The source material of junk-scrape collage roller coaster "Ballast" features six people making rackets in Portland, with John Wiese (Smegma, LHD, ex-Bastard Noise) then molding and forging them into the maddening, impossibly precise work that it is today.

The title refers to a weight on a ship which improves it’s stability, but it is also a term for an electrical component that regulates electricity so as to not destroy the other components. Its double meaning fits between the cover art and the collage process which is constantly partitioning and interrupting the elements of sound. In the span of a few seconds you’ll hear an avant-garde jazz excursion, a harsh noise tape, and a dub record crashing headlong into one another inside Wiese’s super collider.

Smegma is Ace Farren Ford, Dennis Duck, and Ju Suk Reet Meate (three original members), joined by Rock ’N’ Roll Jackie (35 years in the band), John Wiese (approximately 10 years in the band), and a cast of others form their current third phase. For this album Sissy Spacek consists of the above line-up plus Charlie Mumma (Sewer System, Knelt Rote, Bloody Phoenix, ex-L'Acephale), a member of the band since 2008.

Gatefold jacket. Sold out from the label!