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The first track on Misplaced starts out with a lukewarm beat and riff, but don’t worry, the opening ten seconds of the second track, “Evacuate,” will snap you back to attention with its slicing electronic riff that rises hard and pulsing against the Trance drone of the background synths and the driving, muffled bass
drum programming and crisp, clinical hi-hat. The power of in-FUSED lies in its free-form, Experimental Trance approach to electronic music: the drone of the sophisticated space-age synths creating atmospheric soundscapes that make you feel like you’re lost in cyberspace — physically trapped in Tron forever. The emotional pull of the album drops down again with the third track “Misplaced”: the disparate parts seem to have a difficult time welding together into a unified whole, and the piano part comes across as awkward and choppy. Then the next track, “Hammered,” goes back into a brilliant, buzzy, abstract Electronica that makes you feel like your head’s stuffed full of cotton batting — in the best of ways. “Beardies” follows with its eerie, staggered electro line that is what a strobe light would sound like if it could emit soundwaves. Then “Breaking the Code” and “A Place to Bleed” dip down in quality again; the vocals
monotone and uncaptivating in the former, the synth line too prominent and overpowering in the latter. in-FUSED teeters back and forth between brilliance and material that’s simply “good,” but the brilliant parts are so well done that it makes up for the second-rate moments. Overall, in-FUSED shows a great amount of potential. You would do well to keep an eye on them.
--Rebecca Vernon, sickamongthepure.com
You can tell that Tommy T. (of Diverje fame) loves old school EBM. His new
solo project, in-FUSED, goes all over the place, from noisy, high-paced
minimal stuff to ambient, but it all bears the mark of someone who's
listened to lots of really early Front 242 and Leather Strip. "Misplaced"
and "Breaking the Code" are the most obvious, with their analog drum
machines and robotic vocals, but the rest of the album shows certain traits
as well. "A Place To Bleed" is noisier, but still fun, a perfect track to
stomp to. "Find To Keep" adds trance elements, but there's still enough
reverb on the bass drum to keep the mood of a German dance club circa 1988,
while "Beneath" is so unabashedly retro it's got synthesized handclaps on
the rhythm track. Beyond the fondness for vocoders and 808s, this album
does feature some more modern elements as well. "Evacuate" has a more
contemporary harsh EBM feel bordering on power noise, while "Zonex" is
in-FUSED's nod to drum 'n' bass. More abstract experimentation shows up on
the chirps and clicks of "Mud Slipperz" and the cut-up beats of "Beardies,"
a song T. wrote for his pet bearded dragons. Despite his clear proficiency
in composing tracks in various styles, though, it's the love for electronic
music - both new and old - that makes this album such an enjoyable listen.
When you listen to in-FUSED, you immediately realize that Tommy T. made this
record because he likes this kind of music as much as you do, not because he
wants to have the next club hit of the week.
For more information, including some intriguing insights into the background
behind each song, visit www.dsbp.cx/infused.
