All Music Guide Review: Quake

Chris Cutler was the drummer in the classic art rock Henry Cow, and he has released a number of improv duets with various partners over the last decade, including Cow guitarist Fred Frith and electric harpist Zeena Parkins. Thomas Dimuzio is an electro-acoustic composer, whose noisy drone work Headlock has been recently reissued by ReR. All of Cutler's improv duets involve not only the traditional instruments (drums, guitar, harp) but lots of noisemakers and treatments as well. This release takes selections of two concerts Dimuzio and Cutler recorded in New England in March 1999, and the two are very well suited. The two musicians listen closely to each other, which is essential for this kind of music. Cutler's percussion is treated real-time by Dimuzio's processing, and the results display a wide sonic range, from loud rock rhythms to electro-acoustic drones. (4 stars) —Caleb Deupree