armstrongs secret nine "the corpse came calling" lp (1995)

its new years eve and i figure id make the most of the remaining 2 hours or so to bid 2010 a fond farewell with some of the best spastic party music ever made. kent ohio's armstrong's secret nine played crazy sloppy garagecore in the vein of fellow kentites harriet the spy and (early) party of helicopters..........really really good shit and i suppose its even better when your drunk off your ass, so do yourself a favor and check this shit out!

just wish i had someone to kiss when the ball drops.....oh well.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

the corpse came calling

proudentall "whats happening here?" (2001)

they always knew how to do that mathy. dreamy indie rock stuff right in KC and proudentall was one of the brightest examples of how the bands of that city prefected the formula.....this was their only full length and its much more polished and lacking the raw goosebump-giving energy of their earlier releases, but the emotion at the core of their music remains. most of these tracks are tight and focused with mostly clearly sung vocals over angular rythms that change gradually over the course of the songs......theres even an instrumental in there with a  sax that is sorta reminiscent of sweep the leg johnny........anyways beautiful music, beautiful artwork, good lyrics, not sure if i can find any serious shortcommings with this album.....it just sucks that they had to disband after this one....highly recommended.

whats happening here?

smorgasbord "rhythm through vaseline (1997)

smorgasbord were a norwegian band that played turbocharged noisy punkcore, kinda like a more hardcore turbonegro with some heavy unsane influences and vocals close to misfits era-danzig. too bad the production was kinda shitty and the recording as a whole sounds kinda muddy and clouded over. still the intensity shines through and i think youll still be rockin to this in record time.

rhythm through vaseline 

reflector "where has all the melody gone?" (2000)

the only full length by this criminally overlooked KC band of the late 90s-early 2000s. where has all the melody gone? looks like its all been packed into this album. smooth and melodic, even when it gets intense and dischordant, these dudes know how an when to hit all the right notes. i was never sure why they never got more props........i guess it had alot to do with there being a glut of bands around at the same time from the same general area playing along the same general lines........the major difference being reflector playing music of a far superior caliber than the faceless hordes whose names are lost to history...proudentall were another victim of this syndrome.......and both bands were being overshadowed by casket lottery at the time as well......anyways do yourself a huge favor check this shit out now!

where has all the melody gone?

zuexeus s/t (1999-2000?)

this was a band made up of members (or maybe one member) of old NC troublemakers captain specky/cornelius..........maybe the most energetic "rockin" hardcore-esque music ive ever heard....this shit is what you feel like after drinking a keg of seattle's best and a few quarts of  koolaid and a can of jolt as  chasers........hyperactive, guitarfucking, pound the shit out of everything rock with truckloads of melody and an energy level through the fucking roof.......i detect a vague star trek obsession through some song titles and the use of a photon torpedo effect in one song....if this really is one guy who played this shit then fuck, hats off to that hyperactive bastard genius cause this shit is commin correct all day......

zuexeus

splinter "ten love songs" lp (1993)

by request heres the first (and only?) lp by long defunct cleveland/kent hardcore band splinter. much more sloppy sounding than the "scathed" "7 which kinda makes me lose interest a bit......has that clevo tough guy thing in effect (as opposed to the NYHC tough guy thing...i guess the difference would be more metal in the clevo sound) reminds me of infest but just a tad.......has some of those slow building intros that everyone used to call "evil" or "sick" back in the day...i havent paid much attention to the lyrics but if i was a betting man, id say  their probably of the "evil" angsty sort....anyways ill let you make up your mind about this record.

ten love songs

splinter "scathed" "7

one of a couple "7s released by this early-mid 90s band from the cleveland/kent area of ohio.........they say "ass ripping metal", i say its chunky dirty hardcore with a prominent metallic edge. whatever works for the listener though. they also released an lp called "10 love songs" (which i have)in 1993 and im pretty sure another lp called "the end of belief" on rubber city records in 1996. anyways this is alot meaner and more spiteful than most of the shit that was comming out in the early 90s. i can see why they played rorschach's last show..........but its more of a prelude to bands like abnegation or day of suffering who came at the sound with the same approach ( but pushed it way further into metal territory) a few years later and made it popular...i guess id consider a band like mayday as their brothers in sound too.......anyways enjoy!

splinter "scathed" "7

yum yum tree "glittering prizes and endless compromises" (1997)

yum yum tree where a band that existed in NYC in the mid 90s that played some rough basic female fronted punk/core with good lyrics..thye had a split with murdock which is the only other release by them that im aware of.....members went on to your adversary and books lie.....good stuff.




