Various - Hog Butcher for the World

This is a compilation of alternative bands from the Chicago area circa 1987, and it really is much more "alternative" than the cover would suggest - lots of it is rather quaint indie rock, not pigfuck noise you might expect from looking at the cover or flipping it to find a Big Black song in the track listing. Some of the bands here really remained obscure for a reason, but there is good stuff on it - the aforementioned Big Black in a strangely "funky" sounding edition, the dark Americana of an early version of Freakwater (here called Mojo something-or-other - I first thought it was an alias for Mojo Nixon, but the Internets say otherwise), a cool track by the pre-fame Urge Overkill, two nice otherwise unreleased songs by Joe Haggerty's Bloodsport and (already featured on this blog) Precious Wax Drippings, and so on. Nothing to really get your panties wet about, but still worthy of preservation.

Track listing:

1. Bloodsport - Ink of Your Soul (3:50)
2. God's Acre - 1-2 a Boy's Life (3:33)
3. Mojo Wishbean & Trippy Squashblossum - Little Black Train (2:35)
4. Urge Overkill - Last Train to Heaven (3:41)
5. Precious Wax Drippings - No Place I Can't Go (2:17)
6. The Garden - Walking through the Darkness (4:41)
7. Big Black - Big Money (live) (2:42)
8. The Defoliants - The End (3:51)
9. Permabuzz - Drivin' (3:20)
10. The Sapphires - Evil Eye (2:54)
11. Ungh! - Turn the Light On (2:39)
12. Material Issue - Chance of a Lifetime (3:04)
13. End Result - Truly Evil Thought (2:48)

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Zeke - Live at Hultsfredsfestivalen, Sweden 19.06.2004.

Writing about Zeke seems utterly unnecessary - if you like them, you already know them; and if you don't know them, chances are you won't like them. If you do know and like them, here's a rather good sounding bootleg of one of their ass-kicking shows, so you can relive the enjoyment you must have had when you saw them live; or, so you can punch yourself in the face because you DID NOT go see them the one time they played in your country, because you didn't really think you should spend all that money on a show and they'll come back anyway and what the hell. Well, I did not go to their Zagreb show back in 2002, and they never came back, and they never will come back, so I'll keep listening to shitty bootlegs instead. Woo-hoo.

Track listing:

1. Highway Star (0:47)
2. Wanna Fuck (1:05)
3. Chiva Knievel (1:42)
4. West Seattle Acid Party (1:20)
5. Arkansas Man (3:21)
6. Little Queen (1:49)
7. Chinatown (1:30)
8. Holley 750 (1:36)
9. T-500 (0:39)
10. Mainline (3:12)
11. Slut (1:19)
12. Dragonfly (2:16)
13. The Hammer (1:51)
14. Raped (0:41)
15. Twisted (1:56)
16. Dogfight (1:08)
17. Overkill (0:56)
18. Mystery Train (1:32)
19. God of GSXR (1:01)
20. 302 Cubic Inch V-8 Powered Blues (3:52)
21. Zeke You (2:08)
22. Lawson (0:51)
23. (Intermission) (1:49)
24. Schmidt Value Pack (1:19)
25. Young Man Blues (2:37)
26. Galaxie 500 (0:59)
27. Wreckin' Machine (1:32)

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Death Disco - Demos

Death Disco were a Croatian post-punk band based in Zagreb, hailing from Split, and sounding like they were from Belgrade. They reminded me most of the legendary Yugo band Sarlo akrobata, perhaps a bit faster. They were active throughout the first half of the '00s, released one album, and quit soon after - which was a pity because they were getting better all the time and could have become a really great band; as it is, they were always fun live, and had some really cool songs, some of which were never released but are preserved in the form of the first half of this collection of demos. Along with the unreleased stuff I've added the two demos that were available from the band before the release of the album, one of which is a kind of a test run for the album, and the other an embryonic version of the band that sounded completely different than the final version. If my memory serves, the "band" at this point consisted only of the bassist and the guitar player, and the tunes were constructed via e-mails from Split to Zagreb and back. This demo does have its moments (and a great song title in "Buena Vista Death Dub"), but they've gotten much better when they became a real band. Nowadays, the bassist plays in a synth-pop band called Hemendex, the guitar player lives in Amsterdam, and the drummer is a writer with six published books (as of 2012).

Legendary photo of bassist Narantxa in my father's living room after a Death Disco show in Osijek.

