Seven Lies About Girls "The Process Of Weeding Out" c32 (Teen Action)

  S.L.A.G. is back with another ace speaker crippler via- Teen Action Records. "The Process Of Weeding Out" begins it's jaunt with"Your Last Affront", a soaring synth drone with some eerie delayed vocals and a thick humming bass rhythm to match. Influence is vague, but it kind of reminded me of the tamer TG moments until "Screw The Law" came chugging away like a distorted jackhammer. Heavy, blown out guitars(?) are in control, and a pummeling percussive element carries them away in a sack to who knows where, as your speakers are pushed to their limit. You have my attention.

  Side B has a less calculated vibe, and is surely the more eardrum friendly part of the tape for most. Synths squelch and bleep on in circles, weaving between woozy piles of muffled sounds and gated rhythms. All the while a deep rumbling of drum machines and other thuds try and keep up with the pack, until things finally fizzle out. This is an compromised album without any particular set of boundaries, and I think fans of Dead Machines, TG and Yellow Swans will probably really dig this. Limited run, hurry and get one from www.teenactionrecords.com 

NO! -Various Artists C64 (No! Records)

 Exceptional new compilation from Indiana (Bloomington and surrounding areas) tape label NO!, featuring some of the area's finest local experimental electronic, industrial and ambient acts. Approached as a cohesive cross-stitch sound collage, rather than just another label sampler, the artists featured all share a similar gloom and ache, yet they all have their own slightly unique vibe.

   

  Drekka tips this off with a dark and brooding wash of deep tone drifts and minimal percussion, heaps of low end magic akin to recent Lustmord or Peter Kyed scores. My personal favorite. The NOON and John Flannelly works that follow, pull you in quite different and quite manic directions, as Canid and Assimilation provide some very heady, live power electronics.  

  Agakus closes the mix with "Last Reichs," a track dedicated to Wilhelm Reich, respectively. Slabs of what sound to me like treated voices (or tugboat horns) swell up in a deep and haunting melody, atop a gurgling wash of mysterious field recordings. It's undeniably the most "musical" of the bunch, and an really nice closer.

  

  Something interesting is clearly happening in this part of the country, and NO! has done a fine job of getting these local artists' work out there. Recommended. Edition of 75, includes download code. 

Get one from NO! here.

Http://norecordlabel.bandcamp.com