My heart has a soft spot for Illusion Of Safety, creature of Dan Burke - one of the very first artists interviewed by yours truly in the early 90s (via snail mail, of all things). Published by the Russian label Waystyx in 2007 and received only last year, In Session is as gratifying an experience as IOS can award to an unprejudiced recipient.
Fictitious circuits of preparation to the inevitable welcome us - no hints of smile - amidst a cross of entropic energies, actual instruments and electronic gadgetry challenging the defences intensely. Sudden outbreaks of noisy harmony are sometimes replaced by regular pulses constituting the basis of a pseudo-calmness, while an inexhaustible pressure – typically generated by overlaid looped mechanisms – mounts without actually allowing an explosion to put an end to our misery. Disorientated yet unshakable we set ourselves to resist to the next sonic landslide but we’re left waiting uselessly, as Burke’s monster walks away; further attempts to wreck the poor listener’s lingering certainties are delayed to the next occasion.
Another declaration of consistency from an artist who has been quietly producing a substantial quantity of memorable, if often not memorized albums for almost 20 years. Pearls like Cancer, Probe and Water Seeks Its Own Level need instant revisiting, and this CD is a worthy addition to the list.