Track listing:

1. Reli Sutjeska (2:01)
2. 66 (2:06)
3. Rezervni dijelovi (2:24)
4. Ja sam sisao s trake (2:15)
5. Meatball's Party (1:24)
6. Bunny Kebab Song (2:31)
7. Photo Death (2:39)
8. Kravate (3:49)
9. Seafood Restaurant (2:49)
10. New V (3:12)
11. Bunar (2:01)
12. Cekici (1:21)
13. Tajnici hoce na paradu/MIG A4 (2:18)
14. Roboti (1:28)
15. Paviljon (2:41)
16. Dijagrami (1:11)
17. Tramvaji dole (1:42)
18. Test (1:32)
19. Televizor (1:35)
20. Skare (Crveni signali demo) (2:14)
21. Slucaj (Crveni signali demo) (1:10)
22. Francuski brijaci (Crveni signali demo) (3:54)
23. Sudbonosno da (Crveni signali demo) (1:40)
24. To se ne jede (Crveni signali demo) (0:28)
25. Crveni signali (Crveni signali demo) (2:00)
26. Icepick 001 (Wrap the Pump demo) (2:56)
27. Cour'd Mallarde (Wrap the Pump demo) (4:49)
28. Killer Movie (Wrap the Pump demo) (4:40)
29. Braunnoisé (Wrap the Pump demo) (2:37)
30. Gold (Wrap the Pump demo) (5:24)
31. Buena Vista Death Dub (Wrap the Pump demo) (0:58)
32. I Like Little French Girls (Wrap the Pump demo) (4:31)

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Future of the Left - Sessions

Pictures of the L.A. Echoplex gig stolen from LosAnjelous.com.

This is a collection of all Future of the Left radio sessions I could find, ranging from 2007 to 2012 and featuring two distinctly different lineups of the band - the three-piece lineup with Kelson on bass, and the current four-piece with Julie on bass and Jimmy on second guitar and vocals. The collection spans three albums and a bit more (songs nr. 2 and 3. are as of yet unreleased; and the "Bethan & Huw" session was recorded prior to any FOTL recordings seeing the light of day - could it be it was their recorded public debut?) and it's all gold, basically. There's a bit of repetition but what kind of person could complain about hearing "Small Bones Small Bodies" or "Arming Eritrea" too many times? I've divided the interview snippets into separate tracks so you don't have to listen to them every time you want to hear the tunes, but you should hear them at least once because the band members really are such nice and funny people as the host of the KEXP sessions says. I've seen them again for the fifth time a few months ago in Los Angeles (supporting Andrew Jackson Jihad, a cool band that I wouldn't have discovered otherwise) and, enjoyment of the show notwithstanding, was again left with the impression they really are the nicest people in the current indie rock scene. Be it Jack running off from the merch stand to try and get my wife inside the sold-out show, or Falco talking to me for a good ten minutes until it was ME who finished the conversation, afraid that we were making too much noise for the other people to enjoy the main band. I think it was the first time I ever went to talk to the performer after a show where I didn't feel the slightest bit like I'm hassling the poor guy who is obliged to listen to my drivel and repeat "Thanks mate" until I get the message that I'm boring him. Nice people, I tell ya. And a wonderful band of course. I'm looking forward to what I hope will be tons of more great music from them.

P.S. You should check out Falco's blog for some of the most amusing person-in-a-band writing you will ever read.

P.P.S. The last song here is just a shitty live recording off of YouTube, but I've added it because I really used to love hearing this one as the show closer, and seeing as it went the way of Kelson and will probably never be played live again, I like to hear it every time I can.

Track listing:

1. Failed Olympic Bid (Radio 1 Session 2012) (3:08)
2. Johnny Borrell Afterlife (Radio 1 Session 2012) (2:19)
3. Prescriptions (Radio 1 Session 2012) (3:57)
4. Interview (KEXP Session 2012) (0:24)
5. Beneath the Waves an Ocean (KEXP Session 2012) (3:25)
6. Interview (KEXP Session 2012) (1:46)
7. Robocop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop (KEXP Session 2012) (2:45)
8. Interview (KEXP Session 2012) (2:38)
9. Small Bones Small Bodies (KEXP Session 2012) (2:38)
10. Outro (KEXP Session 2012) (0:16)
11. Arming Eritrea (WOXY.com Session 2009) (2:53)
12. Chin Music (WOXY.com Session 2009) (1:57)
13. Small Bones Small Bodies (WOXY.com Session 2009) (2:41)
14. Fingers Become Thumbs! (WOXY.com Session 2009) (2:01)
15. Land of My Formers (WOXY.com Session 2009) (2:44)
16. Introduction (KEXP Session 2009) (0:10)
17. Arming Eritrea (KEXP Session 2009) (2:58)
18. Chin Music (KEXP Session 2009) (2:08)
19. Interview (KEXP Session 2009) (0:38)
20. Small Bones Small Bodies (KEXP Session 2009) (2:47)
21. Stand by Your Manatee (KEXP Session 2009) (3:17)
22. Outro (KEXP Session 2009) (0:39)
23. Introduction (Bethan & Huw Session 2007) (0:43)
24. Fingers Become Thumbs! (Bethan & Huw Session 2007) (1:51)
25. Interview (Bethan & Huw Session 2007) (4:12)
26. March of the Coupon Saints (Bethan & Huw Session 2007) (2:07)
27. Outro (Bethan & Huw Session 2007) (0:23)
28. The Lord Hates a Coward (SXSW Lounge Session 2007) (3:36)
29. My Gymnastic Past (SXSW Lounge Session 2007) (2:27)
30. adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood (SXSW Lounge Session 2007) (3:10)
31. Cloak the Dagger (Live at the Warehouse, Calgary 2009) (7:10)
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Thee Undertakers - L.A. Muerte 7"

Thee Undertakers were one of the original Los Angeles punk bands, but have somehow slipped through the cracks of the current fascination with this scene(or "scenes"; they were from East L.A., and that's a whole different story than the "Decline" crowd). Perhaps it has to do with them not being affiliated with the more well known L.A. bands from this time period, and them having released no music at all during their existence is certainly also to blame. Still, there is a great retrospective CD released on the Grand Theft Audio label which you can still buy, and that one is full of real punk gems, plucked from a session for an aborted LP and a collection of demos. This 7", released by Artifix Records and now out of print, is more like scraping of the proverbial barrel - two further nice but unremarkable demos, and two live songs of similar quality level. It's not bad at all, but I think of it as a cool bonus to the essential stuff collected on the CD. You really should buy the CD and then download this, but suit yourself!

Track listing:

1. Register to Die (1982 demo) (1:46)
2. Electric Eye (1982 demo) (2:08)
3. Don't Mean Anything (1980 Hong Kong Cafe) (0:56)
4. It's a Sin (1980 Hong Kong Cafe) (1:59)

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Nine Pound Hammer - Live in Lexington, KY 06.05.2005

Here's a Nine Pound Hammer show from 2005 that used to be available on several blogs but now all links seem to be dead. The setlist and the band are great, the sound quality is no great shakes but it is quite listenable. Just to post something while I'm preparing a mammoth MEKONS post, on to the track listing and link:

Track Listing:

1. God Damn Right (4:45)
2. Rub Your Daddy's Lucky Belly (2:25)
3. Hayseed Timebomb (3:16)
4. Medley: Drive In/Little Help (3:11)
5. Skin a Buck (2:45)
6. Dead Dog Highway (2:53)
7. Don't Get No (3:43)
8. 800 Miles (2:15)
9. Feeling Kinda Froggy (2:13)
10. Stranded Outside Tater Knob (3:28)
11. Drunk, Tired and Mean (3:57)
12. Ain't Hurtin' Nobody (3:48)
13. Slam Bang (4:57)
14. Rode Hard and Put Away Wet (3:35)
15. If You Want to Get to Heaven (3:12)
16. Earl's Piss Break (2:24)
17. 12 Ounce Mouse Theme (1:24)
18. Cadillac Inn (2:04)
19. Shotgun in a Chevy (3:06)
20. Run Fat Boy Run (2:52)
21. Redneck Romance (5:03)
22. This Drinkin' Will Kill Me (3:52)
23. Two Tub Man (6:17)

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Atrophy - Demos + Live in Toronto 30.01.1989

Seeing as some of the most popular downloads from my blog are the metal bands - the Voivod demo, the Slayer bootleg, the Napalm Death rarities and so on - I guess I should feature more metal stuff and give the ex-Yugoslavian punk obscurities a rest from time to time. Trouble is, metal as a genre is VERY well documented on thousands of other blogs, and I'm really having trouble finding something which you can't get someplace else. Even this collection I'm uploading today is easy enough to compile from a few different torrent sources, but due to the nature of torrents and their relatively short lifespan, I hope I can provide it a more permanent home. So, Atrophy were a mid-to-late '80s thrash band from Tombstone, Arizona, who have released two official LP's, which are both still in print as CD reissues; this material however, features their six-song demo "Chemical Dependency" (an excellent tape, by the way), two more songs from another promo tape, and a shoddy sounding live show just for the hell of it. Everything but the promo songs was included on a bootleg CD called "Product of the Bong", but I have updated the "Chemical Dependency" songs with copies from a better sounding source.