reviewed by-----
http://www.chaindlk.org/reviews/reviews.php3?id=1235
Tommy T Rapisardi is probably best known for his exploits (and rants) on the Cyberage Radio Show, as well as running the successful indy label DSBP and contributing to the multi-talented rotating cast known as Diverje. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s now released 18 tracks on ‘Misplaced’, the debut album of his solo project, in-Fused. The album is a collection of several electro styles, which is a welcomed change from most releases these days. The album begins with the intriguing piece ‘Enter Now’, an instrumental with an almost middle-eastern vibe. Then the electro-industrial assault kicks in on ‘Evacuate’, with its freaky Darlek (Doctor Who) vocal. The emotional title track ‘Misplaced’ is up next. The piano evokes a feeling of tragedy here, which somehow creates a feeling of empathy. A couple of drum n noise tracks are in attendance, namely ‘Hammered’, ‘Punch Hole’ and ‘Wrapped in Plastique’, each of which has its own distinctive way of pummeling the listener into submission. The glitchy tracks ‘Beardies’ and ‘Mud Slipperz’ continue to show just how diverse this album is. ‘Breaking the Code’ has a dark house vibe going at times while at others sounds very synthpop influenced, dancey with a very dark vocal that fits amazingly well. ‘A Place To Bleed’ and ‘Monotony’ showcases more of an aggressive industrial sound, which Tommy is already well known for with some of the Diverje tracks. The trancey instrumental ‘Find to Keep’ is the longest track on the album clocking in at 7:16. Not your typical trance track that’s for sure, it’s a nice change of pace right in the middle of the album. One remix of ‘Evacuate’ by Diverje gives an even more aggressive edge to the original track, play this one loud. ‘Zonex’(cool title) is completely uncategorizeable(if that’s even a word) but a cool track all the same with its acidic SH101 type keys. ‘Blinded Fools’ plays like a dark breaks track, if only for the beats chosen to back it up. A cool crossover piece nonetheless. The final tracks falling loosely under the ambient tag are, Weightless’, ‘Malfunkt’ and the last track ‘Beneath’, nicely ending procedings with a much mellower ‘chill out’ vibe than some other tracks on the disk. Overall the album is an excellent showing of what in-Fused is capable of. Definitely a diverse listen that always keeps the listener on their toes. Available now on DSBP.
http://www.regenmag.com
First off let me say that sometimes I really hate to label albums musically,
in that I think this band's album is EBM and that band's album is Noise, is a
very difficult task. Any given album can be interpreted differently from one
person to the next. Lately the lines of sub-genres are becoming more and more
blurred anyhow and what comes out of this merging; more sub-genres... what do
you call those sub-sub-genres? So as you can see there is a challenge for
reviewers such as myself to adequately describe an album within the boundaries
of genres. Because music is marketed based on such things, I am stuck with the
challenge. What does all of this rambling have to do with in-FUSED? Simply
stated Misplaced is one of those difficult albums to classify. The sounds on
this album vary in style from one track to the next. I say it is EBM because
it contains some elements of that style, but it also contains elements of
Noise, Industrial, and even a bit of ambient trance. To put all of these
sounds on one album seems like musical suicide as there is just too much
diversity for an album that is all one band; it may work on a compilation of
many bands, but just one? Well lots of bands may find it difficult, but
in-FUSED is not one of them. Diverje's very own Tommy T. releases his first
truly solo album, and my only question is why did he wait so long? To make it
as blunt as possible, this album is great. For someone like me who is into
various musical stylings this album has it all. Heavy percussive tracks,
synth-based EBM tracks, harsh industrial tracks, and mellowed out trance
tracks make up this 18 track aural assault. Tommy T. takes his synthesizers
and electronics and manipulates them in various stylings like a porn star can
contort their body for all sorts of positions. He is a master! Tracks that
demand listening to are the Rhythmic noise blastings of the title track
"Misplaced," the looped beats and synths of "Breaking the Code," the quick
synth quirkings of "Evacuate," the... ah.. fuck it, they are all good! Trying
to pick out a select few is like telling a kid with a bowl of candy is his
hands to only take one piece... you know the little bastard wants them all!
Unlike candy, relishing in each track on this album won't result in dental
visits, but it just may result in a trip to the audiologist because you have
to listen to this one loud! The title of the album is an appropriate one,
because if you try to categorize this into one style, you will be "misplacing
it"... they should just make a section called in-FUSED... that would work!
review by
Although you may not have heard of in-FUSED before, this project has been in
existence for several years now. The solo work of Tommy T (of Diverje),
in-FUSED has been flying under radars since the late 90’s when he began
creating this very diverse mix of electronic music. A very low-profile
release actually came out on DSBP in ’98, along with a few tracks smattered
on a few compilations, but I think any anonymity is over with the latest
release, “Misplaced”.
