Hz by Dan Burke and Thomas Dimuzio

“Illusion of Safety mainstay Burke and sonicist errant Dimuzio are a perfect pair.” — All Music Guide

“One hour's worth of some of the most dark and disturbing sounds to issue forth from my hi-fi in recent months.” — Incursion

“A very good example of improvised live electronics that won't disappoint lovers of these two brilliant musicians.” — Forced Exposure

“The listen deepens as it progresses, with varied layers of styles developing and fading.” — Manifold

Illusion of Safety mainstay Burke and sonicist errant Dimuzio are a perfect pair. Their common chosen path is one of electroacoustic exploration, combining sampling, processing, tapes, and live noise-making (calling their enthusiastic instrumental and radio-knob manhandling "musicianship" would be overly generous) in live and studio settings. Each artist brings to the workbench an affinity for the nature of sound.

HZ documents a series of California performances presented by Burke and Dimuzio in October of 1997. The improvised tracks operate in the desolate arena of post-industrial sound, but the perpetrators take a page from the example of AMM's jazz-like metamusical interplay to imply a certain, if covert, human presence. Motors purr, hiss, scrape, and groan, setting up a foundation of sonorous drones for Burke and Dimuzio's sonic manipulations and electronic outbursts. The duo's efforts range from freakish alien-zoo atmospheres ("Aware," "Dross," "Outflow") to the labored workings of arcane machinery ("Dropforge," "Rota"). HZ strikes an especially poignant note on "Charastrigor," as radio strains drift sadly across the rubble of a bomb-scarred city square. —All Music Guide

Illusion Of Safety’s Dan Burke and Thomas Dimuzio combine forces pushing sonics and music to higher realms. Masters of sound, noise, juxtaposition and space, their spontaneous performances unfold like labored compositions with visceral vibrations echoing in volume. Pushing the envelope, the attack, the decay, and overall decimation as a faint light flickers brilliantly.