Pigface

Pigface = industrial dance/noise, often raunchy, mechanical, throbbing vomit meant to be played loud. The brainchild of former Killing Joke percussionist Martin Atkins, Pigface is basically a loose amalgam of experimental, industrial house music featuring a host of various musicians and DJs—some well-known, some not—over the last 10 years.

This two-CD-set plays like a discombobulated mix tape of hit-or-miss dance tracks, most with a hard and steady beat. There’s everything from spoken word rants and art rock to cool dub (the slower stuff is definitely my favorite). Multi-layered production makes for some fascinating experiments, but due to the nature of the many different guests and contributors, the overall result is interesting one minute, crappy the next, depending on your taste and tolerance.

Pigface is often billed as an "industrial supergroup," and its guest artists and former rotating members include David Yow (Jesus Lizard), Dean Ween and Andrew Weiss (Ween), Flea, Beef (Gwar), Frank Black and Joey Santiago, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Chris Connelly, Neil Hubbard, Jello Biafra, Steve Albini and many more. Its upcoming Chico appearance should be an interesting live show for those who lament the lack of industrial and electronic dance touring in our town.