Vertical Slit

Warning: these are lo-fi jams gnarled with discontent and all-around intense vibes. But. There's something special going on here. Ohio 1980: Unknown poet Jim Shepard and some mates are in what sounds like a basement. There they mix up prog rock and post-punk and hurl the confusion beyond free jazz, noise, hardcore, no wave, psychedelia and every other experimental sound out there. Though far more obscure than Pere Ubu, Vertical Slit are a high point of the Midwest avant garde.