All About Jazz Review: Mono : : Poly

This 2-CD set represents live recordings performed by trailblazing synthesist Thomas Dimuzio along with like-minded artists such as Nick Didkovsky, Fred Frith, Anna Homler, and others. To that end, the West Coast-based artist stretches electronics to the outer boundaries of comprehension. Dimuzio sometimes opts for a shock therapy mode of operations, via bombastic sounding EFX diatribes. He mimics and conveys notions of perhaps communicating with the spirit world via electronically manipulated voices that fade in and out of various motifs. Moreover, Dimuzio and associates employ turbulent and/or subliminally transmitted rhythmic maneuvers. The listener might feel, caught up in a futuristic world where the sounds of the cosmos are fed into a sound distribution machine - altered by rhythm and alien voices. It is all up to our active imaginations, as Dimuzio's concepts defy even the most modernistic categorizations. Ultimately, this newly released effort serves as a luminous snapshot of an artist, who deserves widespread exposure. Highly recommended. - Glenn Astarita