''Muzik for Insomniaks, Volume 1 and Volume 2'' is a two-studio album series by

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

's co-founder and lead vocalist

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

. They were both originally released in 1988, the same year as Devo's seventh studio album '' Total Devo'', on the labels Enigma and

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

. The albums consisted entirely of instrumentals that were performed in the style of easy listening

muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

similar to Devo's compilation album '' E-Z Listening Disc'', released the previous year. Both of the albums were produced, written, arranged, programmed and performed by Mothersbaugh himself and engineered and mixed by former Devo keyboardist and guitarist

Bob Casale Robert Edward Casale Jr. (born Robert Edward Pizzute Jr.; July 14, 1952 – February 17, 2014), or "Bob 2", was an American musician, composer and record producer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the rhythm guitarist and keyboardi ...

. Mothersbaugh once described the albums as "

M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; ; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made woodcuts, lithography, lithographs, and mezzotints, many of which were Mathematics and art, inspired by mathematics. Despite wide popular int ...

meets wallpaper."

Gábor Csupó Gábor Csupó ( , ; born September 29, 1952) is a Hungarian animator, writer, director, producer and graphic designer. He is co-founder of the animation studio Klasky Csupo, which produced the first three years of ''The Simpsons'', as well as ...

co-creator of the animated television series ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-d ...

'', had called Mothersbaugh and asked if he could use the music from ''Muzik for Insomniaks'' for ''Rugrats'', however, Mothersbaugh proposed that he could compose new songs instead, and, after one meeting, Csupó agreed. ''Muzik for Insomniaks'' is also the title of an album by Mothersbaugh released in Japan in 1985. This was released as part of the cassette magazine ''TRA'' after Mothersbaugh was given copies of the magazine by Hajime Tachibana, and asked if he could contribute. Only 10,000 copies were made of each TRA release, with Mothersbaugh's album also packaged with a deck of playing cards.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from both of the album's liner notes which are identical. *

–

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

''Series IIx'' programming; Roland keyboards;

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s ;Production team *Mark Mothersbaugh – producer;

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

–

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

; mixing *Patrick Pending – art direction *David Lomeli – art assistance *Jonathan Gelber –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1988 albums Enigma Records albums Mark Mothersbaugh albums