Cassette Review // Modelbau "Insomniac's Dream" (Aphelion Editions)

https://aphelioneditions.bandcamp.com/album/insomniacs-dream

This cassette begins with eerie whirrs, creaking and just the overall sound of suspense.  It feels as if something alien is happening and by the time we find out what it is exactly it will be too late.   A drone comes through now and as much as I imagine this as being set in space I also think about it being in the woods.   Perhaps it is both though.   Perhaps it is an alien abduction and the aliens are taking someone from the woods into space.

A tapping/trill sound comes through now and it can almost feel like shaking.   It feels as if the wind is blowing through and old metal structures are having their integrity tested.  There is a loud air about this all, which makes it feel spooky.   The way this comes across could be heard as ghosts trapped in the forest.   Tones come through now, like crystals, and the overall vibe has changed to become much sharper.

As it feels like we've gone into a new song, these tones take a trip up and down in frequency.   Now, I listen to most cassettes through earbuds because I feel like it gives me the maximum amount of sound and experience, so I have the volume set at a certain level and this just got so much louder it felt as if I had turned the volume up.   Tones come in now which also have that back and forth wave and we're on a wild ride.   If this wasn't so loud it could be hypnotic.   The more this goes on though, the more it feels like Hendrix.

On this first side, all of the sound grows quieter and just sort of fades into nothing.   On the flip side, things begin quieter now, as it sounds like the chirping of crickets.   There is a sound behind this and it can feel like a circus.   Soon it just becomes a haunted sound, but it's mellow.   Sonar comes through now, and it feels like we're in a submarine.   This has taken on a different approach than what was on the first side.  It's not quieter, but the sound is just more spaced out.  It just feels more like that ripple effect but in space.

A new song now sounds as if we've taken the idea of being both sonar in that submarine and an alien in outerspace and combined them.   This is eerie, but it might also be underwater.   I feel like much of this cassette should also be a reminder that even though we often associate the unknown and alien life forms with being in space (up) there is a lot which we don't know about that which is underwater (down) and that needs to be discussed more.    There is a feeling as if this sound is cutting through like glass and then the guitar notes come in.

The way that this whole sound just built up and is now feeling more like post rock has been quite the transition.    This gets pretty blissed out before it ends and I feel like there is a story to be told here, within this music.   Obviously art is open to interpretation, but if you think of everything happening up until the end as being life- the ups and downs, the good and bad, just living- then the end could be that end of life where you ascend to Heaven or just whatever you believe the afterlife holds for you.  It just feels like it has such a nice theme if you think of it that way, but of course you can also think up your own theme while listening.