Worth - Blinder (Prose Nagge)
I've spoken about it once before but it can be restated; a perfect LP. Does not overstay its welcome and really sinks into weird zones that very few others can replicate. I'm happy to own this physically after so long. I have the new CD on Fusty ready to go for this week. Speaking of Fusty...
Slacking - Curling Pupils of Sleep 'Neath Bended Moon (Fusty Cunt)
In 2023, Slacking & Dead Door Unit embarked on a short run of east coast dates. On that run, I began to learn more about Jim the person and the artist and became absolutely enamored by how much of himself goes into what he does. From there, we continued to play and keep contact. At some point, an LP being mentioned came up and I knew it would be nothing short of fantastic... whenever it came out.
Well now that it's here, I can confirm that this is a rather stellar LP. Moves in the way that only Slacking can, and I truly think it was something meant to be pressed to vinyl. I tried the digital stream the other day while driving but it didn't stand out that way. By putting it on the turntable and making it my main activity though, everything changed. It became easier to feel engulfed into Jim's stream of consciousness. That stream falls somewhere between the proud lineage of Pittsburgh's scrap metal exploits and digital fields of dreams that wouldn't be too different from playing a round of LSD Dream Simulator. This is an LP that will probably reveal more of its beauty upon repeated listens. In this initial spin though, I think it ranks among one of my favorites on the year.
Various Artists - King of Extreme Underground Vol. 2 (Not On Label)
Great mixtape of early noisecore and dirty grindcore here; almost no song structure but plenty of blasting!!! You can't go wrong with the likes of Fear of God, Old Lady Drivers & Deathnoise.
Anal Blunt / Regurgitard - Roach Exterminators (Reanimated Miscarriage)
Hah. Weed. Hah. Yeah. Now with the jokes out of the way, you have some great noisecore for the idiot mind! Both projects bring out the might. I am more partial to the Anal Blunt side though, as it does not contain a torturous rendition of "Seven Nation Army." Well, maybe Regurgitard is better for doing that, when you consider the spirit of noisecore.
Deterge - Be Prepared (Fusty Cunt)
When it first became apparent that Jim was doing an entire record about the Boy Scouts of America, my heart almost skipped a beat. I rarely mention it in noise circles (or any circles really), but I am an Eagle Scout (Troop 50, represent) and think back on those times as some of the best parts of my adolescence. Sure, we had the tedium of merit badge work and some rather ridiculous uniforms, but the camping and high adventure action made it all the worthwhile. Camping trips at Forestburg, shooting guns at Turkey Swamp; all excellent! Even as other life activities took more overt interest, I never thought once to quit Scouts. Glad I never did. But now I wonder "how do you encapsulate a 15 year life journey into a 72-minute record? And how do you leave that into the hands of a guy who never even made Eagle (sorry if you're reading this, Jim, had to do it)??"
While I may not have the answer, Jim certainly did. Across the runtime of this record, you are taken across a gambit of sounds, from dreary power electronics, to glitch cut-up, to tribal industrial to even a detour or two off into industrial metal/techno. What the fuck?? Hah. It all works though. This record's length begins to fizzle into your brain like a hot summer day hiking in the woods. You can't really tell how far along you've come. You kind of want portions to speed up, get to the point. That's not too far off from the merit badge process (I'm looking at you especially, Personal Finance... three months of fuckin' logs... wait a minute). The frustrations of the past arise out of me brilliantly! Hah.
But finally, at the end of it all, you are greeted with the sunrise at the top of the mountain. That tribal industrial I mentioned earlier makes things close on a great sense of finality to the journey, as it serves as the penultimate track. You did it, Jim, you're an Eagle Scout (in the eyes of one guy talking on the internet). Take a breath to realize where your journey has led you, aaaaanddddd.... then some Scout master hits you in the face with a water balloon (possibly based on a true story).
Overall, it's hard to put into words how great of a feeling this record gives me. For anyone who went through the ordeals of Scouting, you will maybe know a thing or two I am referencing here. It feels like this one was made for us; the real nerds of life who know how to handle a knife properly and always leave their surroundings cleaner than they found them. For those who do not, you will still be met with yet another excellent entry in the Deterge discography. Surely will end up being one of my favorites on the year by the time things wrap.
Richard Ramirez - Volume 1, Disc 3: Spread 'Em (New Forces, reissue)
Now onto disc 2 of this set to cap things off (hope you're happy, Minus1). Never heard this one prior but it's pretty damn gnarly. Lots of feedback anger to start, and do I hear turntable now in there? Perhaps radio? Whatever it is, I like it!
EDIT: This was actually disc 3 in the set. Fantastic and weird affair from Richard here, especially on Side B, but my apologies to Minus1 for going out of order on this box.
