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reviews
“...filled with unheard sounds and textures.” (4 stars) — All Music Guide
“...a true masterpiece which takes the intriguing premise of Quake to a wholly unprecedented new level.” (5 stars) — Prog Archives
“A very fine disc that leaves lots and lots to hear and will grow everytime hearing.” — Vital Weekly
“One of the top 100 albums of 2002.” — LA Weekly
All Music Guide
Three years after Quake, Chris Cutler and Thomas Dimuzio came back with a second serving of confusing electrified percussion and sampling. If anything, this album goes even further in blurring distinctions between the two protagonists' contributions, between acoustic and electronic, between real-time performance and post-production. Dust consists of two highly demanding 20-minute pieces that have been over-subdivides in pure Cutler fashion. “Requiem" is pure live action from a concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, late 2000. Dimuzio uses samples of an elemental/drone nature (wind, growling tectonic sounds), plus he samples and processes the sounds produced by the percussionist, himself playing his trademark electric drums (a drum kit equipped with microphones routed through effects and a mixer). The resulting music is a captivating chunk of maximalist electroacoustics, filled with unheard sounds and textures — Cutler's Solo CD with an extra layer of interaction. The origins of “Universal Decoding Machine" are found in a French studio on July 21, 2002. Using a similar set-up, Cutler and Dimuzio improvised while EM Thomas walked in and outside the studio wearing a binaural microphone set. His (her?) input was transmitted to engineer Bob Drake who processed and fed it back to the musicians through loudspeakers. Later, Dimuzio added overdubs, shaped and remixed the whole piece into its final form. It feels less spontaneous, much closer to electroacoustic composition, with an episode of noisy techno thrown in to destabilize the listener (and it works). Dimuzio is known for the depth of his sonic assemblages and Dust makes no exception. After going through this album, if you feel 41 minutes is too short a duration, maybe you need to listen again and pay closer attention. (4 stars) —François Couture
Prog Archives
The second Cutler/Dimuzio collaborative album is a true masterpiece which takes the intriguing premise of Quake to a wholly unprecedented new level. Using only Cutler's electric drum kit, some electronics and a sampler (used to process Cutler's drums in real time as well as an instrument in its own right), the two musicians conjure one of those rare albums that sails through caverns measureless to man. Although nominally divided into 19 tracks, the album consists of two long improvisations, one live in New Mexico and the other a studio piece recorded in France.
Requiem is the live improvisation that takes up the first half of the album, tracks 1 - 6. This picks up where Quake left off, and the result is utterly beguiling; it's almost impossible to discern any of the normal features of music - melody, rhythm or even recognisable instrumental sounds - but it's a piece that grabs the attention and doesn't let go. The two performers establish a remarkable tension that persists for the duration of the piece, never resolved but contantly evolving. For an abstract piece of electronica it's also unexpectedly moving, and it serves as a remarkable requiem (although to who or what it is dedicated is unclear). For most of the piece there are no readily identifiable drum sounds, and even when they do emerge they are not played in a conventionally rhythmic style. As much as they are musicians, Cutler and Dimuzio are careful and attentive listeners: to the world around them, to their immediate environment and to each other. The results of their painstaking approach reach their zenith on this 21 minute piece, which reveals more of itself on every listening.
The second half of the album, Universal Decoding Machine, is the result of a very different process. This was recorded in a studio in France, with EM Thomas wandering around outside with a binaural microphone feeding in natural sounds to be treated, and engineer Bob Drake modifying the sound at the mixing desk. The piece was subsequently treated and reassembled post production by Dimuzio, creating an interesting contrast with the sponatnaeity and intimacy of the first half. Cutler's drums are sometimes clearly audible, and he even strikes up a relatively conventional backbeat on track 13, which is actually quite shocking when first heard. The sounds of birdsong, flowing water and other natural sounds create a sense of space and light that is the mirror image of Requiem's feel of enclosed underground spaces.
