THE CHOSEN ONE

This one is problematic, but here we are listening to some twenty year old Indonesian punk. The title track "Anarchy Sunrise" is perfect melodic punk and there's a very clear '90s East Bay influence (specifically talking Kerplunk and Let's Go! here) on tracks like "Otoritas" and "Someone Gonna Die," while there are punk ska/reggae bits to keep you guessing and give you a breather ("Stereo" is the choice jam) and a brilliant would-be street busking classic called "Government." And then there's one rampant violently homophobic track what the actual fukk kids?! Sigh....this is why it's so hard to have nice things. Anyway....maybe I should have just skipped this one, but also maybe listening out of context and off of the radar can shed a light on how conflicted, conflicting and challenging everything was. And can still be. 

ANARCHY SUNRISE

TAMTAM'S LIVE HITS

 

I've become kinda fascinated with the TamTam series, part of my recent pickup from the Music Not Noize collection reduction. A solid 90 minutes of Russian reggae, psych and folk with a couple of freak punk tracks and a rockabilly burner thrown in for good measure. This one is a series of curve balls from start to finish...from the SANTANA-esque MARKSCHIEIDER KUNST jam to the KRYZYS style punk of ПАУКИ and ARTIFICIAL BRAIN's filthy ramshackle squirm to drawn out reggae cuts from EGIPT GOLD LIONS and RAINBOW ARMY BAND. Strap in. 

TAMTAM'S LIVE HITS Vol.1

KANKER SORES

 

In a 1990s Southern California saturated with FYP andNOFOX and VGS and Epitaph, it's no surprise that there was also a KANKER SORES. They've aged well though, with rippers like "Mirror Image" serving as the antidote for the the poisonous bro-ska that infects some of the tracks. I don't know that a band like this could (or would) exist today, and they would likely be ignored if they did - relegated to Tuesday night opening slots in Temecula strip mall bars. But...I don't know, this just kinda works, and I'm happy that I came across it. 

KANKER SORES

MUSIC IS MY OCCUPATION

 

The cover should really have all of the information you need to proceed - 1960s ska instrumentals recorded by some of the most legendary names in the game. This compilation was put together by Trojan in the late '80s...and it's as great as you think it might be. 

MUSIC IS MY OCCUPATION: SKA INSTRUMENTALS 1962-1965 

 

 

TRUCKDRIVERS

 

I'm really sure why this one grabs me, but it does. Laid back ska-heavy vibes from the Ural mountains, it just feels...nice. A bit of a CULTURE SHOCK vibe at times though the groove isn't quite as heavy, and in the interest of completely useless references I'll add that the first track strikes me like TUOMARI NURMIO with Mike Muir singing. There are four cuts on this 2013 release, but if it grabs you like it grabbed me, then there is plenty more waiting for you if you go straight to the source. 

Через всю карту

УИКЕДА

 

An impulse acquisition from earlier in Thee Time Of Covid, a piece of chud that was too close to something I "needed" when my digital dollar hoover was (apparently) switched to "MAX INHALE" and besides...who doesn't want to fuck with Bulgarian ska anarchy? Exactly. Everyone. Everyone wants to fuck with Bulgarian ska anarchy. And, as is often the case, I won. So you win. Traditional pick-it-up, pick-it-up ska with multiple vocals dominate, maybe there are two hype men, there's a casual undercurrent of traditional Romani sounds colored by commercial rock...and then they drop the primitive but radio ready HELMET-meets-RAGE stomper "Just Another Victim" towards the end of the set. Start searching the internets if you want to know more about the band, because I can't tell you anything I didn't google myself, but I chalk УИКЕДА up as another hearty endorsement of blind bargains...because there's so much more out there, and there's just no way that all the good stuff is expensive. Hell, some of the good stuff is probably still unknown, and that's why we keep digging (even if from our keyboards - thanks, 2020). 

