Los Crudos - Two Cassettes

Los Crudos were a brilliant hardcore punk band from Chicago, representing the U.S. Latin punk community for most of the '90s and releasing tons of great music during that time. Their singer later fronted the gay hardcore sensation Limp Wrist - talk about being a minority within a minority! Here for your pleasure are two tapes containing a bunch of demos, radio sessions, live recordings and so on - some songs will repeat in different versions, some in same versions, but I couldn't be bothered with sorting through what's what, and after all, why destroy the original feel of the releases? You can probably deduct which stuff came from where from the scans of the booklets, if you wish.

"1492-1992 Anos de violacion y asesinatos"

1. 500 anos (1:55)
2. Las madres lloran (demo) (0:44)
3. Identidad perdida (demo) (1:24)
4. Vendedores de dolor (demo) (1:10)
5. Desde afuera (demo) (1:30)
6. Poema (demo) (0:28)
7. Tiempos de miseria (demo) (1:04)
8. Peleamos (demo) (1:19)
9. Crudo soy! (demo) (1:45)
10. Intro (radio) (0:48)
11. Las madres lloran (radio) (0:56)
12. Identidad perdida (radio) (1:44)
13. Eliminacion (radio) (0:39)
14. Vendedores de dolor (radio) (1:37)
15. Asesinos (radio) (1:49)
16. Poema (radio) (0:27)
17. Tiempos de miseria (radio) (1:52)
18. Sin caras (radio) (1:58)
19. Desde afuera (radio) (1:59)
20. Illegal y que! (radio) (1:43)
21. Peleamos (radio) (2:55)
22. Crudo soy! (radio) (2:39)

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"Los Crudos"

1. Las madres lloran (live) (2:17)
2. Se ve en tu cara (live) (0:43)
3. Cipayos, traidores y vendidos (live) (2:09)
4. Sin caras (live) (0:38)
5. No estoy convencido (live) (1:07)
6. Desde afuera (live) (2:18)
7. Escaleras (live) (0:41)
8. Llegan empujando (live) (1:12)
9. Peleamos (live) (1:06)
10. Nada cambia (live) (1:25)
11. Que paso con la paz (live) (1:21)
12. Asesinos (live) (1:00)
13. 500 anos (live) (1:43)
14. Lucha para que te escuchen (live) (0:43)
15. Crudo soy! (live) (1:33)
16. Curiosidad (live) (0:45)
17. Lengua armada (live) (0:46)
18. Tiempos de miseria (live) (1:03)
19. 500 anos (1:54)
20. Tiempos de miseria (1:26)
21. Me robaron! (0:46)
22. Crudo soy! (1:36)
23. Las madres lloran (0:41)
24. Eliminacion (0:32)
25. Desde afuera (1:19)
26. Asesinos (1:02)
27. Se ve en tu cara (0:50)
28. Cipayos, traidores y vendidos (0:34)
29. Sin caras (0:33)
30. No estoy convencido (0:59)
31. Curiosidad (0:50)
32. Porque (1:09)
33. Tu lo ensenastes (0:56)
34. Lucha para que te escuchen (0:28)
35. Corrido jodido (1:41)
36. Lengua armada (0:49)
37. Escaleras (0:33)
38. Llegan empujando (1:24)
39. Nada cambia (1:10)

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Ignite - Live in Kutina

Photo from a different show but the same year, stolen from Pix of Change webzine

Only five songs long unfortunately, but a great-sounding soundboard recording from a legendary show held in 1996 in the Baraka club, in the Croatian town of Kutina. Kutina is a small town of about 15,000 inhabitants, but it has sustained a disproportionally large hardcore/ punk scene throughout the Nineties, centered around the Baraka ("barracks", obviously). Many foreign bands played this venue in a time when there were barely any non-local shows even in the capital, Zagreb, and some of the most loved Croatian bands from that time period came out of Kutina, best known of which was the hardcore band Razlog za. Things have wound down in the new millennium unfortunately, and now punk rock in Kutina is mostly relegated to a once-a-year festival called "Organizirani kaos" ("organised chaos"), but here is at least a document of a time when Kutina was, alongside Pula, the most punk rock town in Croatia.

Track listing:

1. Lazy (2:59)
2. Family (2:08)
3. Man against Man (2:02)
4. Where They Talk (1:40)
5. Screaming for Change (2:22)

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P.S. I have found no mention of an Ignite song called "Lazy", but could not discover whether this first track is another song listed under a wrong name. If you recognise it, please leave a comment so I can correct the track listing.

