live at generator

thomas dimuzio

generator archives

2001 CDR

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reviews

“Amazingly, for something with such a masterly and convincing delivery, this is Dimuzio's first ever solo concert” — The Sound Projector

“Dimuzio sounds raw and fresh...” — Vital Weekly

“... intense walls of shifting sonic architecture with strong yet subtle dynamics.” — Generator

The Sound Projector

Fab solo American noisenik whomps it up live with his vats of electric junk. You need more records by Dimuzio so why not acquire this one - 12 years old and a rare vintage too. Amazingly, for something with such a masterly and convincing delivery, this is Dimuzio's first ever solo concert. Gen Ken Montgomery recorded it at his Generator sound gallery concern in New York in March 1990, but the history of it goes back to the 1980s, Dimuzio's earlier experiments, and Gen Ken's interest in hearing them (indeed in hearing as much weird music as he possibly could, mostly on cassettes, which is how the scene throve back then). The Generations Unlimited label put out the first Dimuzio LP Headlock in 1989 - since reissued on CD by ReR, but still tough to find. 'It was impossible to tell from his recordings how he was making all that sound,' muses Gen Ken. That still applies when you listen to this sprawling chaos on record, and even reading through the list of equipment - lots of synths, a digital delay unit and a delay system, plus sampling keyboards and a mixing board - leave you little the wiser. Naturally, what's important is the man in the driving seat who has the expertise to make all this gear leap into action. With his bangs, buzzes, echoes, crackling, and metallic shivering timbers, Dimuzio conveys unearthly grandeur, a sense of rapid travel and movement, a multitude of foreign voices blending into a babel, foreboding buildings, flashing lights, mountains of concrete and clay formed into terrifying ziggurats - all the experiences of modern city life in fact, and what greater city to depict in this regard than NYC? Dimuzio also conveys excitement, meeting bizarre strangers, out-of-control street parties, ingesting hallucinogenic drugs and excessive amounts of alcohol, and witnessing unexpected fatalities in traffic. A good companion piece to Gen Ken's (calmer) recording captured from his apartment window (see the Environmental Section); take the two together to form a coherent view of modern urban life. —Ed Pinsent

Vital Weekly

Thomas Dimuzio must be a household name, at least by those who dive into the real ambient industrial thing. His 'Headlock' LP (later CD) is a classic, and his various collaborations include those with Dan Burke. He's been around since the early 80s creating some densely layered electronic music in his home studio. It may seem he's been around for ever, but only in 1990 he gave his first concert. This was at the then legendary, now mythic, Generator Experimental Music Gallery, ran by Gen Ken Montgomery. Dimuzio's debut concert is just released, digitally cleaned, as a CDR on Generator, Gen Ken's recent label (on his previous label, Headlock was released as a LP). In six pieces, spanning just under 40 minutes, Dimuzio creates his dense layers, built on sampling, feedback, electronics and shortwave. Especially in 'Phraxis' these shortwaves can be heard, and he plays them in a true Nicolas Collins style. In this ancient recording, Dimuzio sounds raw and fresh and the refined sound textures that he currentely creates are only present at very few occassions. Maybe this lack of subtle music is something that is hard to understand or even enjoy these days, but the fact that this was a debut concert of many moons ago, made a good impression on me. Nice stuff. —Frans de Waard

Generator

Generator, the sound gallery, and Generations Unlimited, the record label, welcomed new opportunities for spontaneous artistic expression. Many exceptional artists were attracted to this creative energy. No one played at the Generator for the money. They played for the joy of performing in front of an appreciative audience, and this was never more apparent than the night of March 17, 1990, when Thomas Dimuzio came to New York City to give his first ever solo concert at the Generator. Thomas had been experimenting with home recording since the early 80's. He sent a tape to my Generations Unlimited partner David Prescott whose show "No Commercial Potential" on WZBC radio in Boston featured many unknown or obscure composers and artists. From this contact Thomas' first cassette release "Delineation of Perspective" (TD-1 on the GU cassette series) was released. Soon after, "Headlock", Thomas' seminal LP was also published by Generations Unlimited. Excited by these recordings, I invited Thomas to come to New York City for his debut solo concert. It was impossible to tell from his recordings how he was making all that sound so I was very intrigued to hear him play live. He arrived with enough equipment to half fill the space and his enthusiasm and energy filled up the remaining space. Thomas created intense walls of shifting sonic architecture with strong yet subtle dynamics. This live recording demonstrates the fluid sonic capabilities and total enthusiasm for which Thomas Dimuzio has since earned a reputation as a live performer. —Gen Ken