SKA ANARCHY

BOOGIE DOWN! ...TO THE WEST BAY BEAT

 

This 1997 Bay Area compilation deserves attention, and context. Curated by two high school students from the Peninsula south of San Francisco, the comp features well know acts as seemingly disparate as THE DONNAS and SPAZZ (to be clear, at the time there weren't more than two degrees of separation between them). They assembled a roster of catchy punk, hardcore, West Bay Koalition bands...just shit they liked as adolescent outsider punk freaks, which is of course what makes compilations great - Boogie Down! listens like a mix tape one might have made for the other. MODEL AMERICAN flows into UNCLE DAD, the fast and catchy ska of SPIES LIKE US rolling right out of the pure teen destruction of THE ELECTROCUTES (decades ahead of their time, this is no doubt the best song on the entire comp). Freaky funkprogpunk from THE DOGFATHER, raw hardcore from PISS WATER, a rare appearance from fellow teenagers HUMAN BEANS and a cut from the guy who owned the record store in town who hosted bands through the '90s. Scene beef historians will notice the inclusion of West Bay OGs SLOBBER and 976 on the same comp - which is noteworthy because it's not the West Bay Koalition 976, but rather the Dory Tourette/HUMAN BEANS adjacent 976 (this might make sense to, like, maybe seven people reading this, and the rest of you will just wonder what I'm talking about...you're going to have to trust that, in retrospect, this is a big deal and only could have been pulled off by a couple of kids), and speaking of West Bay, meet GREMMIES, featuring Frank Ripple (AGENTS, PLUTO, REDACTED, etc) on fucking drums. 

BOOGIE DOWN? ...TO THE WEST BAY BEAT

You can't release a comp without having a release show...right? And Dean and Spencer (compilation compilers and release show organizers...they were 14 and 15 years old at the time) pulled no punches with theirs. Many of the bands on the flyer did not play, while several bands not on the flyer (or the tape) did.  FUCKFACE was added to the show as FUNK IN YOUR FACE (why didn't we think of that?!). I mostly just remember Jason from HUMAN BEANS getting naked and jumping in the pool in full view of school officials and us making dark jokes about how much speed we were taking on a high school campus surrounded by kids. Both people responsible for the tape and the show are still very much friends and still very much around...there's a lot to be said for bonding experiences I suppose. 

HUMAN BEANS

It's weird to think about being "jaded" 25 years ago. The point is not if we were jaded per se, but more a nod to the constant thirst for something new, and recognizing the complacency that comfort can bring. We were in our mid-20s. We had toured a few times and were starting to feel like we belonged in our (new) City and now we were growing with the scene that we had been accepted into. The kids (and I mean "kids" as in actual young people) in the Bay Area primarily went to Gilman or other shows off of our radar. We played bars and drug dens disguised as artist warehouses, and there simply weren't that many teenagers in our midst, so when HUMAN BEANS started poking around...well, they stuck out, and I feel like I knew them all from shows before I knew they were in a band. I'll be honest and say that I kinda dismissed them before I saw or heard the band, maybe because I was pompous or maybe because they were a collective disaster - probably a bit of both. But when we eventually saw them play? Shit! You can make the argument that punk is a young person's game, and it's an argument that you'll typically win, but rarely has the mantra been so clearly demonstrated. HUMAN BEANS just exploded. Hormones and adolescence and broken homes and disenfranchisement spewed everywhere in a sloppy, out of tune fucking mess. They loved HICKEY and they tried to recreate the hooks. They failed. They loved OP IVY and the ska parts were so unbelievably fucked up. Simply put: They were a train wreck. But they were honest, they gave so much of a fuck about not giving a fuck, and that was a reminder we all needed shoved in our faces. Recorded, HUMAN BEANS are a different story - fast, tight, high energy punk with snot practically gumming up your needle (or, in this case, your tape heads). This handful of home made hand made, recycled cassettes and a split with THE BAR FEEDERS are the extent of their sonic legacy - more than an hour of recorded sound including blips and whirs, some songs that might not even be by HUMAN BEANS, some beer jingles, lots of general nonsense. The kids were real. 