Hell's Bells - Apage Satanas!

Hell's Bells were a hardcore/punk band from Zagreb, Croatia (then Yugoslavia), who released this sole 7" EP in 1991; that's about all I know about them. Here's a rip of my copy of the 7".

Track listing:

1. Probisvjeti (2:11)
2. Krv nije votka (2:53)
3. Mojca (2:15)
4. Kosmar (2:22)

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Beastie Boys - Coney Island High 22.11.1995 & The Scott & Gary Show, 9.12.1984. - VIDEO

Beastie Boys' rapper, bassist, video director and Tibetan rights promoter Adam "MCA" Yauch has succumbed to cancer yesterday, aged 47. I haven't had such a strong feeling of personal loss due to a musician's death since Joe Strummer had died. Both of these men were influential to my life, not only by providing a soundtrack to countless great moments I have had, but also by giving me a framework of various interests to explore, musics to discover, even clothes to wear (I have not attended a wedding in the last 15 years wearing anything besides the Beasties' suit-and-sneakers attire). The Clash's "Sandinista!" and Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head" stand as two of the most obvious examples of outsiders successfully taking in different styles of music not "appropriate" for their background, in the process teaching their fans that all music is worthy of at least giving a chance to. Hell, even the Beasties' switch to hip-hop was such a then-unheard-of cultural/musical mismatch that it took them half a decade to prove they were NOT a joke band! Another common thread connecting Joe's and Adam's death for me is the fact both were still making vital, creative and immensely enjoyable music, and both had - or that's what I thought - still lots of time left to give more. I will never find out where Joe would have went after "Global a Go-Go", an incredible record that in my book stands much higher than the respectable, but inherently failed posthumous work "Streetcore" (and on a side note, do all those celebrities and journalists who proclaimed "Streetcore" Joe's best work, really think it's a compliment to say that a man's best work was the one others had finished for him, without his guidance and participation?); I will also probably never again hear a new Beastie Boys record. I have never seen Joe live; I have also, and will never, see the Beastie Boys live. I have seen their live footage on TV and firmly believe they were one of the best, most fun and most energetic live acts ever; even watching them on TV, I couldn't help jumping a little. I was always certain there would be tons of chances to catch them, and have missed out on shows in my region (the closest one being the Exit festival in Novi Sad, Serbia), waiting for them to come closer to my town. Who would've thought they would be taken from us so cruelly? Before I end this rambling post with a video of their two punk rock shows, one recorded in the "modern" Beasties era and the other an ancient one, I will add a few simple words bass legend and punk rock's official father figure Mike Watt wrote about Adam:

good people,

this man, brother adam... how he could work the bass!

respect!

learner watt

Download Part 1

Download Part 2

Various - Tribute to Igich

Here is a compilation of early material by two bands fronted by my friend Igich. It includes two EP's and an album by This Day Will Burn, who have recently added a new singer, and an album by Learning English, who don't exist anymore. I guess TDWB play music that could be called post-hardcore or maybe even screamo (although I normally try to avoid screamo so I wouldn't really know); Learning English were closer to early hardcore, melodic and a bit childish, but hey, we all had to start somewhere. Actually, Igich started in a few even earlier bands, the first of which embarrassingly included yours truly, but I don't have those recordings so they will remain obscure for the time being. You're not missing out on much, although we were probably the first band ever to cover both Big Black and NOFX during the same show, so I guess that counts for something, too?

Track listing:

