Most tapes like this are sleepers but this one is quite impressive and engrossing.
Seth, Factsheet Five
The first spoken word/multi-back-tracker that has captured my imagination (and dominated my car stereo ever since). Len Bracken of the mind-blower zine Extraphile lays down some of his Zero Work and Solar Economics manifestos over wacked-out space-clearing synth vibes. Six tracks here, with 'Shirker' standing out as an Abolition of Work anthem to rock the spectacular system of servitude to ruins. Shades of J.J. Burnel here and there, especially in the French/ Russian/ Spanish/ English languaged 'Rant Cafe.' The first situationist cassette? Whatever, screw off from your job and abandon yourself to the ravages of poetic moments with Access 5.
Bruce, Bypass
...Like TAZ it's spoken word, only this time with background of dark electric guitars which I like. They do get a groove going; the rhythm is not random. For me the whispering at the beginning doesn't quite work, but the rest is cool—been playing it as I worked on this issue & it helped.
Jean Heriot, Kaspahraster
On these tapes, it's spoken word along with music. Once in a while a powerful line comes through in Twilight of Humanity, but mostly you don't get the meaning, you just listen to how it all sounds, maybe even dance to it. The texts are quite okay, very social-critical without too much open doors, and Bracken reads them well. Persian Love is the most interesting cassette. It consists of stanzas by Omar Khayyam. "Be happy for a moment, that moment's your life" is the philosophy. It's about drinking wine alot, about celebration. Great texts, read on new age-like sounds, in which I sometimes recognize things from David Sylvian's Gone to Earth. Len reads the stanzas soberly, his voice is suited for this type of music. Well-done work.
Outcast
