While it’s true that the primary themes of this album (and most of the Velvet Acid Christ discography) are drugs and violence, the bounty of sci-fi movie sampling in VAC is almost overwhelming.  Back on ye olde Usenet, VAC frontman (and often solo artist) Bryan Erickson was often given a hard time by others about it.

But I always enjoyed the samples, both because I liked that about electronic and industrial music in general, and because I felt they were appropriately used in VAC compositions as strong, critical threads as much as lyrics and instrumentation were.

Other albums have their own notable sample sources, but this one features some sci-fi staples: Starship Troopers, Event Horizon, and a collection of Borg-related samples from Star Trek.

While I’ve never described myself as a fan of Velvet Acid Christ, and find myself repulsed by the saturation of drug and violence imagery, I find myself coming back again and again to hear a few stand-out tracks and this album as a whole.

Velvet Acid Christ – Futile ’98

Official Website, On AmazonMP3

I don’t imagine a lot of you nerdcore fans are going to understand this one, but some of you will in a big way.

Babyland, as I’ve written elsewhere, grew and matured alongside me over the years, making each album a snapshot I can look back on and remember myself and who I was at the time.  You Suck Crap was released way back in 1992 and as far as I was concerned upon my introduction to it in ’94, it was an instant classic.  It spoke directly to the teenaged outsider I was at the time, and to the rage he felt at himself and the world.

While later albums featured more mellow introspection or refined discontent, You Suck Crap was very loud and raw and offered an aggressive outlet to the feelings typical of so many nerds at that age.  And if the emotional resonance wasn’t enough, Hell, they did a song about an H. P. Lovecraft story and one about Logan’s Run too.

Babyland – Logan’s Run
Babyland – Don’t You Feel Lost
Babyland – Reality

Official Site, Releases on Amazon