glittering prizes and endless compromises

stillsuit "green spock ears" (1995)

stillsuit was one of those NYHC bands of the early-mid 90s that really didnt fit in with the vast majority of bands in that scene soundwise......instead of copping the tough guy attitudes of peers such as madball, VOD and warzone they went down the grooving, noisy and emotional route favored by bands like die 116, atlas shrugged and burn.....excellent stuff. these dudes also put out another full length called "at the speed of light" which is rockin in the extreme as well....

stillsuit "green spock ears"

cloudrat@ DAAC, grand rapids michigan. 8/31/10

cloud rat. i only managed to get their last song =(

zann: pt4, @DAAC, grand rapids, mi, 8/31/10

last song.

ZANN pt3: DAAC, grand rapids mi 8/31/10

3rd part

zann pt 2 ( @ DAAC, grand rapids,mi 8/31/10

second part

zann pt 1 (@DAAC, grand rapids, mi, 8/31/10)

first part of my footage of their set.

Black kites, DAAC, grand rapids michigan, 8/31/10

my footage of the black kites set from last night.

black kites/zann/cloudrat/positive noise/great reversal/brothers show, 8/31/10, DAAC, grand rapids, michigan

black kites.

cloudrat

BROTHERS.

i have zann's full set on video, as well as cloudrat's and most of black kites set. i accidentally deleted the positive noise/great reversal sets when i was trying to make room to record zann's set. hopefully i can get that shit uploaded soon.

PS: john from zann is the nicest dude youd ever wanna meet. black kites dudes are amazingly awesome in person as well. actually every fucking band had important shit to say and were just all around awesome.

i always get amped and mentally/spiritually recharged when i see a show as good as this was....everyone having a great time and no one was an asshole....it was a really nice break from the usual......bringin me back to all the shows i attended in the late 90s/early 2000s. 

much love to all who attended and those who set it up (jeremy) hopefully ill be back to support you all again  soon!

hey

kinda takin a break right now. hopefully ill be back fresh with new shit soon but for now im just kinda burnt out on everything.

dolores "heartless" (2000)

this was the second "7 released by this brutalizing MD/VA unit. more grimey ugly shit, possibly even more brutal than the first "7. reminds me at different times of absinthe, zorn, mine, and even thoughts of ionesco.....this shit will gut you. there was word of an unreleased lp from 2002 somewhere...hopefully it surfaces at some point in the near future....

heartless

rachel "last songs"

6 days into august and im finally back with a new entry. yea, i know, ive been slackin lately.

anyways this was another one of those rough, rather badly recorded "french emo" bands that overcome their studio shortcommings with a shitload of energy and emotion. i think these guys were active towards the tail end of the french emo movement in the late 90s after the big boys like fingerprint, jasmine and ivich had all called it a day. this was recorded in 1997-98 or therabouts and didnt come out until 2000 or so when stonehenge put it out in europe and ricecontrol (run by virginia scene afficianado/sometime HaC contributer forbes graham) records put it out in the states. as the title of the album states, these where the last songs the band recorded before they broke up. this is good stuff.

rachel "last songs"

ACRID - Fireside Bowl 1998

pneu "pince monseigneur" (2008)

im not sure what it is with france and 2 man bands but they seem to be everywhere there lately.......these two dudes are from tours and play some nasty complex shit very similar to countrymen 37500 yens.........maybe with a bit of chevreuil mixed in.......as usual with the vast majority of this french shit, its fucking excellent....cop this.

pince monseigneur

brazen "orphaned" cd (2003?)

this was the first proper full length by this swiss band, i put them stylewise alongside bands like lvmen, gnu, doppler, ect. however, this cd and the split with kevlar, are a pretty radical departure from what they where doing before........the unique rhythmic noise slathered hardcore of the first "7 and the "as floods decrease" "10 was replaced by a more melodic, controlled concoction, they retained the moody and explosive character of their earlier releases but twisted it into something much more accessible. although i still love the early work, this cd has grown on me alot.....i dig the musicianship but im still not feelin the vocals......dude was better when he was screaming....anyways brazen dident fall off, they just morphed into something new while retaining the things that made their music unique and great in the first place.

orphaned

Full Service Quartet (1995) pt3

full Service Quartet (1995) pt2

Full Service Quartet (1995) pt1

the great unraveling discography

one of the long string of "tonie joy" bands.....began its existence a few months after UOA called it a day in 1995 and lasted until 1997-98. this includes their lp, the "space flight" "7 and the "angel rang virtue" "7 ....this was an extension of what UOA played but with more groove and repetitive riffs and a tad less chaos than their forebearers.........anyways i decided to post this in reminder of the UOA reunion shows happening this month (i learned about them too late in the game for me to actually marshall my resources and get my ass to the east coast for one of em)

