Brian Ruryk / Gastric Female Reflex

Toronto’s favourite juvenile delinquents have sailed a slab of junkyard concrète towards an unsuspecting universe, and it’s housed in what must be the most unruly, yet delightful, garb to ever grace a hunk of vinyl. A three-colour silk-screened outer sleeve, a marbled double inner jacket and three collage-ridden inserts adorn this ornery offering from the Beniffer Editions gang. This particular release finds label bosses Gastric Female Reflex butting heads with bedlam-inspired guitar destroyer Brian Ruryk. Ruryk has been laying waste to six-stringed instruments for over two decades; on his side, aptly named "Alliances for Debris,” Django Reinhardt-on-PCP guitar tumult rides astride what sounds like a thousand tin cans being tossed from the fourth floor of an insane asylum. Various samples of people undergoing nervous breakdowns and punches to the face abruptly punctuate the staggering cacophony. Gastric Female Reflex offer up 13 "Nairobi Pieces,” intricate collages assembled from absurd samples and live vocal tomfoolery. Ruryk takes the prize in this meeting of the tape junk minds but don’t discount Gastric Female Reflex; their brand of sonic detritus is best when it’s served on its own.