SPEED OF SILENCE is a chronicle in pictures and sounds of the passing of the world as we move through it. Many of the images come from a 13,000-mile road trip through 37 of the United States undertaken in fall 2020, in the depths of the Covid pandemic. Empty towns and landscapes full of slipping silence. Darkness arising out of the blurring, fading light, going by in a heartbeat. What is the sound of things as they disappear?

17 full color images digitally printed on matte paper in a hardcover book measuring 9 X 9 inches. One book shipped with every purchase of the audio CD SPEED OF SILENCE. (Digital download included.)

Downtown Music Gallery:
In the Fall of 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic wilderness, electronic musician and trumpeter Tom Djll embarked on a 13,000 mile road trip across the US, capturing field recordings and photographic imagery along the way. Both make up the backbone of his latest release, which takes the form of an audio CD and a lavish book of Djll's vivid stills, often blurred, time-stretched, distorted, and otherwise filtered into abstract, semi-accessible new shapes, much like the music contained within. Djll has emerged over the decades (his first recordings date back to the late 80s) as one of the US’s most important improvisers and sound designers, taking his beloved trumpet and altering its audio outcomes beyond recognition, simultaneously achieving such ends thanks to his own system of synthesizer, audio processing, and numerous other random modules. Speed of Silence therefore manages the unusual feat of evoking both momentum and stasis. The eighteen minutes of “Boscobel”, one of the disc’s central pieces, vacillates between violently vibrating sheets of sound, excoriating glitches, amp itch, and the detritus remaining from rubbing a whole bunch of digital sticks together. At times resembling a gathering of Lear jet engines revving up, elsewhere a symphony of rusty machines in obvious distress, the sheer bravado on display is nothing short of galvanizing. Shorter tracks such as the semi-abrasive “Plunkett” recall some of Tod Dockstader’s more arresting works, with its percolating timbers arising from either Djll’s mutant trumpet playing, its attendant melting audio mulch, or both.”Tate’s Hell” brings Djll’s trumpet right to the fore, opening with a great blast of foghorn-like brass before settling in to a somewhat ‘ambient’ tapestry combining serpentine sine waves, brillo-pads of feedback, and prickly tones that pierce the air like angry hornets. The rainbow tableau displayed throughout the accompanying book fairly mirrors Djll’s elusive sonic topography, making for some deep contemplation of their layered textures whilst absorbing the noises dancing around you. A wonderful package of audiovisual stimulation dazzling to both eye and ear. - Darren Bergstein, DMG