity and impact of their delivery. As Genauer is singing and searching for himself, the listener gains fresh perspectives on their own journey. Sung in a voice as pure as anything rock has ever produced, this music is, in the words of Dirty Linen magazine, surprising, exciting, and satisfying. These are tall tales grounded in universal truths, enlightened folklore for today's 9-to-5 denizens. One has to look back to albums like the Grateful Dead's American Beauty & Workingman's Dead, Paul Simon's One Trick Pony, and the Steve Miller Band's Brave New World to find anything like the Assembly of Dust. They share the spirit of the greats in a framework of something new, a vital body with many more honest hours to come in the years ahead.

Filter
Assembly of Dust Lyrics

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May I lead you away to a silver day passing
All your thought are there
May I drown your belief in a blue water chasm
You can taste the air

[Chorus]
Memories grow like scarlet poppies
On a silver quilted shore

Melting in the moment you adore

Through the filtered remains
Of a picture show past life
Chosen moments play.
Through a rose colored lens
That you look with your eyes closed
You recount your days

Leave the golden threads bare.
Leave the past born and naked -
Pulsing like the moon
Not the ghost of day

But just one chosen moment
Screaming through the room

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Filter" by Assembly of Dust delve into the theme of recollection and introspection as the artist takes the listener on a journey to a nostalgic state. The first stanza starts with an invitation to lead the listener away to a silver day passing, a fantasy of a time that has passed but whose memories remain. It then progresses to the drowning of the listener's belief in a blue water chasm, which could represent a detachment from present reality, giving way for remembered experiences to surface. The listener is then urged to take in the air, possibly signifying the fresh perspective or new light that may be gained from the introspective process.

The chorus is a beautiful depiction of the memories that have been evoked, much like the scarlet poppies growing on a silver quilted shore. The fleeting nature of our lives is referenced as these memories melt away in the moment we adore. The next stanza continues with the theme of memories, this time focusing on the filtered remains of a past life. The past life isn't just a series of random times gone by, but rather chosen moments play. The next line, "Through a rose-colored lens that you look with your eyes closed," illustrates the perspective that we tend to adopt while reminiscing, a filter that makes everything seem rosier than it may have been.

Finally, the artist urges the listener to move on from the past with "leave the golden threads bare, leave the past born and naked," signifying acceptance of what's gone and the futility of trying to change it while recognizing the puling of memories that may always haunt us.

Line by Line Meaning

May I lead you away to a silver day passing
Can I guide you towards a distant, idyllic time that has already elapsed

All your thought are there
Where your headspace was at during that era

May I drown your belief in a blue water chasm
Can I immerse you in a deep, murky pool of doubt

You can taste the air
To truly experience the current moment

Memories grow like scarlet poppies
Recollections flourish like brilliant, red florals

On a silver quilted shore
On the picturesque shoreline of the past

Melting in the moment you adore
Dissolving into a memory that you cherish

Through the filtered remains
Amidst the fragmented scraps of the past

Of a picture show past life
From the flickering images of a time long gone

Chosen moments play
Select memories continue to resurface

Through a rose colored lens
Through a lens that tints everything with optimistic hues