The Art Effects – Insects

1988 • Zoi

We're dipping back into the realm of long-forgotten underground tapes today with The Art Effects' Insects, a very interesting piece of minimal synth and plunderphonics. There isn't much known about them save what's in the liner notes, but you don't need to know anything about an album to enjoy it, and I have to say I enjoy this.

It's definitely one of the more bizarre albums I've heard—songs range from nice, cheerful elevator / department store music to dark, sinister soundscapes, and everywhere in between. Most tracks have some sort of basic electronic drum beat, spoken word samples, and simple melodies, but it's tough to generalize as there's a lot to be found on both sides. The spoken word sections are mostly abstract or nonsense poetry, from what I can tell, though there are some bits that sound like they are sampled from films or television or interviews. They accentuate the creepy vibe already present in most of the tracks they're in.

It's tough to say judge the music itself, though; it's easy to be put off by the weird juxtaposition of murky noise and sound collage with more "typical" minimal electronic music. But I think that gives Insects a certain amount of charm, in a weird way—it's definitely unique, even if the music on it isn't particularly great on close listen.

Then again, I have a weird thing for finding oddities like this, and this is probably only going to appeal much to like-minded people who like to find this sort of ancient DIY music. So interpret that as you will.

6