Release date: July 31, 2026
Label release page:
https://nihilistrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/historical-distractions
Illusion of Safety & Nihilist present a socio-psychological journey & deep dive into sick psychedelic industrial dub, A collection of Burkes favorite material from the decomposition years 1991-94 taken from the CD releases Historical (StaalPlaat), Rules of the Game (eM 13n), Inside Agitator (Complacency), Cancer (Tesco) & Distraction (Odd Size). Remastered by Andrew Weathers in 2024 the tracks are overloaded with concise edits, off-kilter manic energy and creative sampling that show IOS charting their own distinctive course in the early 90’s.
FFO: Throbbing Gristle, Hafler Trio, Nurse With Wound, Negativeland, SPK, Nocturnal Emissions, Tape Beatles
TRACKS:
A1 -Historical
A2 -Helen your brain, forever since about breakfast
A3 -History is written by the winners
A4 -Faden Die
B1 -Thermonuclear Holy War
B2 -The White Zone
B3 -Rules of the Game
B4 -Repairs
B5 -MusikFuk II
DETAILS:
All music by Daniel Burke based on sequencer constructions and 12 bit sampling. Also featuring Thymme Jones, Mark Klein, & Jim O'Rourke on Historical (A1), and Chris Block and Jim on “Helen your brain” (A2). Historical features 2 overlapping tracks of insane shredding metal guitar leads by Jim, as well as piano and orchestral synth parts by Thymme and Mark. Helen was an equal effort by Burke, Chris and Jim. Trading Mirage sample based segments up until Chris’ beat hit and Jim after listening through one time laid out that beautiful economic searing lead guitar part in a single take.
Curated by Andy Ortmann & Daniel Burke. Cover concept Andy. Insert Hiroshima side & back cover photo: DB. legend side: Jim Sincock. Remastered by Andrew Weathers in 2024
IMPRESSION:
You might call this work Decomposition, Plunderphonics, Audio Collage, Dark Ambient, or Mash-up decades before that descriptor appeared. A broad base of contradicting sounds & ideas that is somehow successfully brought together into a unified if unsettling whole include a dizzying variety of styles and tangents; noise, Industrial, neo-ambient, rock, funk, heavy metal, militant piston like beats, dissonant dive-bomb guitar noises, scraping metal, and media cut-ups revealing disturbing narratives about civilization, insanity, and other socially deviant themes. Acousmatic concréte multi-layered drone passages create strange atmospheres that are punctuated with bursts of noise and music samples. Frantic rhythmic contortions lay beds for commercial voice-overs, heavy duty literal Industrial and other plunder-sonic interruptions incorporating things that might be our world or mental state being simultaneously built up and torn down. This collection of rhythmic beat/collages and sound design is a glimpse into the aberrations of the human psych reflecting the dichotomy within us all, the struggle between the violent and the sublime tempered as usual with a bit of dark humor.
BIO:
Illusion of Safety Since 1983, Daniel Burke and his many conspirators under the Illusion Of Safety banner have over the course of 40+ full length releases traversed most every facet of the avant sound plane, from early industrial pop deconstruction to blindingly minimal sound art to densely surreal found-sound collage, each unique approach bending and reconstituting the expectations and possibilities of each realm, creating uneasy music that is dense and dystopian and yet also beautiful. Performing over 300 live concerts throughout Europe and the states included No Fun 2008, the Wroclaw Industrial Music Festival 2009, Sonic Circuits in 2010, with Shen Wei Dance Arts in 2011 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and at the Crisis Data Transfer Pre-Party October 2023. Outside of IOS Burke has collaborated with Jim O’Rourke, Jon Mueller, Randy Greif, Darin Gray, Z’EV, Cheer-Accident, Thomas Dimuzio, Kevin Drumm, Bill Horist, and others.
https://linktr.ee/illusionofsafety
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/illusionofsafety1983
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/soundoferror/