SELDA

I snagged this on a whim in Oklahoma City a few weeks back because....well, sometimes I get a little tipsy and I buy tapes. Initially I just thought it was a thing with a weird ass cover (it was dark and I was drunk), but when I got home I realized that some fool bootlegged a crucial Turkish psych/rock record onto cassette and then I got real pumped. My pal Paul goes way deeper to into the psych world and the Turkish world, so I asked him to give all you mutants some background...he obliged:

This record hits on a multiple levels. If you're looking for a great example of Turkish psych, complete with the embedded funkiness that makes Turkish psych so appealing, look no further. If you're looking for an inspirational lady speaking her mind in a time and place where there were reprecussions for such boldness, you've also come to the right place. Check out the infectious groove of Yaz Gazeteci Yaz (Write, Journalist, Write). The fuzzy Eastern sounds of Meydan Sizindir (The Square Belongs to You). One of the best riffs ever on Ince Ince (Tiny Little Snowflakes). The driving lead on Yaylalar (Uplands) over 60s pop psych sounds. Sleepy dreamy sounds of Dam Üstüne Çul Serer (?). The urgency of Dost Uyan (Wake Up, Friends). You really can't fuck with this record. Think about what bullshit was coming out of the US and UK for rock music in 1976, or even soul music. Then stop and think about it again. 

Selda Bağcan studied phsyics and engineering in university, and her early music recordings (45s starting coming out in early 70s) were Turkish folk music on solo acoustic guitar - this was the first time these songs were being played on guitar, traditionally they were played on baglama. Her lyrics and themes have always spoken of solidarity with the poor and social criticism, and after a coup d'état in Turkey in 1980 she was held as a political prisoner off and on for the next few years, but never stopped speaking out. She would sing in Kurdish at a time when speaking Kurdish was illegal. Her musical style continued to change after her self titled album, but subsequent records are worthy listens in their own right. She has been sampled for Mos Def (produced by Oh No, Madlib's younger brother) and even Dr. Dre.

In 2013, she had this to say about the state of modern Turkish rock: "By definition, rock is rebel music. It is the music of protest. But the price of rebellion seems so high nowadays that, unlike us, those who claim to be rockers only sing love songs... Turkish artists forgot that rock was about dissent, about rebellion. Only now do we hear the first steps of a protest rock."

SELDA

PLEASURE KORPS

The opening track sets an ominous tone, and from there Blessings confidently swerves between ambience ("Here Comes The Warm Piss," "Jamming Efficacy Testing Ordeal"), drug induced(ing) industrial slogs ("End: The Machines Are In Motion," "What Is Where Of Here?"), and what I can like to think would have happened if DJ SCREW had ever gotten his hands on some CLOCK DVA (shit is weird and really really good). The Nostilevo family never disappoints, and considering this project comes from the mind of JS AURELIUS I wasn't surprised that it was good....but still I am blown away. 

BLESSINGS

ODIO

This one.....fukk. It's just pure and unencumbered brutality. Light speed rippers with black metal guitars churning out blurred fastcore/crust that gives zero fukks. How many fukks? Like I want to piss my pants when I hear this shit and ODIO does not actually give one shit fukk. None. Because they are too busy laying waste to everything. It's from outer fukkn space, this tape - the high vocals are demonic and the low vocals are like short, choppy versions of guttural crust vocals. Seriously though: listen to "Miseria." It's the most bizarre, out of left field shit ever, and you NEED this shit. I mean, if you like to be brutalized. And you're here, so.....

Monterrey, NL // MEXICO // 2003

DOOMSDAY

CINDERBLOCK

If a bunch of raucous hardcore dudes are going to start an Oi! band, then I want it to sound like CINDERBLOCK. It's smart, it's totally in your face, the guitars on "Disco Killers" alone are enough to remind you why you are a punk. I can only assume that these Boston creamers are not amateurs, and their lyrics suggest a band intelligent far beyond their riffs. This tape kicked my ass immediately, and has continued to please me since then....you are welcome to join in my enjoyment. I encourage listening to "Voiceless" until you are (inevitably) hoarse. 