UNIVERSAL ORDER OF ARMAGEDDON

REUNION SHOWS

JULY 24TH 2010

WHARTSCAPE FESTIVAL

BALTIMORE MD

JULY 25TH

DEATH BY AUDIO

BROOKLYN NY




heres the sound:



great unraveling

dolores "poison apple" "7 (1999)

this band came from  the marlyand/virginia area in the late 90s and played some of the ugliest hardcore ive heard in a long time.....mangled, noisy, messy, incredibly ugly.......a bit of a mosh feel at times, somewhat atmospheric and expirimental at others....actually reminds me of the old swiss band mine....for a long time i thought these guys where from europe (germany i thought) and only recently did i find that they where american.......anyways this shit kills, if it was a liquid it would be stored in bottles with EPA warnings on it......

poison apple

my winter jane "7 (199?)

another of those japanese indie rock/emo bands from the 90s (im guessing that this came out sometime in the mid-late 90s cause it definatly sounds like part of that era) that no one on this side of the pacific knew about......unlike alot of japanese bands the (female) vocals are sung in near perfect english........musically the first two songs are along the lines of braid or goodbye blue monday, melodic, rolling "midwestern" style 90s emo with just a slight edge of messiness and dischordance, the vocals remind me of allison of discount alot too.. the last two songs sound newer and have a slightly more modern, commercial sound.....the recording job is on par with most of the american bands playing this style in the same era......all in all this is a damn good record and y'all should check it out......

my winter jane

your adversary "3" cd (1999)

this band was from NYC and existed in the late 90s and featured ex members of the yum yum tree and future members of books lie. driving, rockin personal/political hardcore that was just catchy enough to get stuck in my head ("plan for long term growth" especially) male/female vocals interlace on most tracks making this a bit unique as there werent (and still arent) many bands utilizing male/female vocals together at the time (i only remember kill the man who questions and a few other crust and emo bands doing it back then)the only releases i remember that they had were this cd and a "7. anyways have a listen for yourself!

"3"

mind intrusion mixtape #1

so i thought it would be fun to gather a few obscure tracks from some obscure bands and put em on a mixtape for all you guys/gals. this might turn into a (semi)regular thing depending on the feedback.

9 songs, 7 bands.

tracklist:

land of the wee beasties: "enter the jerk"

cowpers: "dont trust in me"

the greening: (pre reversal of man) "against their will"

held: "overdue"

hybris: "portraits defining"

hybris: "to remember why"

voices forming weapons: "soulchoir"

universal aka the mental toilet: "computer crash"

universal aka the mental toilet: "toilet in my head"





mixtape #1

cripple kid / little dipper split (1998-9?)

i believe one of these bands was from ohio and one was from connecticut, though im not sure which is from where.....the came out in the late 90s and is a forgotten gem of 90s pop punk/indie rock. cripple kid starts things off with some huge noise drenched melodies and  a soaring skyhigh feel to their fresh pop/rock/punk, if you like the raymond brake, dinosaur jr, christie front drive or treepeople you'll blow wads over this......catchy great, amazing, fantastic, you know the deal............little dipper was somewhat more raw sounding but still melodic and catchy...maybe "4 minute mile" era get up kids with a somewhat rougher recording job? for me cripple kid wins this split but ill let you decide for yourself. anyways

brush off the dust, kick the tires and take 'er out for a spin!

cripple kid/little dipper

faith of blind "peep" (2002?)

the great majority of japanese bands never get any respect. sure, bands like GISM and forward have dedicated cultlike followings here in the US for all the maniacs who love that old buzzsaw "japcore" of the 80s (i personally could never stand that kind of stuff) but on the whole, if you where from japan and your band wasnt thrashy or weird and noisy nobody gave a shit. recently thats changed to a degree with bands like envy and killie garnering some international acclaim, but still shitloads of quality bands play out their lifecycles and breakup without any notice beyond japan's shores...faith of blind is (or was, as i have absolutely no idea if this band is still going) one of those bands. formed in the early 90s and going strong for at least a decade. bits of dinosaur jr, braid and party of helicopters, stir in a little shoegaze, let it congeal and you have the framework for what this band is doing (or did). excellent wall of noise/pop punk/emo that is (was) unique and catchy.

check it out my brothas (and sistahs)

peep!