Dust is anything but easy listening and is far closer to contemporary electroacoustic avant garde music than it is to rock, but it is a work with a human heart beating at its core and which is not as dry and emotionally detached as a lot of contemporary classical music. It's an intensely rewarding 41 minutes of music for those who are prepared to listen to it as carefully as Cutler and Dimuzio did to each other while creating it. Essential. —Syzygy
Vital Weekly
This is the their second collaborative work, after 'Quake' (see Vital Weekly 195). I am, I must admit, a great fan of Dimuzio's work (more to review next week probably) and never much of Cutler's work, but that might still be just me and my ignorance. Like 'Quake' this new work was captured in concert, two of them. One in front of a live audience and one inside the studio, and that one of course has overdubs. Not that it's really to say the difference between the two. Both artists employ micro tonalism, each in their own way. It results in densely layered music, in which it's hard to recognize the sampling of Dimuzio versus the drumming of Cutler. Percussive sounds float by, but wether they are the result of drumming or processing it's hard to tell. The whole improvisational aspect is both very much present, but at the same time it's also so far away, just because of the denseness of the recordings. That makes this into quite a captivating recording. New elements seem to come from nothing and they disappear as suddenly as they arrived on the scene. Overall the first piece, which is titled 'Requiem' (6 parts) is more dark and has certainly those edges that belong to a requiem. The other piece, which was expanded with studio techniques has no real theme, and is more complex, as well as obscured sound elements. A very fine disc that leaves lots and lots to hear and will grow everytime hearing. —Frans de Waard
LA Weekly
THE YEAR IN MUSIC: JOHN PAYNE'S 100 MUSICAL BIASES 2002
Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., In C (Squealer)
John Luther Adams, The Light That Fills the World (Cold Blue Music)
Add N to (X), Loud Like Nature (Mute)
Alizadeh/Kalhor/Shajarian, Without You (World Village/Harmonia Mundi)
Autechre, Gantz Graf (Warp DVD/CD)
Devendra Banhart, Oh Me Oh My (Young God)
Beck, Sea Change (Geffen)
Black Sabbath, Past Lives (Sanctuary)
The Blood Group, Volunteers (Le Grand Magistery)
Pierre Boulez, Welsh National Opera, Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (Deutsche Grammophon DVD)
Dan Ar Braz, Made in Breizh (Tinder)
Brazzaville, Rouge on Pockmarked Cheeks (South China Sea)
Brokeback, Looks at the Bird (Thrill Jockey)
Guillermo E. Brown, Soul at the Hands of the Machine (Thirsty Ear)
Franklin Bruno, A Cat May Look at a Queen (Absolutely Kosher)
Precious Bryant, Fool Me Good (Terminus)
Linda Burman-Hall, Lou Harrison: Complete Harpsichord Works (New Albion)
Cafe Tacuba, Vale Callampa (MCA)
Johnny Cash, The Man Comes Around (American)
The Nels Cline Singers, Instrumentals (Cryptogramophone)
Gabor Csupo, Kalmopyrin (Tone Casualties)
Chris Cutler & Thomas Dimuzio, Dust (RéR)
Daedelus, Invention (Plug Research)
Miles Davis, The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (Sony)
DJ Food & DK, Now, Listen! (Ninja Tune)
DJ Me DJ You, Can You See the Music (Eenie Meenie)
DJ Shadow, The Private Press (MCA)
Doves, The Last Broadcast (Capitol)
Brian Ferry, Frantic (Virgin)
Simon Fisher Turner, Swift (Mute CD/DVD)
Vincent Gallo, Recordings of Music for Film (Warp)
Philip Glass, Naqoyqatsi: Life as War soundtrack (Sony)
Rosco Gordon, I'm Gonna Shake It! (Varèse Sarabande)
Gorillaz, Phase One: Celebrity Take Down (EMI CD/DVD)
Glenn Gould, A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981 (Sony)
Neil Michael Hagerty, Plays That Good Old Rock and Roll (Drag City)
Harmonica Frank Floyd, The Missing Link (Memphis International)
George Harrison, Brainwashed (Capitol)
Hawkwind, Space Ritual Sundown V.2 (Demi Monde)
Interstellar Chemistry, Bill Horist & K.K. Null (Beta-lactam)
Djansug Kakhidze & Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra, Terteryan: Symphony No. 3 & No. 5 (Beaux)
Edward Ka-Spel, O'er a Shalabast'r Tyde Strolt Ay (Beta-lactam)
King Tubby, The Originator (2B1)
Leo Kottke, Standing in My Shoes (Private Music)
Languis, Untied (Simballrec)
L.A. Phil's performance of Esa-Pekka Salonen's Foreign Bodies at the Music Center
Larsen, Rever (Young God)
The Legendary Pink Dots, All the King's Horses (Soleilmoon)
Jaki Liebezeit and Burnt Friedman, Secret Rhythms (EFA)
Rob Mazurek, Silver Spines (Delmark)
Mecca Normal, The Family Swan (Kill Rock Stars)
Brad Mehldau, Largo (Warner Bros.)
