REVIEW - VENETIAN SNARES - FILTH

Format: CD/2 x LP
Released: April 27
Label: Planet Mu

A mysterious character from somewhere in the north of England, Venetian Snares has long sen it as his job to push the boundaries of dance music further than anyone else.

Specifically taking his inspiration from the frenetic energy of rave music, his sound - and 'Filth' is no exception - is super choppy, ultra-mental programming that makes Aphex Twin sound like a god of minimal. Opening with 'Deep Dicking', which veers between schizoid double speed acid house and pounding gabba being put through a jungle-style mincer, he takes us through ten tracks of ridiculously restless, anarchic electronics, with tracks like 'Crashing The Yoghurt Track', 'Calvin Kleening' and 'Pussy Skull' (surely the new Damien Hirst piece?)

For the main it's like listening to an old style modem (anyone remember them?) in the middle of downtown Baghdad during a bombing raid - not at all pleasant at times, almost garuanteed to produce nausea at others. As sonmeone willing to take the rich heritage of dance music culture and ride gloriously roughshod over it, pushing it to new limits in every direction from speed and lack of repetition to distortion, harmonic queasiness and sonic degradation, he deserves props. Is that enough, in this case, to ever make you want to put it on again? Alas not.
2/5