Infinite Expanse follows up their first two LPs with a return to the cassette format, diving deep into the world of the underground cassette network with a focus on SoundImage, a label founded by Martin Franklin and active in Slough between 1989-91. Presented is a compilation of two compilations – Premonitions (1989) and Spiritual (1990) – featuring stalwarts from the scene, including The Vitamin B12, M.Nomized, Konrad Kraft and Hybryds, as well as a host of ungoogleable artists, such as The Happy Citizen, Omega Ensemble and The Time Flies.
Birthed through the space provided by the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, a UK government initiative introduced in the mid-80s which assisted unemployed people who set up their own business, SoundImage set out to uncover and present new electronic music which captured a certain sense of magic and mystery.
The label operated within the cassette network, though also sought to bring the music to local audiences and stage live events. This included Omega Onsemble, a set of improvisers from Southampton, performing in a small backstreet gallery during the Windsor Fringe Festival in 1990, as well as Richard Leake’s The Butterfly Effect and Peter Appleton, a creator of sonic sculptures, combining for a live show at the Windsor Arts Centre in September 1991. The label even helped them get a feature on Southern TV and connected them with some researchers at the nearby EMI R&D lab in Hayes who recorded the performance with experimental 3D audio equipment.
Distribution of SoundImage releases grew to a network of small mail order outlets and tape stalls, with duplication eventually handled by small-run commercial tape duplicators. Some of the artists who featured on releases also had their own outlets for sales, so between them they managed to form a self-contained sphere of underground production and distribution.
Listening now, what distinguishes the music is that it sits at the cusp of the DAW revolution, with the tracks made using the innovative Tascam 244, or similar 4-track cassette recorders, which had just revolutionised affordable music recording. The pumping hiss of its built-in noise reduction, in retrospect, becoming a distinctive feature of the productions.
The music also pre-dates samplers, and whilst some of the music makes use of synthesisers, there is still a sense of performance and hand-made sound textures from tape loops, collages, effects and manipulated media, as well as traditional instruments. It sits at a point where abstract music still lived in our imaginations. There were no screens confining the compositions into lanes or grids, no software instruments. Instead, there were cables and cabinets, speakers and effect pedals, radio and tape….reels and reels of tape.
“There always was something unique about the cassette tape, and what better medium for a grassroots network of artists and musicians to share music and ideas with one another. These days, it’s hard to imagine how artists and musicians operated in the pre-internet world – each of us isolated, though continually searching for connection and inspiration from often-unbeknownst peers.
Indie fanzines and the mail system provided the network from which small labels, like SoundImage, could discover new, independent music from other artists around the world. Through a “contributions wanted for compilation release” advertisement published in zines, such as Vital, ND or Factsheet Five, a cascade of decorated envelopes bearing cassette tapes could eventually be delivered directly to your door, each with the music of artists from around the world, alongside printed flyers, and maybe even an accompanying letter. We were a scene – “the cassette network” – sharing works, networking, and connecting with the ideas and sounds of artists across Europe and beyond.
Then, with only a few borrowed cassette decks, chained together to make a DIY duplication set up, publishing was within reach of anyone with an idea to share.” Martin Franklin, 2024
Numbered edition of 60. Cassette housed in jewel case, alongside two-sided j-card and wrap-around o-card sleeve.