Track listing:

1. Chemical Dependency (demo) (4:01)
2. Rest in Pieces (demo) (5:20)
3. Preacher, Preacher (demo) (4:26)
4. Suicide Pact (demo) (5:14)
5. Product of the Past (demo) (4:01)
6. Beer Bong (demo) (2:03)
7. Socialized Hate (demo) (5:00)
8. Matter of Attitude (demo) (3:27)
9. Urban Decay (live) (4:02)
10. Killing Machine (live) (4:00)
11. Rest in Pieces (live) (4:52)
12. Chemical Dependency (live) (3:30)
13. Product of the Past (live) (4:09)
14. Socialized Hate (live) (4:54)
15. Matter of Attitude (live) (3:43)
16. Beer Bong (live) (2:35)

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KBO! - Cassette Discography

KBO! are the longest-running punk band in Serbia, having begun way back in 1982. They have released two vinyl LP's and and four CD's by now, but before that, they had several self-released cassettes spanning the latter part of the '80s, which I have collected here, as you can find the proper albums elsewhere. These tapes have been recorded before they have gotten really good, in my opinion at least, but there is good stuff to be heard here, too, plus there's the historical value and what have you. My favourite of these is the last tape, "Moja sloboda", combined here with the never released (to my knowledge) "Live in Osijek", which features mostly songs from their finest LP (again - in my opinion), "Pozovi 93". I had this tape as a kid, lost it years and years ago, and was thrilled to find it on Soulseek recently (thanks to "gari sa limana" for all the stuff he's been providing me for this blog!). I also like the dark post-punky songs from the "Tama" cassette, while the rest of the material is mostly youthful rudimentary hardcore-punk which doesn't leave much of an impression - again, except for the documentary purposes. The sound is mostly quite good considering the conditions in which these tapes were recorded and the shortcomings of the medium itself; it's somewhat on the trebly side, but this also has to do with the band's characteristic sound (they never had a bass player, choosing instead a lineup of two guitars and drums). On to the links...

1987 - Nove obrade starih stvari + Tama

1. Buducnost (1:07)
2. Frka na juznoj tribini (1:37)
3. Radijatori (1:47)
4. Opasnost (1:21)
5. Jebeni zivot (1:13)
6. Pesma (1:38)
7. Bolovanje (2:17)
8. Smrt Aparthejdu (2:40)
9. Oni (2:08)
10. Divlji Zapad (1:05)
11. To je podrig (0:51)
12. Gradjanin grada (1:36)
13. Kragujevac (2:00)
14. Per aspera ad astra (2:19)
15. Boban pocinje (2:14)
16. Ruska stvar (2:03)
17. Espana (2:47)
18. Zasto rat (1:31)
19. Mrak (3:14)
20. Bella ciao (2:28)
21. Patriota (live) (1:43)
22. Basketball (live) (1:36)
23. Radijatori (live) (1:41)
24. Gradjanin grada (live) (1:45)
25. Kragujevac (live) (1:56)
26. Boban pocinje (live) (2:41)
27. Mrak (live) (3:07)
28. Ruska stvar (live) (2:02)
29. Per aspera ad astra (live) (2:04)

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1988 - !OBK + Live in Budapest

1. Forever Punk (4:06)
2. Mi smo... milion glasova (1:36)
3. Borba za opstanak (1:31)
4. Instrumental (2:45)
5. Basketball (1:22)
6. Suzy (2:16)
7. Poslednji Mohikanci (4:52)
8. Balada (1:53)
9. Ne ulazi u restoran (1:20)
10. Drugovi... (3:57)
11. Jasnoca (1:09)
12. Forever Punk (live) (4:07)
13. Kragujevac (live) (1:32)
14. Divlji zapad (live) (1:07)
15. Balada (live) (1:36)
16. Suzy (live) (2:04)
17. Ringispil (live) (1:26)
18. Per aspera ad astra (live) (2:06)
19. Instrumental (live) (2:49)
20. Buducnost (live) (0:56)
21. Mi smo... milion glasova (live) (1:30)
22. Radijatori (live) (1:31)
23. Bolovanje (live) (2:00)
24. Gradjanin grada (live) (1:38)
25. Opasnost (live) (1:14)
26. Patriota (live) (0:58)
27. Boban pocinje (live) (2:33)
28. Basketball (live) (1:16)
29. Forever Punk (live) (3:30)