OOH LA LA

LIVE on San Francisco Sound

======================

John is a dad, lives in the Northwest, and still has a VHS tape that LITTLE PRINCESS made for our wedding that I totally want back.

Jason is around, played in GO LIKE THIS! with some of the PLUTOCRACY dudes in the late '00s.

No clue where (or how) Alexis is, but that dude's quiet sense of humor was so fucking bizarre.

Pete died a lot of years ago, he painted a tape on wood that sits on a wood shelf with other tapes. 

JANITORS AGAINST APARTHEID

Time and place hold equal importance in discussion of context. I never saw JANITORS AGAINST APARTHEID, but I could have seen them at that show in Temecula in '94. We also could have crossed paths in Cornwall in '96 or Indianapolis in 1993 (man, that "teen center" was super weird and the guy was a dick and we stole weird shit from him to try to sell because he wouldn't pay us and my wife still makes fun of me for that to this day - even though she didn't know me in those days....it's a good story, I'll tell you some time). But JANITORS AGAINST APARTHEID were from San Jose and I never saw them live even though I knew the name. They were a killer ska/punk ensemble who rip off CITIZEN FISH (or the other way around) in "Oh...OK!" and whose use of horn and weird time signatures floats easily in a sea of contemporary copycats. How many Escape visitors will listen.....? My guess is less than 30, but the ones who do will not be disappointed. This is arguably as dated as anything I have shared here....but I'll be damned if it isn't also excellent. 

I CAN PICK MOST LOCKS WITH A CREDIT CARD

S.P.L.I.F.F. SAMPLER

There are many mysteries in the world. Like....what is this and why do I have it? Mysteries like this will never be solved, but mysteries like this will be listened to and mused over and enjoyed. 12 tracks spread over three new (to me) acts on what might have actually been a handmade sampler for S.P.L.I.F.F. Records. FRED FRANTIC starts things off with some bedroom 4-track weirdness - the tape opens with "Coconuts On A Coconut Tree" and things do not get less strange. ERIC + THE TAP DANCING BUDGIES are next...irreverent shit-fi punk a la ALBERT Y LOST TRIOS PARANOIAS, that wraps up with "I Wanna Be A Tree," a freak out that would be a lost '60s raw garage punk burner in a different reality. And then the psychedelia takes over with MARIJUANA FROM MARS. Four low fidelity instrumental jams that harness HAWKWIND and OZRIC TENTACLES. Primitive electronics and soaring space guitars, this band matches their moniker better than any that I can think of. Some mysteries weren't meant to be solved, I suppose.

A S.P.L.I.F.F. SAMPLER

REVUALTA PROPIA

After just two cassette releases, Mexico City's REVUELTA PROPIA seem to have officially called it quits in the late '90s, though the moniker continued as a vehicle for sounds increasingly distant from the classic ska/punk at the band's roots. Hard to say when they actually became inactive, but the point today is this four song cassette from 1998...keyboards, horns, vocals fluidly scat/rapping their way through tracks as equal parts front and hype man. The entire (short) tape burns, but "Las Vueltas de la Vida" as a closer is indescribably infectious, and the energy is so high that even subgenre naysayers (of whom I can be one, I confess) will start to dance. 

