Foxy Digitalis Review: Upcoming Events

Given the subtext of creeping fascism and the slow stomp of totalitarian boots, it is no surprise that the soundtrack for such upheaval, "Upcoming Events," is an angry mix of Industrial pounding, locomotive propulsion, and general sci-fi soundtrack eeriness. There is even a fairly long and maddening tape of an encounter with a police officer who only wants to hear obedience, not reason. In its rage and sublte sadness over the political, noise masters Dan Burke and Thomas Dimuzio collaborate once again to create a seamless set of fifteen tracks, mostly cobbled from live shows, that express more ideas and variations of tone and colors than most noise recordings. It is like they are combing through sounds for evidence of the rage building because of recent history; their collage of brutal tones a form of resistance. So many people, at least among those I know, are so mad and scared and unsure that often they can?t express what they feel as the political intrudes so deep into their personal lives. Instrumental music, of the sort here on "Upcoming Events" seems the proper response. To listen to tracks like "Deregulation" "In God We Trust" and "Freedom Fries," along with that recording of an arrest, "Leave Here Right Now" may be the only satisfying outlet for those feelings. Burke and Dimuzio have created and unfortunate, unpleasant, and necessary soundtrack to the distressing times. —Mike Wood