BORN AGAINST- NINE PATRIOTIC HYMNS FOR CHILDREN

Last night some of my friends played a joke set as a 'conservative-punk-band' and it reminded me of this album cover... not the album, just the cover. This album is a staple of 90's hardcore. Sludgy bits, distorted bass, almost complete dissonance. Good shit to get mad to. Yeah, it's on other blogs but maybe some people haven't heard it yet!


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TITLE FIGHT- SHED

This is what it is. Emo-ey pop-punk with awesome guitar playing and super hoarse vocals that manage to sound more sincere than your standard 'I'm-trying-to-compensate-for-the-melody-by-singing-like-I'm-in-a-crust-band' performance that is so common with pop-punks who try to hide from the fact that the genre has more in common with "shitty" music than music that is undeniably punk. This band is really popular so I'm sure this'll get taken down but enjoy it while it lasts. The song "27" is especially perfect.

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OLD POSTS

I've been lazy and since I don't upload any of these albums myself, most of them seem to have been taken down from mediafire. I was just going to discreetly re-up all of them... but the number kept getting bigger and I don't want to sit at my computer all day. So I'm just going to leave this here and let people comment if they want something re-upped that has been taken down.

p.s. google it first! someone else probably uploaded it!

BURNING WITCH- CRIPPLED LUCIFER

This is my candidate for the most brutally-heavy album(s) of all time. I say 'albums' because Crippled Lucifer compiles both of Burning Witch's full-lengths but they both operate on the same plane of soul-destroying doom metal. This is seriously the heaviest doom gets. No groove, riffs that exist solely to build tension that gives you chills, guitars tuned down to almost atonal frequencies and then the vocals. The singer for Burning Witch sounds like Bon Scott possessed by the most evil, fucked up, and anguished demon to ever be banished to the ninth circle. This is not for casual metal fans or people who don't like "sad" music... oh and I believe Steve Albini recorded both albums so yeah, they sound awesome!


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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN- LIVE IN PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY 1978

This is the live performance to end all live performances. You can listen to this entire three-hour concert on youtube if you so desire.


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BAD BRAINS- S/T

I know this album doesn't need to be discussed among people who already love hardcore but there are people that aren't crazy about hardcore who probably haven't heard this. Some say this is the best hardcore album ever recorded. Some say this is the best album ever recorded!

If you play guitar, bass or drums and you haven't listened to this album before, then you need to right now. These guys were one of the few hardcore bands that actually PLAYED. They didn't just show up, plug in, count to four and hope for the best. The consensus among hardcore fans from the early 80's seems to be that The Bad Brains were right up there with Black Flag as the best live band on the planet in their heyday and the few early live videos don't indicate otherwise. You seriously need to listen to this if you never have because it may change the way you think about punk, your instrument or technical-proficiency in music. Also, it just fucking slays. Even the reggae tracks are A+


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THE MUSIC OF KATIE CRUTCHFIELD

About two years ago I discovered a band called PS Eliot. It was lo-fi pop-punk with some great melodies but it had that indescribable WOW! factor that you're always secretly hoping for when first hearing a band's music. Over the next few months I found out that the source of these songs was a one-woman pop-genius named Katie Crutchfield. In addition to the demo, EP and two LP's by PS Eliot, who recently disbanded, were an album by The Ackleys, a demo LP by Bad Banana, And a split cassette/LP by her current solo project Waxahatchee. It's all great. Her sense of melody for vocals and guitar, and how those two can feed off of each other is astounding. Not to mention the number of songs!!!

If you like anything from Guided by Voices to The Promise Ring to Jawbreaker then this is probably something you'll dig!

BAD BANANA

PS ELIOT 


WAXAHATCHEE

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SLEEP- ROCK N' ROLL NIGHTMARE... OF CAPITALISM!

So You Think You Can Sleep are a fantastic band from here in Vancouver that I have absolutely loved ever since I first saw them a few years ago. Very catchy math-rock-emo styled guitar playing, some trumpet, dual male-female vocals and Aaron from Bad Fate (Vancouver's secretly-best drummer!) laying it down masterfully on the kit. Musically, this is the intersection between Cap'n Jazz and American Football... just with really political lyrics. You can listen and then download...


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GRAM PARSONS- GP

When you're sad you often want to listen to sad music, and traditionally country music is seen as a genre whose sole-focus is encapsulating the sounds and feelings of heartbreak, regret, loneliness, and whatever shitty emotion happens to be afflicting the writer at that point. Gram Parsons' music perfectly fits this stereotype and not just because his is one of the saddest stories in all of country music. A member of The International Submarine Band, The Byrds, and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons had his eggs in many influential baskets. After ditching all of these bands, he went solo in 1972 but would die a year later at age 27 after overdosing on liquor and morphine. His manager, likely a cool dude, honoured Gram's dying wish and kidnapped Gram's body and coffin from the funeral, drove them out to the Joshua Tree desert and burned them down to ashes. This legendary story, combined with Gram's reputation for being a bit weird, tormented, and under-appreciated in his lifetime, makes him my second favourite member of the twenty-seven-club.

This is his first solo LP and it's just a great, sad, and beautiful country album. If you dig this, the second LP Grievous Angel, is just as good.

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BRAID- FRAME AND CANVAS

This is a really good, poppy emo record. Short songs, no weirdness, good guitar playing. I've loved this record for many years and I just realized that it doesn't get talked about among my circle of 90's-indie-loving-friends so I thought I'd share it.

P.S. sorry for the lack of posts. Live has been one big septic tank of especially smelly and time-eating shit lately...


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