Sometimes you have a staple in your musical pantheon that was a major influence, but has faded into a kind of personal obscurity. For some reason, you've let it slip away, despite its importance; or maybe it exists only in the form of a single over-listened track in a playlist or on a mix disc. Inevitably, you rediscover it and all that awesomeness comes flowing back into your ears (or lack of awesomeness - sometimes it's not as great as you remembered it). Recently, I wrote a piece about "angry music," in which the crown jewel was _Anything (Viva!)_ by *Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel*. I was moved to revisit my collection, and rediscovered one of the most original, most caustic, and mostly forgotten artists of the '80s and '90s. Known under various and equally designed-to-shock names like "You've Got Foetus On Your Breath" and "Foetus Uber Alles," Jim Thirlwell, aka Clint Ruin, creates a wall of cacophony in his music. But behind the madness is a distinct method. *Foetus* music is carefully crafted despite its noisy quality. It is also composed music in the classical sense, as there is a definite symphonic quality to it. And it is also angry, sarcastic and brilliant.The first thing you notice when listening to much of *Foetus'* work is that you want to dance to it, but you can't. It's often nearly melodic, often be-boppy, but always bound for Hell on a rattling, out-of-control handcart. Thirlwell is considered by many to be a first rate composer, he just happens to use screeching metal, power tools, and other found noise as a complement to more traditional instruments. The discography is extensive, encompassing around 50 LPs and EPs. Other side projects include Steroid Maximus and Wiseblood, and one album with L.A. performance artist Lydia Lunch. He is still producing albums, with a decidedly more melodic edge in recent years, but his opus remains the album, _Nail_ (1985). This is almost a concept album, opening with _Theme from Pigdom Come_, a cinematic instrumental, continuing to the masochistic _Throne of Agony_ and ending with the megalomanic _Anything (Viva!)_. Somewhere near the middle is a brilliant piece called _Descent Into The Inferno_ that must surely be the top dance hit in the 8th ring. *Foetus* music is the absolute opposite of easy listening. It's hard listening. You have to work to enjoy it sometimes. It can get hard to work your way past the pompousness and pretension, the painful slog through the self-flagellation of Jim Thirlwell's tortured id. The reward, however, is a deeper look into the abyss than you ever thought you might take.
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