groundstate "pinwheel cement driver"

this band was from detroit and existed in the mid 90s. this is the only record of theirs that im aware of. pretty typical moshcore/sXe related stuff that was very common during that era. good nonetheless. some "emo" instrumentals here and there too. members were also in a few other bands (the ska bands skalars and telegraph) this cd is almost impossible to find.









pinwheel cement driver

majhas "stepping into character"

this band hailed from indianapolis and was formed from members of ice nine  in the late 90s. they had a cdep on happy couples never last before this which was decent.......this record however, kills that one. chaotic, moody, noisy, messy, its all that and more....kind of like kiss it goodbye but with a more evolved, moody, modernized sound.....im not sure if this band is dead or on a longass hiatus, if the latter is correct than i hope they hit us with a new album soon cause this one was a doozy.

stepping into character

The J. J. Paradise Players Club - Stash Panties

2010-01-31 - Inade - L'Archipel - Paris #6/6

IRM "oedipus dethroned" (2000)

im posting this because this was the "band" (maybe "unit" or "outfit" would be better terms when discussing noise/ambient/power electronics)along with the grey wolves and institut that turned me onto the whole power electronics thing  10 years or so ago. to this day id have to say that this is my favorite record from that genere of music....just creepy, terrifying and amazing, things i cant say about stuff like merzbow or much of the rest of the japanese groups who do this (though i havent heard the whole merzbow collection so maybe i should withhold judgement on that, but still, his stuff dosent affect me like IRM does.) kind of thing. anyways IRM consist o two individuals, martin bladh and erik jarl (who does some really good dark ambient stuff on his own) and hail from norkoping sweden, they know how to construct harsh abrasive soundscapes without it feeling like someone shoved a power drill up your ear canal (though i guess thats the point for alot of noise "outfits") they are experts at layering sounds over eachother and creating something that is brutal and sometimes repetitive but almost always enjoyable.....that they use (harsh) vocals and actual lyrics is another plus in their corner as it adds more direction to the music........if i had to recommend one album from this genere, this would be the one. they hve alot of material out and id recommend checking out all of it.

oedipus dethroned

pinehurst kids "7

portland's  pinehurst kids are/were one of those fun sunnyday indie rock bands that youd love to listen to in your car with the windows down, sun shining, blue skies, pedal to the metal 75 mph down 1-75 (or maybe the pacific coast highway for all you cali/west coast readers). just catchy memorable stuff.........this "7 hits me right in that sweetspot......"dumb enough" is an absolute masterpiece of that kind of rock, but with just the right pinch of  a wistful melodramatic feel that just intensifies my love for this tune all that much more.....fans of the treepeople/halo benders/acrobat down will dig the shit out of this...(their a bit more bouncy and "kool-aid" than those bands but close enough) their lps are all good to and expect to see more fro mthis band pop up on here in the near future......

"7

small brown bike "dead reckoning"

im sure this has been posted on other blogs but since this band meant alot to me over the past 12-13 years and im still rocking their shit without letup after all this time its more than worthy to post here. small brown bike is one of those few bands who have no affectations whatsoever. just  4 dudes from michigan who love playing together and hit you with straightfoward gruff, rough punk/hardcore. their lyrics are honest and to the point without any arty affected bullshit, theyve always said what they meant, never making the listener beat around the bush. its emotion distilled to its purest, rough edged form. i saw these guys more than any other band, at least a dozen times in their heydey between 1998 - 2003 and everytime they brought the energy and drive, im not sure if there is such a thing as a bad SBB show. all their records where quality shit, even "the river bed" which was hands down their weakest effort, had gems like "a declaration of sorts" and "a lesson to remember"on it. after a spate of reunion shows in 2007 (of which i caught one, in kalamazoo) they apparently reformed as an active full time band and i think have released something on no idea recently if im correct.......anyways "dead reckoning" was their strongest effort, barely edging out "our own wars" and the early shit on the first collection cd for the honor......they put it all together on this album.............just an absolute pinnacle of gruff punk..........much moreso than anything hot water music has ever done.......ill be keeping an eye out for local shows in the future.....seeing them in '07 was kinda like visiting a freind you havent seen in years but when you finally do all the memories of the good times come flooding back and its like they never went away in the first place.......

"I sit above the rooms of our home.

Expose myself to a loss that I've known.

No clouds exist in this blue sky.

I use my sense for the first time.

My hands hold on to the horizon.

Can't catch my breath, so I stop trying.

This small part of me counts down mathematically.

It will bury me with you.

I am here for just a short time.

