Not likely -- they even have a preset on the Clavia Nord Modular to synthesize record crackle, it's probably something like that or a sample. It's the audio equivalent of scratched celluloid.
I Voivod -- all phases of them. The early rough phase, the middle more proggy phase, and the more recent back-to-old-school-rough phase.
Nothingface was the pinnacle of what me and a friend started calling "alterna-metal". Love that album.
Catscratch -- I own and love about half that list, I'm going to have to at least hear the other half.
You know, sometimes their descriptions are just plain daft, but I particularly enjoyed this one. I mean, instead of getting all technical, they just took what was going to be the definitive misinterpretation of things, and embraced it.
There were words between those gorgeous pictures, I'm sure of it. My peripheral vision caught some of it. Something about software and whining, I think.
Humphrey's Half Moon Inn is the shit (in the colloquial sense). They have concerts there, so make sure you know and like what's playing the nights you'll be staying. I was fortunate enough to see both Tracy Chapman and George Carlin there.
Also, make a trek up to Lou's in Encinitas.