by Stewart MasonMan, Aaron Funk has it in for his hometown all of a sudden. Starting with the charming title track -- a full-on, near-atonal assault of overlaid drum samples and electronic fills, lightened by samples from an old Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce-type audio brochure -- and continuing through to the says-it-all "Die Winnipeg Die Die Die F**kers Die," Winnipeg Is a Frozen Shithole is easily Venetian Snares' most relentlessly aggressive release. One of the titles name-checks Nurse with Wound leader Steve Stapleton, but while NWW could occasionally reach this level of musical hostility (as a matter of fact, "Winnipeg Is Steve Stapleton's Armpit" is built on nothing but manipulated iterations of the word "Winnipeg," which isn't far removed from things Stapleton used to do in the early days), there's a monochromatic quality to Winnipeg Is a Frozen Shithole that keeps the listener from wanting to explore the record beyond its bruising surface. "Yeah. So?" seems to be the only possible response.