RESPETO

CITIZEN FISH

I will freely admit that I joined the CITIZEN FISH camp pretty late in the game. The early '90s were, by most accounts, the heyday of both the band's output and their popularity, but I didn't even see them play live until 1997 (and even then, it was only because Karoline was on tour with them, I am not sure I had ever even heard their music). But it didn't take much to see why people and punks from virtually every subsection of every scene were into the band, and I've been an unabashed fan ever since that first show. I'll still hold Life Size as my favorite record, but please don't ask me to pick a favorite show because there have been to many to choose from...and they are never bad. It just doesn't happen. The Psychological Background Reports are collections of outtakes, field recordings and remixes, things that few bands could pull off in an even remotely interesting fashion, but when CITIZEN FISH digs into the archives, the result is nothing short of fantastic.  This is the first installment, circa 1993....a full hour of dub, reggae, remixes, techno (lest you thought Phil was a latecomer to the electronic music game!), alternates and interviews, all carefully manipulated for your listening pleasure. Sometimes I rip tapes and leave them in the background while I get on with life, but this one held me mesmerized....the manipulation is every bit as effective today as it was then. And, for the record, no matter how many crucial shows (or years?) I missed out on by jumping on the bandwagon late, I wouldn't change a thing about my relationship to the band or their music because it's been nothing short of perfect from that show in San Luis Obispo until today...

FIRST PSYCHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND REPORT

KUCHALANA

Closed minded hardcore pricks can move right along to Wednesday (when I will probably post some synth drone annoyance) and try your luck, while those of you who like to approach punk with open ears and no preconceptions are probably about to be stoked. I admit that I like this more than I think I should, and that I cannot really defend my appreciation of what is essentially  college beach cabana meets surfer douche outfit with one kinda punk song (and my defense would not extend to the 6+ minute "The Fall" -  I have no excuse for that one), but that doesn't change the fact that the jams are chill...which is the whole point. It's the dub element that appeals to me more than the reggae - "Silent Stare" into the weird "Silent Songs #2" remix that closes the tape are fukkn killers...and the whole tape somehow makes me feel like I'm on vacation. I cannot imagine that very many people will listen to this, considering the general demographic of Escape visitors and my description, but I think that those who do will be rewarded.

THE INPUT FOR AN OUTPUT

D.C. TODAY

I could talk about this tape in the context of the Washington, D.C. metro area and the current crop of ridiculous bands from there. Or I could talk about this tape in the context of the importance of mix tapes as a tool for networking and underground community. I could also discuss this tape as a representation of the progression of the punk scene/sound from the early Dischord days onward. Or perhaps I could just say that D.C. Today is a brilliantly crafted document of punk and hardcore from the area circa 1989. Bands that you may have heard of include MFD, AGENT 86, and SHUDDER TO THINK, but almost all of this shit is new to me - the east coast hardcore is crucial, the goth punk is completely legit, the ska is....well, it's ska but there are only two or three songs, and the sporadic between track phone interviews are fukkn brilliant little time capsules. I know Mike probably made this for a few friends, but I could not be happier that a cope made its way into my hands. Favorite jams: DESECRATION, GUT INSTINCT, STOMP, RANCID (not the one you are thinking of), THE WAIT and STRANGE BOUTIQUE. This is why mix tapes are fukkn great, especially 20+ years in the future.

D.C. TODAY: A Compilation Tape Of Bands From Maryland/DC/Virginia

As an extremely pleasant side note, I realized well into the digitization of these jams that the compiler was one Mike Straight, who was one of the first punks I met who really let me know (inadvertently, perhaps) that I was on the right path. The idea of putting snippets from telephone interviews in between choice tracks fits perfectly with my memories of Mike, and hearing his voice is a blast from my past (even though I probably didn't meet him until 5 years after he compiled this tape). Last I knew, Mike bought a house that was a glorified squat in Philadelphia and had convinced someone to give him money to go to school. Maybe my memory is incorrect (as is often the case), but someone should put me in touch with that dude because he was always super good to hang out with.

DAUERRAUSCH 4

A 21 band solidarity compilation released to support the Autonome Kulturzentrum in Hanau, Germany (a squat near Frankfurt,  active since 1986). Melodic acts like PEACE OF MIND and KELLERBASSELN reek of the catchy but powerful political punk of the '90s, while Poland's HOMOMILITIA start the tape off with relentless dual vocal crust. Other highlights include SCUM OF TOYTOWN (comparisons to early CHUMBAWAMBA are not out of line), ROTZLÖFFEL and GEHRINSCHLAG (totally blown out noise drenched D-Punk), KÜPPERS ROTE ZONENKUGEL and PANZERKROIZA POLPOTKIN, whose dark minute dirges could easily inspire new legions of goth obsessed jungen. The tradition of gruff German street punk is well represented also (REICH & SCHÖN, KINDLE, MARKSMAN), and while there are surely a couple of clunkers (30 songs here, what do you expect?) this is top quality from a slew of lesser know late '80s/early '90s acts. 

