Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Day: March 21, 2024

electronic

Venetian Snares – Winnipeg Is A Frozen Shithole Vol. 1 (2005)

I don’t want to say the first few tracks from the Winnipeg… sessions are “calmer” than the latter, but they definitely do not descend quite as far down the staircase of pure electronic fuckery and madness as tracks like “Die Winnipeg Die Die Die Fuckers Die” or “Winnipeg as Mandatory Scat Feed” from the Vol. 2 but they are still a test of patience for those who are not initiated into the world of breakcore (lol). The locked grooves on Side A are kinda cool, but I have to admit I had the vinyl for about ten years before I realised they were even there (lmao). There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this EP but you’re honestly better off just getting the full album that contains both 12″ sessions as well as a few extra tracks too.

electronic

Venetian Snares – Winnipeg Is A Frozen Shithole (2005)

Bosh bosh bosh! “Album” which compiles both the Winnipeg 12″ singles, as well as a bunch of new tracks from the same session, into one super mega awesome 45 minute breakcore fuckfest. …Frozen Shithole seems to be one of those albums that gets more and more brutal as it goes on, just pounding you into the shitty, frozen dirt with each passing track. This is something which I do not doubt was a purposeful decision by its creator. The album finishes with the SKM-ETR remix of the aptly-titled “Die Winnipeg Die Die Die Fuckers Die” which more less transcends breakcore, techno, all of that, and basically just becomes harsh noise. Lovely.

doom metal

Slabdragger – Regress (2011)

The main selling point for Slabdragger, at least on this LP, is the phenomenal guitar tone. Crunchy, fuzzy, chewy, riffy goodness! Unfortunately, Regress fails to hold much attention for the entirety of its runtime and I attribute this to the lack of variety in its textural content; it’s all rather one dimensional, despite the songs being generally very good in isolation.

metal rock

Rainbow – Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow (1975)

A stunning debut from this legendary band. Personally, I think the Rainbow sound was perfected on Rising, but there are some frankly excellent songs on this album, including the now immortal opening track, “Man on the Silver Mountain”. The production, seemingly shared between Blackmore and producer Martin Birch, is organic and flows nicely through the various styles of songs present on the album. (Apparently I enjoy listening to this so much that I reviewed it twice, this time on 15th May 2024) Are Rainbow one of the greatest bands of all time? Off the strength of the first two records alone I don’t think that’s too daft of a statement. This thing is loaded to the gills with absolute rock and roll classics, such as the phenomenal opener “Man On The Silver Mountain” and side B’s “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”. Granted, there are a few tracks here which are good but aren’t really my kind of thing, such as “Black Sheep Of The Family” or “If You Don’t Like Rock N Roll”, but I can’t let this kind of thing detract too much from what is otherwise a good album. Production wise, things sound as brilliant as you’d expect for 1975; fans of warm analogue production should rejoice.