HEADLOCK

Thomas Dimuzio

RéR Megacorp
1998
CD

PLAY TRACK

TRACKS

Inherent Power And The Space Between
Shank Thesis (Cut And Try)
Settlement (Part One)
Money Table At The Counting House
Sallow
Certainty Persuaded Me
Detach
Settlement (Part Two)
Fear Of Corners
(Wake Up From That Dream Young One) For You Don't Know What They Want You To Think

REVIEWS

“...one of those rare records where the artist takes the best qualities of other artists I admire, adds his own individuality, and seems to move everything up a notch.” — Option

“ It's all here, folks— just about every sonic treatment and effect known to man...” (4.5 stars) — All Music Guide

“If King Crimson had studied under Edgard Varese.” — The Wire

Option

This is one of those rare records where the artist takes the best qualities of other artists I admire, adds his own individuality, and seems to move everything up a notch. In varying proportions Dimuzio captures the excitement, careening adventurousness, and occasional harshness of Due Process; the shimmering sedation of Organum; and the primal, magical environments of Cranioclast. In a couple of places I thought of King Crimson making a discontinuous jump into noise experimentation. Rather than theme-development-melody, etc., Dimuzio works with moods, qualities, and ideas in evolution. While some of the sounds are recognizable, they seem embedded in contexts that make them new or unusual - check out the slightly revving engine. Side one has most of the storms of swirling, peaking distortion, but it doesn't seem irritating, blended as it is with so many other soothing sounds. Acoustic guitar, vocals, and other sounds from many sources are often in the mix. "Sallow" is a beautiful experience, while many others are thrilling. Although a one-man effort using tons of samples and computer-MIDI stuff, the record has a very live feel. Recommended. —Tom Grove

All Music Guide

Originally released in 1989 on David Prescott's very small U.S. independent Generations Unlimited label, this CD is much more than the standard backward look at the early, formative work of a mature artist. Indeed, this is already a mature work, even though it came early in Dimuzio's professional career. The ten pieces in the program more or less run into (and out of) each other, but entirely different effects can be achieved by activating the random play button on your CD player, and altering the dynamic interactions of selections. The opening track, "Inherent Power and the Space Between," begins with the slow acceleration of what sounds like a race car engine (actually a treated bicycle), and then morphs into Hell's own Grand Prix, before evolving into the vaguely noise-rock "Shank Thesis," where unearthly howls and squeals are supported by almost funky percussive patterns. This piece ends with mysteriously interrupted static bursts, first quiet enough to be almost subliminal, growing into a full symphony of noise, and then trailing off into a urban tapestry of sirens, automobile and train horns, voices and radio broadcasts. This long track finally gives way to various other pieces with other combinations of real and processed sound -- Dimuzio's bag of tricks seems almost inexhaustible, and there's little or no recycling of sounds or techniques along the way. Those listeners who are put on edge by the intensity of the opening material will be pleasantly surprised by the later appearance of the elegant and mournful "Sallow," which sounds like a chorus of large aquatic mammals involved in a ritualized grieving ceremony for a lost comrade. Many other treats await the receptive listener, as Dimuzio alternatively highlights nervous, fragmented jumpcuts of sampled sounds, and then sinister industrial drones in the style of Lustmord or Lull, and even evokes some splendidly Enoesque ambience on "Detach," which sounds like the processed tolling of large church bells. It's all here, folks -- just about every sonic treatment and effect known to man, or so it seems. (4.5 stars) —William Tilland

The Wire

Growling, oscillating and convoluting its way through electric guitar, samplers, loops and tape samples, Headlock, originally released in 1989, takes traces of rock feedback, cut-up Improv and snatches of environmental recording, and then heatwelds them with digital precision of avant Electronica. Dimuzio bears comparison with DJ Spooky in his grasp of sonic futurism, but where Spooky's work thrives on dub - the delays and recalls of paranoid consciousness - this is clean edged and fleeting, a music of high speed planes, trains and generators. If King Crimson had studied under Edgard Varese. —Matt ffytche