Illusion of Safety, Wilt, reviewed at Vital Weekly

ILLUSION OF SAFETY - SURRENDER (CDR by No Part Of It)
WILT - NOCTURNAL REQUIEM (CDR by No Part Of It)
Among the few artists I have been following what seems now to be a lifetime (Asmus Tietchens, Main, Organum), Illusion Of Safety is probably among them the band I saw play live most. Dan Burke, the main man, is a most loveable chap and he always surprises me with his next move. His music doesn't operate in any particular style, but overlaps various genres. Improvised, industrial, ambient, musique concrete, and even a bit of techno beat thrown in. Here's a new album that proofs it. It's called 'Surrender' (which word always reminds me of the Cheap Trick song) and on a label called No Part Of It, meaning they don't want to be part of the world of Internet. There is a website, but there catalogue is hand scribbled on a sheet of paper and the CDRs - professionally designed - can be bought with a money order. Yes! That's what I like. Swim against the tide. Music wise Illusion Of Safety does something we haven't seen him do in quite some time. The collage styled music in which lengthy chunks of sounds are suddenly cut away by voices from radio and TV, a techno beats slips into view and sounds remarkable like the early 90s works such as 'Historical', 'Inside Agitator' or 'Distraction'. Quiet at times, but also quite bombastic at other times, filmic but without too many words. And if we hear any, it's about nuclear waste leakage. In that sense this album also harks back to the post-industrial sound of yesteryear. The balance between the very quiet and the very loud, between the ambience and the beats, is maintained very well throughout this release. Daddy's all right: surrender!
James Keeler is the man behind Wilt already fifteen years of musical activities and in various guises, but as Wilt it's all about the dark ambient. Dark of the darker variation, black with hardly any grey, let alone white. Much of that is due to the somewhat industrial sound of Wilt. Reverb is a key element here, much in use in all of these pieces. It gives everything that ringing, singing, slightly metallic sound. It's something you either love or hate. I am not always the biggest lover of reverb, as I tend to think it's a bit of a cheap trick (hey!), but Keeler knows how to cleverly add it to his music. His level of control is quite all right. The six lengthy cuts on this release are very much alike each other, unlike the Illusion Of Safety release, which bounces back and forth in various styles. Wilt creates nocturnal humming music, but for the weak of mind (and hearth) this might as easily turn into a nightmare. It's hard to say which instruments are used, although in the final piece a guitar clearly pops up. Maybe there is no instrument at all, I was thinking, but it's all made with the extended use of sound effects and the most minimal input of sounds. But more likely is a combination of synthesizers, guitars and electronics. Whatever, however. It sounds great, even when it's nothing highly original. It's Wilt music and as such he does a great job. He didn't set out to play something new every time, but carves out his own niche, deeper and deeper. (FdW)
Address: http://www.nopartofit.com

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