Bene Gesserit

Bene Gesserit, the music project, that is...not the mystical sisterhood of psychic witches from Frank Herbert's Dune. I could have just as easily tagged this post Human Flesh or Pseudocode or Insane Music or Alain Neffe and Nadine Bal. What I'm talking about is the Belgian artist couple of Neffe and Bal who have produced so much interesting underground, experimental weirdness since the late 70s and early 80s. They're still at it, in fact. Here's an interview with Alain Neffe from 2016:

Neffe's label Insane Music was significant in the origins of 80s and 90s cassette culture and was responsible for many interesting projects and collaborations, as well as contributing to the growth of the cassette network itself (mostly by listing the postal addresses of every artist involved with the label). In spite of the significance of their work, however, like a lot of 80s cassette culture it remains obscure and very little written information about Neffe, Bal, or Insane Music is available.

There is a Wikipedia article about Bene Gesserit in French here:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Gesserit_(groupe)

And I managed to find a couple of recent(ish) articles about Alain Neffe here:

https://www.timesquotidian.com/2010/05/28/alain-neffe-and-the-home-taped-electronic-music-revolution/

https://brooklynrail.org/2008/04/music/alain-neffes-potlatch-music

There is a Discogs page for Insane Music here:

https://www.discogs.com/label/16624-Insane-Music

And an artist profile on the Minimal Wave site:

https://minimalwave.com/artists/artist/bene-gesserit/

But what I'd really like to see is a decent Wikipedia article on the label and/or a website which lists all of the Insane Music releases along with texts, photos, and other documents from Neffe and Bal. Much needed I think. For now, there is at least a Facebook profile for Alain Neffe/Insane Music where you can see some historical info along with current activities. If you're on FB, I recommend connecting.

https://www.facebook.com/people/Insane-Music-Alain-Neffe/100063462159523/

Wish I could produce something more concrete and definitive here but, if you weren't familiar with Insane Music, Bene Gesserit, etc., this should at least get you started.

- W.A.Davison

Comments

  1. LokisJuly 12, 2023 at 2:05 AM

    Good Morning, check this one too: beautiful, timeless :
    https://ropeworm.bandcamp.com/album/kolory-te-potrafi-piewa
    Bestness - Marek

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. W.A.DavisonJuly 12, 2023 at 10:26 AM

      Thanks, Marek! Didn't know about this album. Nice work!

      Delete

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