As far as I know, the only Chelsea Grin records out there are the "Animal
Factory" and "Facelifter" EPs on Sabrettes. You're right -- they're both
premium pieces of evil, intelligent techno. "Animal Factory" is one of
the hardest records I own, and is impressive in its use of texture (as
opposed to speed) to build its brick-hard facade.
The "women underrepresented in techno" theme pops up on this list every
so often, and nothing definitive ever comes from the ensuing discussions
/ flamewars. Maybe it's that techno is made by music-geek gearheads, most
of whom are male. Maybe it's that the power structure in the music
industry (which includes techno) is overwhelmingly male. I don't know and
I really don't care to speculate, because this is an argument we don't
particularly need to have again. Yet. ;)
Sabrettes (Chelsea Grin's label) is run by Nina Walsh (whose work as Slab
on Hydrogen Dukebox ("certified weirdo music") is worth checking out --
great acid breakbeat tracks), and it's been pretty friendly towards
female artists, but even its roster is overwhelmingly male. Hopefully, as
techno / idm / ambient / jungle matures, more women will get pulled into
the fray, but for now, techno is a boy's game.
yrz,
ozy