Multiple Insertions

(Pan Handler)
by Lex Marburger

There are two ways to review this CD ROM. The music, and the interactives. Here, they’re two different things. Multiple Insertions was put together by a collective of contributors, and uses an “Omni Platform,” making it playable on almost any format of computer, and you can access it directly on the Web as well! The images are hot, sharp, and clever; the animation smooth and fascinating. With a menu not unlike what William Gibson envisioned, you can travel to general areas like Cyber (for Net Access), Products, (buy, buy!), and Contributors. The latter is the most interesting, with prose, poetry, images, movies, and other information. I still haven’t finished delving into all of the areas available here. Based on general workability, image quality, speed and creativity, Multiple Insertions is the best CD ROM I’ve ever worked with. As far as the music goes, included is an industrial band called Sweat Engine. They use samples, live guitars, and the Neubauten technique of found metal percussion (ventilator shafts, car parts, etc.). Unfortunately, they suck. The lyrics are trite, the production is thin, and the songs sound ridiculous. Even though they have enough ideas, tools, and money, they can’t get anything going. The CD ROM has some footage of their live shows, and although the sound quality is terrible, there seems to be something lost in the transition between stage and studio. All right, I’ll say it: They’re probably great live. Just don’t put the disk into your audio CD player. Stick to the program.