1. This Day Will Burn - Alpha Romeo (2:43)
2. This Day Will Burn - Whereabouts of Mrs. Niries (3:02)
3. This Day Will Burn - Story of Odette (0:52)
4. This Day Will Burn - Princess Lightning (2:35)
5. This Day Will Burn - Fingers (3:11)
6. This Day Will Burn - Houston You Have a Problem (3:03)
7. This Day Will Burn - Hey Big Jack (3:50)
8. This Day Will Burn - Bloodshot (3:28)
9. This Day Will Burn - As Long As I Keep My Eyes Open (3:27)
10. This Day Will Burn - Who Defines Our Pictures of Life (2:54)
11. This Day Will Burn - Reconsidering the Inevitable (2:37)
12. This Day Will Burn - Kiss on the Forehead (2:44)
13. This Day Will Burn - After the Nightmare (3:02)
14. This Day Will Burn - Imitation of Twisted Nature (2:48)
15. This Day Will Burn - Empty Fields (2:50)
16. This Day Will Burn - Another Fallen Hero (2:45)
17. This Day Will Burn - The Missing Piece of a Puzzle (3:02)
18. This Day Will Burn - Break the Silence (2:56)
19. Learning English - Broken Promises (2:07)
20. Learning English - Just a Bad Dream (0:54)
21. Learning English - Pandora's Box (1:25)
22. Learning English - Dedicated to... (1:59)
23. Learning English - Them (1:49)
24. Learning English - Another Fight Without a Reason (1:38)
25. Learning English - Dead End (1:09)
26. Learning English - Things on My Mind (1:34)
27. Learning English - Dying (1:16)
28. Learning English - Falling in Love (1:30)
29. Learning English - Take Control (1:51)
30. Learning English - The Flame (1:43)
31. Learning English - Let Me Know (1:01)
32. Learning English - Disaster Coming (1:35)
33. Learning English - I Don't Wanna Hear It - Straight Edge (1:56)

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MDC - Live Mocvara, Zagreb, 01.07.2003. - VIDEO

The poster is for a show at the same venue, four years later.

Here's a rather good quality video recording of a Croatian MDC show from 2003, shot by a friend and uploaded to YouTube a long time ago, but now in a slightly better looking and sounding MPEG format. Enjoy.

Download part 1
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D.R.I. - I.M.Y.T. Compilation

D.R.I. are one of my favourite bands in at least two genres - hardcore punk and thrash metal. I've seen them twice in the last year or so, and both shows were total brain pummeling. What a wonderful band. Here I'm sharing three hard-to-find songs of theirs - "Against Me" (a demo recorded way back in 2004 - a long, long time ago, when music was much better, and even this song's namesake band didn't suck!), "Hide Your Eyes" and "Out of Mind" (cassette and LP bonus tracks from the "Definition" album, which should supposedly be re-released one fine day, and that is of course the day I take them down off the blog). In order not to have an eight minute download, I've added two so-so bootlegs from the mid-Eighties (both with unexceptional sound, one incomplete - but the other from a show with SLAYER! wooohoooo!), alongside a rather often circulated demo, bootlegged as "Dirtiest Filthiest Demos", if memory serves. The sound quality is shit but there are fun versions of "Johnny B. Goode" and "Louie Louie" at the end, plus a few songs which might be otherwise unreleased (the bootlegger didn't recognize them and neither did I, but then again, early D.R.I. isn't exactly "Sandinista!" in terms of eclecticism or song lengths - it all sounds the same, but it's an excellent same!). Hope you like it!

Track listing:

1. Against Me (2:06)
2. Hide Your Eyes (2:20)
3. Out Of Mind (3:45)
4. Nursing Home Blues (live) (4:13)
5. Violent Pacification (live) (2:48)
6. Marriage (live) (0:48)
7. Karma (live) (2:25)
8. Argument Then War (live) (3:13)
9. Evil Minds (live) (1:11)
10. God Is Broke (live) (1:00)
11. Soup Kitchen (live) (2:17)
12. The Explorer (live) (1:35)
13. Shame (live) (2:19)
14. Snap (live) (1:01)
15. Yes Ma'am (live) (1:40)
16. Reaganomics (live) (0:36)
17. Commuter Man (live) (1:13)
18. Stupid, Stupid War (live) (0:37)
19. Couch Slouch (live) (1:21)
20. Running Around (live) (1:06)
21. I'd Rather Be Sleeping (live) (1:04)
22. Give My Taxes Back (live) (1:05)
23. Mad Man (live) (0:44)
24. Who Am I? (live) (0:33)
25. Busted Again (live) (0:55)
26. Sad to Be (live) (2:18)
27. The Explorer (live) (1:35)
28. Slit My Wrist (live) (0:28)
29. Busted Again (live) (1:03)
30. Stupid, Stupid War/Counter Attack (live) (1:07)
31. I'd Rather Be Sleeping (live) (1:30)
32. Running Around/Couch Slouch/To Open Closed Doors (live) (2:55)
33. I Don't Need Society (1:14)
34. No Sense (1:11)
35. F.R.D.C. (0:24)
36. Sad to Be (1:14)
37. Plastique (0:40)
38. (unknown) (0:17)
39. Draft Me (0:18)
40. Money Stinks (0:47)
41. Yes Ma'am (0:52)
42. Equal People (0:53)
43. Capitalist Suck (0:35)
44. Human Waste (0:20)
45. Misery Loves Company (0:20)
46. (unknown) (0:49)
47. Reaganomics (0:25)
48. (unknown) (0:51)
49. Guilty (0:41)
50. War Crimes (1:24)
51. Stupid, Stupid War (0:35)
52. Slit My Wrists (0:32)
53. My Fate to Hate (0:28)
54. Who Am I? (0:38)
55. Shame (0:30)
56. Busted (0:42)
57. Closet Punk (0:31)
58. Give My Taxes Back (0:47)
59. Balance of Terror (0:33)
60. Blockhead (0:52)
61. Johnny B. Goode (1:01)
62. (unknown) (1:15)
63. Louie Louie (1:15)

