Dive - Extended Play

I agree. From top to bottom (and let's say this release is constantly bottom), 'Extended Play' is a useless study on classics Dirk Ivens should have thought about in more structured way than that of plain minimalism which is his trademark. Among the standout tracks I personally liked 'Baby Oh Baby' - Dirk is an obvious Suicide fan, this one actually sounds more like a remix proposal to the original than covering attempt of its own. 'Hall Of Mirrors' isn't that bad for it tries hard to submerge into abstract electronic menace - the most disappointing affair is certainly 'Isolation', a way too much distorted piece where neither vocals, drum machines nor the irritating synth drills make the effort. Joy Division's original is one hell of a contageous groove, and as such its challenge shouldn't be wasted or better say, underrestimated by this kind of faceless attempt. 'Back To Nature' cover on the other hand ironically improves the original which, despite my personal love for Fad Gadget's music in general, as a debut single is the most disappointing moment of Frank Tovey's career. Not that Dive's version seems any better, it's just a bit faster a pulse that the original is truly missing. 'Sick In Your Mind' is interesting for its creepy tiny synth-melody while 'Heartbeat' is the emptiest tune here - what usually irritates me is the lack of true vocals; distorted to its whispering level bits, Dirk Ivens sounds dull, leaving the impression he just won't bother - for remaining true to himself Dirk deserves a plus but there are just too many minuses here speaking against such self-indulgence. And there are certainly far more intriguing Dive releases than this one, utterly forgettable listening experience.

Im glad that this was just a one-time thing for Dirk. He's definitely best at his own material. Granted I hadnt heard the original versions of all these songs, but of the half that I had prior knowledge of, its a mediocre effort at best. It works on coolness factor, but quality-wise its lacking. There just seems to be an overall lazy boring sense to the whole thing. The cover of Sick In Your Mind should have been the best considering that it technically isnt even a cover, but it pales in comparison to the original. Isolation comes out sounding very hollow and unremarkable as does Hall Of Mirrors which happens to be my favorite Kraftwerk song so of course that was my biggest disappointment of this mini-release. Covers are meant to breathe some new life into classics such as these, but of course the general rule is: if there is more than one cover song on an album, its usually a bad sign. The only standout that I can pull from this release is Back To Nature. Now maybe I'll go back and see how the original sounded.