There’s no way to answer the question “So, what does the Misplaced album
sound like?” because by definition this album and this project are an
assimilation of everything electro. Infusing (no pun intended) everything
from electro-industrial (“Evacuate”) to EBM (“Find to Keep”) and powernoise
(“Punch Hole”) to glitch (“Blinded Fools”) to general experimentation
("Malfunkt"), in-FUSED is pure diversity. I think that this album can appeal
to any listener, simply because of how all genres are well represented.
Although a lot of the tracks are purely instrumental, Tommy T does add his
unique vocals to a few, which represent some very emotional and scathing
criticisms of society today. I know these vocals come from his heart, but I
found myself really drawn into the vocals of “Breaking the Code”, which
remind me of my own struggles of not conforming to the mainstream. Hopefully
others can find solace in these lyrics, and others can hear the wake up call
from the other songs. For lyrics (they aren’t included with the CD), you can
check out http://www.dsbp.cx/infused/cgi-bin/index.cgi?page=lyrics.html.
Of course in my reviews I usually like to break down each track to give you
an idea (no matter how diverse the album is) of what’s in store for you.
Tommy T actually took the time to do this, and I think the creator of the
music can say it better than I ever could, so at the bottom of this review I
have quoted Tommy T’s from the in-FUSED website
(http://www.dsbp.cx/infused/).
So I guess all I really have left to say is that if you haven’t heard of
in-FUSED, now’s the time you got schooled. Even if you’re a VNV Nation
freak, a powernoise purist, or a hyper-intellectual IDM fan, there’s bound
to be a few tracks on this album that you’ll just love. This album should
get a well-rounded welcome, and you can expect to hear more in the future.
got the new stuff and i got to say kick ass . your in-FUSED album is just
outstanding, way to go dude!!!!!!!!!!! im going to play it over and over .
well just wanted to say i got the new cds and they will go on my rpm chart
this week ............... talk to u later
in-FUSED - MISPLACED
in-FUSED is the noise/ambient/trance/techno/punk/etc. debut solo project of DIVERJE’s Tommy T Rapisardi. Although Tommy had used the in-FUSED moniker to release some various demoes in the very early days of DSBP, MISPLACED is the first official release which will definitely stir excitement to the fans of the Electro genres.
The album starts off with "Enter Now", a very eerie and unsettling dreary beat that swings you around until your nauseous. And I mean that in a very good way. "Enter Now" sets the pace very well. The second track "Evacuate" is more upbeat, but still exhibits the same dreariness which pretty much continues throughout the remainder of MISPLACED. The title track "Misplaced" contains some of the spookiest Electro-Clavi keyboard sounds that I have ever heard. Try to picture what an alien space circus on acid would look like. The track fizzles out with what appears to be multi-keyboard-jamming. It’s seriously one of the coolest things I have ever heard! The Clavi-voice and the Piano battle each other out until the very end of the track.
The next tracks "Hammered" and "Beardies" are very tactical instrumental displays of noises and distorted beats. Mr. Rapisardi utilizes elements of Techno and PowerNoise without the shear repetition. That is one the greatest aspects of MISPLACED. The diversity of sounds and Electro styles makes the album almost sound like a mega compilation album.
Tommy’s vocals really enhance the dreariness and diversity of the album, and the vocals are placed at certain moments throughout MISPLACED. Besides the title track, "Breaking the Code", "A Place to Bleed", and "Monotony" demonstrate Tommy’s vocal efforts on top of very chaotic Electro that actually borderlines on punk and the darkest SynthPop you can imagine.
The instrumental tracks are outstanding. Tracks such as "Find to Keep" demonstrate the simpler trance aspects very well. "Zonex" is fucking awesome though!!! I had to go back to hear that piece 2 more times after I listened to MISPLACED the first time. It’s really hard to describe actually. The keyboard playing is phenomenal, and the simlpe acoustic drumbeat through the track enhances the song on the whole.
MISPLACED is an Electro favorite waiting to be heard in bedrooms, clubs, coffee shops, wherever! I would recommend the album mostly for the skilled listeners, but the album is diverse enough to please most fans. Pick up MISPLACED today on DSBP!
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