Mimi & Boyd, Angular Island (Phthalo)
Sainkho Namtchylak, Stepmother City (Ponderosa)
Non, Children of the Black Sun (Mute CD/DVD)
Augustus Pablo, East of the River Nile (Shanachie)
Arvo Pärt, Orient Occident (ECM)
Sarah Peebles, Insect Groove (Cycling '74)
Phantomsmasher, Phantomsmasher (Ipecac)
Planet X, MoonBabies (InsideOutMusic/SPV)
Elvis Presley, Roots Revolution: The Louisiana Hayride Recordings (Tomato)
Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)
Rapoon + Black Faction, New Cult of the Sun Moon (Soleilmoon)
The Residents, Demons Dance Alone (East Side Digital)
Gyan Riley, Food for the Bearded (New Albion)
Adam Rudolph & Hamid Drake, Hu Vibrational Boonghee Music 1(MetaRecords)
Ruins, Tzomborgha (Ipecac)
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Derrida (Warner Music Japan)
The Sea and Cake, One Bedroom (Thrill Jockey)
The Silverman, Requiem Settings (Soleilmoon)
Simian, We Are Your Friends (Astralwerks)
Sonic Youth, Murray Street (Geffen)
The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Behind the Music (Republic)
Steroid Maximus, Ectopia (Ipecac), and at the Knitting Factory
Sun Ra and His Arkestra, Music From Tomorrow's World (Atavistic)
Super Furry Animals, Rings Around the World (Epic)
John Surman, Jack DeJohnette, Live in Tampere and Berlin (ECM)
Sutekh, Fell (Orthlorng Musork)
Nobukazu Takemura & Katsura Moshino, Sign (Thrill Jockey CD-ROM)
Tanz! With Dave Tarras and the Musiker Brothers (Epic)
Tarwater, Dwellers on the Threshold (Mute)
Asthmus Teichens & Vidna Obmana, The Shifts Recyclings (Soleilmoon)
Richard Teitelbaum, Blends (New Albion)
Steve Tibbetts, A Man About a Dog (ECM)
Amon Tobin, Out From Out Where (Ninja Tune)
Jannick Top/Utopic Sporadic Orchestra, Nancy 75 (Utopic)
Town and Country, C'mon (Thrill Jockey)
Tristeza, Mixed Signals (Rocket Racer)
Twilight Circus Dub Sound System, Dub Plates Vol. 3 (Mrecords)
Niels Van Hoorn, Colours (Soleilmoon)
David S. Ware Quartet, Freedom Suite (Aum Fidelity)
Various Artists, La Musica Della Mafia (PIAS)
Various Artists, None but the Righteous: The Masters of Sacred Steel (Ropeadope/Atlantic)
Various Artists, Pachuco Boogie (Arhoolie)
Various Artists, The Secret History of Rock & Roll vols. 1-4 (Bluebird)
Various Artists, Total Lee: The Songs of Lee Hazlewood (Astralwerks)
Wire, Read & Burn (Pink Flag)
Otomo Yoshihide, Merzbow, Ryoji Ikeda, others, Xenakis: Persepolis Remixes Edition 1 (Asphodel)
Zemoe, El Gallo Bueno (Aagoo)
John Zorn, iAO (Tzadik)
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