NO FUTURE

I have been have file hosting issues for the last few days, and I appreciate the emails letting me know that all is not well in the digital World Of The Escape. It appears that things are good now (I mean, The Internet tells me that someone DLed the BRAINOIL tape a quarter hour ago...so that's one more lucky punk rocker), so I encourage you to go back to the CIBORGUE and BRAINOIL tapes (because they are both great, obviously). If you are having problems with today's post, please visit the CINDERBLOCK Bandcamp and enjoy their demo that way (actually, you should go to their thing either way, because that way you can actually make contact with them and tell them how much you love the tape), but please drop me a line and let me know that you are getting files successfully (or not) so that I can continue to serve you.

With Respect - The Management

BRAINOIL

Hard to imagine that this demo was recorded 15 years ago, but when BRAINOIL found their thing (I think it's called a "groove") they struck gold...and they never stopped mining. Six tracks on this demo, and only one tops the two minute mark - crushing stoner riffs for days, but condensed into hardcore punk songs. If you haven't heard them and that doesn't make sense....? You're going to have to trust me. Their decade and a half run (there was a pretty lengthy hiatus in the somewhere, but still) has netted splits with DROP DEAD, IRON LUNG and CRUEVO (these demo tracks found their way onto that release) and two full lengths (only eight years apart...that's some Japanese band shit right there), and they still level the joint every time they play. Too punk for most of the DoomLords and too heavy for most of the punks, I trust they will continue to dominate those of us who get it for years to come.

BRAINOIL

For those keeping track and/or not already aware, BRAINOIL is made up of DESTROY!, LANA DAGALES and GRIMPLE members...and here's a live set from 2001. Not surprisingly, it rules.

CIBORGUE

Absolute outsider punk. You know you're in for it while the three minute title track slogs endlessly forward, but nothing can prepare you for the shit-fi noise core that follows. Neurose Digital makes the VACCUUM Space-Fi tape seem sonically imposing, this is the thinnest and weirdest sounding cassette on my shelves (or in my boxes, for that matter). But it's not just blundering....it's actually and actively weird, almost as if there is a collective vision at work here, and this is what sets CIBORGUE apart. Apart from what, exactly? Well, I'm still not sure...but can you imagine watching this shit live?!? I need to go back to Brasil.

NEUROSE DIGITAL

TRAUMA HARNESS

Sometimes punks go goth and buy a ton of effects pedals. And every so often, shortly thereafter, those punks learn how to write perfect pop tunes and manage to keep them dark. These punks seemed to already have that gift, as this full length dropped near the band's inception in 2012. TRAUMA HARNESS first stopped by The Escape three years ago amidst a slew of LUMPY-related cassingles that I shared all at once, but they've been rather busy since then (last year's Tried My Hardest is highly recommended). It's moody and weird, and the combination of chops and amateurish enthusiasm ("Blue Flame" for example) is refreshing. As is sometimes the case, my cassette copy sounds kinda fukkd here and there - guitars a little more out of whack, maybe a warble where the band didn't intentionally place a warble, if you know what I'm saying? - and here again I've decided to share as is. This is what I got from them, so it's what you get from me...you know? And besides, kid, that's the shit that makes tapes cool...right?! 

THE WAY YOU PRESS ON HARDER...

SUPPORT

Early '90s Syracuse straightedge mosh with overt influence from then-contemporary METALLICA. Pretty sure they were on a tape comp with BURST OF SILENCE, and pretty sure that half of the band went on to SNAPCASE while one dude ended up in TEXAS IS THE REASON. My old band played with BURST OF SILENCE at SitCom in Indianapolis in '94 and we chilled outside watching some gutter punk inject alcohol while they were playing...because it was weirder to us than watching a Canadian straight edge band. I've never played with TEXAS IS THE REASON.

SUPPORT

Sorry about the screeches - tapes are killer, but sometimes The World wins.