I love these 60-songs-per-CD track lists so much. I mean, really, how pretentious is it to think FORTY WHOLE SECONDS aren't enough to convey an idea???

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MDC - Live in Maribor 9.10.1990.

Here's a semi-official live release by hardcore survivors MDC, recorded in Maribor, Slovenia in 1990 and released by the Slovenian Front Rock label. The sound is rather good, except for the vocals being too high in the mix (typical of soundboard recordings), and the lineup featuring Rancid's Matt Freeman on bass, whose overplaying I can't stand (I never understood how guitar heroics were banned from punk rock, while at the same time bass masturbators like that guy are hailed as gods). Also, our Slovenian pals were a bit cheap so they recorded the show on previously used tape, the result of which being that you can hear backwards music during the silent parts between songs. The set list is a bit strange, as this was recorded on the tour for the questionable "Metal Devil Cokes" album, but it does feature a few of the classics, alongside amusing covers of "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Wooly Bully" which you can't hear on any of their official releases, as far as I know. As a side note, the track listing on the LP only lists the last three songs with a "?", and I can understand not knowing the MDC song "Beat Somebody Up", but how can you not recognize fucking "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Wooly Bully"?! Bloody punk rockers.

Oh yeah, thanks to my friend Ivan Culjak for giving me this LP and a Dwarves 7" as an unexpected present.

Track listing:

1. I Hate Work (1:23)
2. Greedy & Pathetic (1:15)
3. Chicken Squawk (3:36)
4. Born to Die (2:19)
5. John Wayne Was a Nazi (2:57)
6. S.K.I.N.H.E.A.D. (3:24)
7. Dead Cops Rock (1:54)
8. Violent Rednecks (0:40)
9. Dirty Harry for President (2:22)
10. Dick for Brains (2:56)
11. My Family Is a Little Weird (2:20)
12. Knucklehead (3:02)
13. No More Cops (2:16)
14. Deep in the Heart of Racist AmeriKKKa (1:50)
15. Folsom Prison Blues (2:56)
16. Beat Somebody Up (2:34)
17. Wooly Bully (2:12)

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Youth of Today - Live at Van Hall, Amsterdam 1989

I never got into the Straight Edge thing, not musically, even less ideologically. Actually, I come from a city of 105,000 people, with a rather active punk rock/hardcore scene, which has never had even one straight edger to be embarrassed about. However I really like the Youth of Today, whose "We're Not in This Alone" LP is in my eyes (ears?) an absolute hardcore masterpiece. This is a bootleg 7" taken from a show during their 1989 European tour, and it was given to me some ten or twelve years ago by my friend Srdjan, who plays drums in a Serbian hardcore band called Unison (in my opinion the best hardcore band in the Balkans - check them out). He was straight edge then (or wasn't? he's not now, so according to the sXe doctrine, he never was?) and I was very much NOT straight edge, I had never heard YOT, and listening to this 7", I didn't really become a fan - the sound quality is shit, as it was recorded by a member of the audience on a Walkman. Still, now that I enjoy their other stuff, I'm glad to have this, seeing how I rate rather low on the pretentious asshole scale of rare record possession, so hvala još jednom, Srđane! Of interest to you might be the two covers on side B, I mean SIDE XX, which have not appeared on other YOT recordings, at least not official ones.

Track listing:

1. A Time We'll Remember (1:48)
2. No More (3:03)
3. Break Down the Walls (2:47)
4. Can't Close My Eyes (1:14)
5. Malfunction (Cro-Mags) (3:08)
6. Minor Threat (Minor Threat) (1:53)
7. Standing Hard (0:47)

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