Various - Insomnia Vol. 2 FLAC

Coming in a video-style case, this double cassette allows the artists one side each, and as such I will review it. Each also has a small brown info card with titles, logos & contact addresses on.
Side One has an audio montage by MATT HECKERT which mainly consists of 'found' sounds - old movie soundtracks all with a dark edge to them - Industrial-type sounds - apparent animal noises - moulded percussive / rhythmic sounds - religious songs - and all manner of other bits and pieces, all fused into strange shapes & configurations. The material was recorded between 1982 & 1988 by the SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES at various places - Stanford Conference On Design, FL Mason Centre, Pier 3, Broadway Theatre, Potrero Middle School & a whole variety of unnamed places in Los Angeles, San Francisco & Seattle. Collaborators on various appearances included MONTE CAZAZZA and MARK WHEATON with NAUT HUMON helping on the 'rhythm & noise compound'. It is a vastly varying series of recordings, provoking a variety of reactions in the listener, most obviously fear, or an alienation akin to this emotion. It's an interesting collection of chilling comments & twisted, gnarled audio shapes. Here & there - almost by accident, it almost creates a regular structure. A soundtrack to disturb you on dark, cold nights.

Side Two comes from GREATER THAN ONE and consists of four tracks, the first being "Funk It", consisting of a synthetic dance foundation held far back in the mix for the vocalist to spout his cynical opinions over while all manner of noises, all thrown into the mix, create a raucous collage of everyday noise - cars zooming past, railings being struck by wooden sticks, explosions of almost any concieveable source including several human voices in various states of emotional being. "The Rose, The Cross And The Flag" again has structure - a simple, slow rhythm over which presumably sampled sounds waver & wash. Through this grows a harsher, whip-cracking snare pattern which falls back into the mix after a minute or two, after which the whole structure collapses in on itself. "Crisis" is more of an epic - opening with Big Ben sounding, a US General saying there's a potential crisis happening, various voices praying to God and adding to the feeling of impending doom with gunshot and an underlying martial drum pattern adding mood. "London Bridge & Mother Kelly" opens with a variety of sounds including telephones ringing in abandoned offices. From this opening a dark grey mood piece rises, suggesting doom, desolation and impending danger. A speaker makes cynical comment about America and a voice says 'London Bridge Is Falling Down'. It dies with a music hall singer sounding worse for alcohol singing "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep". To finish their side of the tape, a huge sheet of metal slams down, echoing through distant chambers.

Side Three comes from HUNTING LODGE who consist of LON C. DIEHL, HELMUT ROBINSON & RICHARD SKOTT. It opens with "Rust Scraper". Based on a simple bass / drum rhythm, this piece features a stripped-down bloody metal violin sound over which notes as discordant as car horns play an integral part - an effective, full-sounding piece both danceable & strange with a curious Cajun feel to it (to my ears). "Hear You Knockin'" starts off with disconnected junk percussion before breaking into a constant thump-thump-thump drum rhythm with occasional excursions into more formed beat while metal sounds small & large, and electronic washes all create a textural cacophony - white steel surf over brown wooden beat. It is a spastic tribal dance or trance music for the hyperactive. But most of all, it's effective. "Rip You To Shreds" builds from slow junk sound into a distorted sequential piece, an ever-oncoming bludgeon with clearly obvious Punk leanings - it even has a degree of that Rock 'n' Roll logic in it's powered-up overdrive KILLING JOKE structure. "Carnivora!" opens on various voice samples / loops before becoming a much more Rocky piece - a reptilian stealthy track which crawls on it's belly while the vocalist sings his catchy words over the top. It is the most straightforward track here, with an atmosphere more akin to the darkest side of Gothic than anything. "Encore Re-Call" is a collage of sounds, of which the vocal pieces are the most strange - suddenly jumping out at you as if released under pressure while raging fires, water, metal & all manner of machinery gel together. This collage carries on a long while, changing it's structure like a chameleon. I had not heard anything by these before, but it encouraged me to seek out more and might do the same for you!

Side Four is from HUMAN HEAD TRANSPLANT - opening play with "Funeral For A King" - a sombre piece of music - a continual dark tune over synthetic drum beat and various pieces of percussion & incidental sound. It is a huge, dramatic piece - a fitting dirge for a loved and missed ancient monarch, suggesting power beyond the grave, heralding Him / Her into Valhalla. "Opera Of Ennui" is a faster, more uptempo track with a muted cobweb-like keyboard pattern over a deeper, darker drum-like bass sequence & smacking drum pattern. "Water" opens with a trickling atmosphere before becoming a spatial pattern, quick yet atmospheric, all built over deep white drums while noise flies like terrible wraiths over the top. "Kubla Khan" is a reading of COLERIDGE's epic poem over a mind-engulfing Eastern-flavoured piece of slow rhythmic music with subtle sitar sounds. "Colleen" opens with female voice confessing before musically falling into a more bright & colourful version of POPUL VUH circa "Nosferatu" - the guitars are larger, but the tune's there - a wonderful gradually-building instrumental. "The End Of It" is another dark instrumental piece, reminding me a little of CONTRASTATE circa "A Thousand Badgers..." but with a few degrees more structure. It also brings the looser pieces by DEATH IN JUNE to mind.

All in all a worthwhile addition to anyone's collection. I'm sure most of you will find something of interest on each side of these cassettes.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.