JAPANESE UNDERGROUND: NEW WAVE 1983-'85

You think you go deep? Shit man, sometimes I think I go deep, and then I stumble across something like this and realize exactly how completely clueless I really am. The title tells you most of what you need to know, but I'll finish the story simply: Get ready to go deeper. From the same Washington state genius responsible for the Natty Chariot and Behind The Iron Curtain mix tapes, Japanese Underground is 60+ minutes of new wave and pop that I had never (ever) heard of. Highlights include (but are certainly not limited to): D DAY, SH, IKARI (this hard wave/dance track might be the best on the tape), STANDARDS (perfect power pop), THE LOODS, MASANORI KASAKI (bizarro art/synth), and REVER...but there's not a single thing I want to skip past. The mix starts mellow with quirky, almost commercial, new wave but gets progressively weirder throughout, and the ventures into power pop (or maybe it's just sift punk?) are a welcome respite amongst the more indulgent tracks. Much respect to the compiler here...total success once again. 

JAPANESE UNDERGROUND: NEW WAVE 1983-'85

FLORES DEL VICIO

Relentless rhythm. Constant pulse. Mind numbing noise. Devastating low end. While punk and hardcore turn into classic rock, it seems more and more that the innovators are looking to a different past in order to move into the future. These are future sounds. 

REACH A BETTER FEELING

ULTRA

I had heard that these goofs were jamming a bit, and considering the goofs involved (the roster features current and former members of COLD CIRCUITS, REPLICA, SCALPED, YADOKAI, SYNTHETIC ID, NO STATIK....among many many others) I figured it could be pretty cool. But fukk. Really? Crazy catchy mod punk like SLADE getting a bum rub from NEGATIVE APPROACH or some shit (I have no idea what that means) because as soon as you think it's some goin-to-the-pub-with-me-mates rehash they do something like the chorus of "ACAG" and you're all like "oh balls, this is hardcore." And then of course the next fukkn track has a DEAD MILKMEN swagger...I mean, what am I supposed to do? How can I not get on board The ULTRA Train? I'm helpless.

ULTRA

CHROMA

If I say: Barcelona band with members of LAS OTRAS and RAKTA then that should be enough. And in case it isn't, listen to the fukkn guitar on "Corpus Dóciles" and we should be all set. Sometimes, there's a reason all of The People say that A Thing is great...it's because The Thing is great. 

CHROMA

BRAINCELL

Filthy, nasty, noisy, blown out DBeat hardcore mania from Malaysia. I mean.....this is exactly what you expect when you look at the cover, except it's better. Eleven minutes of perfection await you....and you deserve this.

MINDLOCK

ACUALLI

Another offering from Crepusculo Negro, once again furthering that belief that this collective and this label can do no wrong. Demonic and primal death metal sounds...a quarter hour that will change your life view. 

PACT OF POSSESSION

THE TENNESSEE BLACK PLAGUE // INVERTED

Super fucked up mutant sounds. This is what you want, you monkeys. And I am here to help. So let me introduce INVERTED and THE TENNESSEE BLACK PLAGUE. You're welcome.

INVERTED // THE TENNESSEE BLACK PLAGUE

YOUR KIND OF SOUND

Any frequent (or fervent) Escape visitors will know the name Dan Riffe. Oklahoma stalwart, member of ILLEGITIMATE SONS OF JACKIE O and former bandmate of mine in ANCIENT CHINESE PENIS and BRUTAL GARDENERS, and the source of my introduction to a lot of killer music. Perhaps I didn't fully realize how influential the dude actually was until I started doing this blog thing - between bands we were in together, bands he was in that I dug, and tapes he made me....shit, that monkey was responsible for a pretty huge chunk of my initial introduction to The True Underground. How can one man be responsible for turning a twenty year old onto WRETCHED and JAD FAIR? Exactly. In case you are wondering, only one of those two is on this tape - but he did drop an S.O.B. track from Gates Of Doom on this one, and who the fuck was blasting death metal S.O.B. in Oklahoma 1993? Seriously. That's my point. And this tape was my introduction to LAST EXIT, who are from another planet. So yeah - instead of telling you all the things that are on this tape, I'll just tell you that it opened my mind and my eyes to tons of shit (and helped me find other shit through that shit) and I still cherish it more than two decades after Dan made it for me. Thanks, dude.

YOUR KIND OF SOUND

ANO

I can't tell you anything about them, but I can tell you that ANO capture Girls In The Garage and actual modern punk rage at the same time on their 2013 demo, and that is a thing worth noting. Stripped down, feisty punk that struggles to keep a beat as much as it struggles to stay inside a (self imposed?) box. But that struggle (on both counts...) is what makes this so fukkn compelling. This isn't an easy listen, necessarily, but it's also clear that ANO do not give half a shit about what I think - which is also what makes this so good. The guitar that starts "You Stop My Time" is perfect, by the way. 