You've been gone for this stretch of my life.

Please live through me.

Now this tragedy becomes reality to our family.

I am here for just a short time.

You've been gone for this stretch of my life.

This small part of me counts down mathematically.

It will bury me with you."

 

dead reckoning

doppler tour to defy 2008

DOPPLER

DOPPLER

paul newman "machine is not broken"

the third full length from this austin/chicago/nyc band....recorded in 2000. a masterpiece of near instrumental rock.....flawless, magnificent, awesome, too many adjectives to cram in before it gets tedious. similar to tristeza but i would have to say this album is superior to anything that band has done. im not sure why, but this album got some bad reviews when it came out, i guess maybe because the late 90s-early 2000's were crammed full of bands playing this kind of sleepy, mathy instrumental stuff and paul newman kinda got lost in the shuffle. now hardly anyone is playing this kind of stuff and maybe thats why it hits me even harder. i slept on this record for years and have only recently discovered the level of  awesome contained within these tracks. hopefully you will too.

machine is not broken

iscariote: genese et agonie, 2000-2004

this is a collection of  "7's, splits and miscellanious stuff from the swiss/french band, iscariote. it includes songs from their first 7, split cd with envy and a couple other tracks that im assuming were from comps....anyways all this stuff was recorded between 2000 and 2004 and is a bit rawer and dirtier than their full length...loud, fucked up and intense.......theyve been compared to botch which i guess isnt too far off the mark....id say these guys where a bit more unforgiving than that band but whatever.......france seems to have turned into a wellspring for the twisted brutal stuff beginning at the end of the 90s and stretching through the decade and iscariote was a prime example of  that.

genese et agonie

John Brown Battery - Electricity

videoooosssss

so year i went a little videocrazy late last night. i would have put all of these in one post but for some reason i couldnt figure out how to do that (blame it on the drowsiness i guess) anyways enjoy! ive been wanting to post some videos for a while now....probably will again at some point....

LOXIRAN - WAHRE WESEN

Upset | Celle @ Buntes Haus | Mar 31st, 1999

Enfold | Bremen @ Grünenstraße | Feb 28th, 1998

ENFOLD "run down" bremen g18

Quitters Club

Rusty James | Celle @ Buntes Haus | 28 Mar 1997

i turned 19 the day this show took place! this show would have been the perfect birthday present!

kevorkian "who is who?" "7 (1999)

more czech goodness from the late 90s...........kevorkian are/were a break from what im used to hearing czech bands sound like............no huge epic tunes like lvmen/thema eleven/gnu here, just very harsh, frantic metallic hardcore with more than a touch of death n roll.........this "7 in itself is a departure in sound for kevorkian, whos first "7 was much more in line with all the "emo" stuff that was happening in the mid 90s......this is probably my favorite release from this band...their cd that came later was way too metal in a bad way and their earlier stuff, while very good, lacked the frantic crazy energy this record has....anyways have a listen to an era when the czech republic had a pretty amazing scene and bands that put out pretty amazing records.....

kevorkian - who is who?

gaza "i dont care where i go when i die"

so im sure youve probably seen this record on multiple other blogs or have heard this record by now......well im posting it again! of all the bands in the "new breed" of metal hardcore to have formed in the last 7-8 years gaza (IMO) is by far the best.......just fucking ragged, ugly, vicious, unique noise that tears your head to bits everytime you listen to it. these guys and crowpath basically owned the chaotic earfucking metal hardcore category for the past half decade (in crowpath's case, longer) salt lake city's current best band. fucking vicious live....just huge sounds that envelop you while jon parkin paces back and forth, basically tearing his own lungs out........this was their first lp, came out in 2006.......they have a new one called "hes never comming back' which is more controlled and less messy and all over the place but still  maintains an ear shredding intensity.........anyways i give to you the monster:

i dont care where i go when i die.

dagobah s/t cd (1995)

hailing from cape cod, dagobah where one of the first generation of bands, along with breadwinner, cole, hurl and don caballero to play that complex and thunderously loud form of rock that had its heyday in the mid-late 90s "instrumetal" some people called it....anyways these guys dont really stand out from the pack, but they sound closer to cole on the noise spectrum than don cab which, at this point in my life, is a good thing, as ive not cared much for that band in years.............anyways this was their first and to my knowledge, only full length...they had an ep after this, but that record was a mere shadow of this one in terms of  song quality....oh and the song "55378008(life)" reminds me a hell of alot of craw...same riffage, same kind of weird lyrical content, oly they seem to be more obsessed with sailboats than paranormal shit..........

dagobah