by Greg Adams
Inner Mind Mystique will confound most people's notions of what is and isn't music. Masonna has a lengthy discography and a following among enthusiasts of Japanese noise, but these seven blasts of sound lack any conventional structure, including rhythm. Imagine a well-amplified vacuum cleaner with all of its harmonic chaos, then throw in some static, and perhaps a constant low-level shriek, and you have "Inner Mind Mystique 1." Now repeat the formula for tracks two through seven and that's the album. Masonna's "music" is notable for its extremism, but would listeners derive any less enjoyment from the cacophony of their own household appliances?