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1989-90 - Moja sloboda + Live in Osijek

1. Perspektiva (3:12)
2. Srecan covek (2:13)
3. Pobuna u predgradju (1:13)
4. Kada izadjem (3:24)
5. Gubi se (1:25)
6. Maj (2:39)
7. Ne (1:34)
8. Outro (1:36)
9. Ulica br. 12 (2:02)
10. Moja sloboda (3:12)
11. Lopovi (1:33)
12. Proslost (2:31)
13. Zapaljene svece (1:52)
14. Outro (live) (2:25)
15. Kragujevac (live) (2:02)
16. Perspektiva (live) (3:22)
17. Alkohol (live) (3:07)
18. Ulica br. 12 (live) (2:12)
19. Intro (live) (3:41)
20. Pobuna u predgradju (live) (1:51)
21. Samoca (live) (3:20)
22. Basketball (live) (1:36)
23. Balada (live) (1:51)
24. Lopovi (live) (1:49)
25. Pozovi 93 (live) (3:29)
26. Kada izadjem (live) (3:17)
27. Proslost (live) (2:29)
28. Moja sloboda (live) (3:19)
29. Grk (live) (4:57)
30. Forever Punk (live) (1:27)

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The Bayonets & Red Union - Live in Novi Sad

A fan's proposed design for a Red Union pin. Best one they ever had!

 After yet another hiatus, we're back with a couple of short, yet cool shows by two excellent Serbian antifascist street-punk bands, The Bayonets and Red Union. Both bands have by now created admirable legacies in ex-Yugoslavian countries as well as abroad, having released vinyl LP's for the German Bandworm label (Red Union) and a split CD with England's Dypsomaniacs, along with a full-length CD of their own (the somewhat younger - as a band at least - Bayonets), and have crisscrossed Europe on numerous tours. Both play fun and energetic shows which you should visit if you have the chance, and both are composed of great individuals who I'm proud to call my friends. Here then is a show the Bayonets have performed in 2006 at a promotional event for the book "Novosadska punk verzija" about the punk scene in their hometown of Novi Sad, accompanied by a 2004 show by Red Union, and the original Bayonets demo for good measure. The first Red Union song from this show was released in a better quality on the "Novosadska punk verzija vol. 2" compilation, but you should buy the CD to get it; this, somewhat lesser quality recording, is still good enough for us punx, ha ha. The Bayonets show used to be available via RapidShare from the Parapunx blog but the link has since expired, and I took the time to divide the songs into separate tracks for your convenience. Enjoy!

A very flattering photo of the Bayonets taken when they were playing in Osijek; note the bottle of locally-loved, universally-reviled Osjecko beer in Miljan's hand.

Track listing:

1. The Bayonets - Intro (0:42)
2. The Bayonets - Rebel Forever (1:55)
3. The Bayonets - Try to Recall (3:36)
4. The Bayonets - Never Forget (3:00)
5. The Bayonets - Sound of the Streets (4:16)
6. The Bayonets - Mr. Know It All (3:47)
7. The Bayonets - Stay Young (2:36)
8. The Bayonets - Riot Squad (2:52)
9. The Bayonets - Plakati (1:55)
10. The Bayonets - Our Fight (4:08)
11. Red Union - No Lesson Learned (3:18)
12. Red Union - In the City (2:07)
13. Red Union - W.M.D. (3:26)
14. Red Union - Land of the Living Dead (2:33)
15. Red Union - Drink Up (3:49)
16. Red Union - Career Oportunities (1:49)
17. The Bayonets - Never Forget (demo) (2:45)
18. The Bayonets - Try to Recall (demo) (2:53)
19. The Bayonets - Friday Night (demo) (4:14)
20. The Bayonets - Leave Behind (demo) (2:59)
21. The Bayonets - Our Fight (demo) (3:09)

Red Union's Dasko singing at the Dirty Old Festival back in 2005. I remember him asking me before this show whether I'd like to sing "Career Opportunities" on stage with them, to which I replied with a scared "no way!". Of course I would have accepted a repeated offer, but the bastard never asked again! It should have been me on this photo!

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