ANO

Hey you - You bore me!

SUNRIAH

Snagged this on a total whim at a record store in Norman, Oklahoma a few weeks back, and my whimsy was rewarded. Exceptionally sparse sounds laying a foundation for a profoundly unique vocalist - this falls somewhere between PJ HARVEY, CAGES and BJÖRK....maybe? This copy is from the second pressing...mine is #5 of 10. That means it's limited. You probably don't have one, unless the first pressing was REALLY big and all you motherfukkrs scooped 'em up...

FIREFLY NIGHLIGHT

GRAVE DISGRACE

This Reforestation label from St. Petersburg keeps going for the throat, it's just slower and more deliberate this time. Shameless SABBATH influence and a guitar that brings back (fond) memories of playing with Jud (LAUDANUM, BRAINBLOODVOLUME), this GRAVE DISGRACE tape is nothing short of total destruction. Brutal simplicity delivered with maximum efficacy, their tracks are engaging from start to finish - even the 9+ minutes of "The Mire Brings" - if only so you can hear the things that are being done to that poor guitar. Sometimes you just want to be bludgeoned.

GRAVE DISGRACE

RAW TOFU

Unrepentant animal rights hardcore recorded in a fukkn toilet. The result is somewhere between noise punk and pure shit-fi madness, with politics louder than the voices shouting them and guitars that might be out of tune (the recording is so shitty you can hardly tell). Five "studio" tracks, including a CONFLICT cover (because of course there's a CONFLICT cover) followed by one uncredited anarcho track (it's pretty cool, any help here?) and six live RAW TOFU bangers...because after my enthusiastic assessment of their demo, I'm sure that you are scrambling to get to the lowER fidelity live recording. Right?

HOW MANY MORE LIVES MUST BE LOST BEFORE YOU OPEN EYES AND SEE THAT MEAT MEANS FUCKING MURDER???

Seriously though: I genuinely appreciate how shameless and in your face and idealistic bands like RAW TOFU were (and, thankfully, ARE). And I will take those out of tune guitars with a tired but earnest message of hope any fucking day...

THE NOIDS

QUESTION: If a band of mutants from north Texas half my age delivered a really killer set of freak punk in a Christian coffee shop slash art gallery slash cafe slash church at four in the afternoon and then they were selling home made dubs of their tape for $3 that looked like they probably sounded like crap and definitely didn't have anything but the laziest, most last minute phoned in "art" posing as a cover for said tape...would I buy it, rewarding their laziness with my hard earned money? Or would I just download the tracks from their bandcamp page?

ANSWER: You know what I did.

MODERN LIFE

SAWPIT

This band's records are too often overlooked in my opinion. Crazy catchy '90s melodic punk with an unmistakable (even if unintentional) Bay Area influence, they released one EP and two splits (FORMER MEMBERS OF ALFONSIN and BONESCRATCH) before calling it quits sometime around the turn of the century. I feel like they came to the states once...but I can't really be sure about that. I can, however, be sure that this tape feels very good.

1st MATERIAL

PUNISH OR BE DAMND

Shit man, not really much to say about this one except that if you're gonna make a mix tape to open minds and melt ears...it should be like this one. 30 Minimal Synth Or Tracks With Keys jams through an hour of creamers from 1978 through a few months ago, and every fukkn song is essential. Starting shit with ALGEBRA MOTHERS sets the tone at weird, and that's where the tone stays - NERVOUS GENDER, BELINSKI ZID, SPITS, BLACK RANDY, SCREAMERS (duh), SM NURSE, THE UNITS....and an obligatory version of "T.V.O.D." because that's kinda where the shit started, right? It flows right, runs the spectrum of punk bands with keys through purely synth driven freak shows, and this tape holds your attention from start to finish. Also....cramming that BLITZ track in was such a sick move - this is a perfect mix tape. Someone send me #1 please.

PUNISH OR BE DAMND #2: 30 MINIMAL SYNTH OR TRACKS WITH KEYS