DAUERRAUSCH 4: A Soli-Sampler für das AKZ Hanau

RUDIMENTS

RUDIMENTS were well established before I moved to San Francisco, but I was lucky enough to watch their evolution into a terrifying whirlwind of narcotics and punk. If you are scared of ska, then perhaps you should stay away, but 1996's Bitch Bitch Bitch is a mandatory release filled with chaos and drug fueled depression...everything from the blazing sinister '80s hardcore of "Neon Crucifix" and "El Camino" to the chilled out "Underwater" or the unquestionably danceable "Terror In The Heartland," tracks that could teach fans of the dirty ska/punk from more well known bands a lesson or two in the ways of determination in the face of squalor. The recording is damaged in the manner of later FLAG or a distorted basement amalgamation of Albini's work, and that edge gives songs like "Superhero Chickenshit" an authenticity that is impossible to manufacture. They toured relentlessly for half a decade, exporting Mission District ethos to the heartland of the country for $50/night, sharing the stage with much more popular and less worthy bands. Their live shows in the late '90s were epic, and while few of their other releases capture the final era of RUDIMENTS, this full length definitely does. 

Scottzy made me this tape before the LP came out, and I played the shit out of it. The LP on one side and a slew of demos and live tracks dating back to 1994 on the flip. The RHQ 4-track recording of "Smokin' Hubbas" might steal the whole tape for me, but you are welcome to choose your own favorite. Had some of the best times with these dudes - cared about stuff a lot less back then but, in retrospect, perhaps it meant a lot more.

BITCH BITCH BITCH + MORE!!

"They comfort my buns, they keep me, you know, supported and able to be endowed to do what I do...which is, you know, get high."

BEATS

There is no sense in me pretending that I am anything approaching an expert on these sounds. Just three acts make up the A side of this mix tape, Nigeria's CHIEF COMMANDER EBENEZER OBEY and KING SUNNY & HIS AFRICAN BEATS with a couple of tracks from Senegal's TOURE KUNDA to round out the party. Mesmerizing sounds that I love, whether or not I know anything about them or their historical relevance (CHIEF EBENEZER takes the cake for me, if anyone is keeping track). From northern Africa to musically rich Jamaica for the flip side, 45 minutes of classic ska from well known acts (TOOTS & THE MAYTALS, JIMMY CLIFF, BURNING SPEAR, DESMOND DEKKER) and deeper cuts from ERIC MORRIS, THE MELODIANS, LORD CREATOR and others. Again, I am no historian here, but these sounds make me want to delve deeper - and that, dear readers, is the power of a good mix tape - even though I get the feeling that this is just a vinyl comp committed to shell form (at least the Jamaica side), it still has the same effect as if one well meaning historian spent one alcohol soaked evening sharing the best possible examples of a genres to all his/her friends. Highlights for me? LORD CREATOR, CHIEF COMMANDER EBENEZER OBEY, AUGUSTUS PABLO, and SOUL VENDORS. The shit is good, enjoy.

AFRICAN SOUNDS // JAMAICAN SOUNDS

GET OFF MY LAND

A hunt saboteurs benefit cassette from the late '80s featuring a handful of bands you know (INTERNAL AUTONOMY, SOFA HEAD, AOS3) and heaps more that you are about to enjoy. BEDOOHA's first tune comes off like a killer WIPERS outtake, R.D.F. would have been a favorite of mine had I heard them at the time, and the B side of the tape is packed with lo-fi dub brilliance. HAPPY SHOPPERS' two drugged out tunes take the cake for my ears, while THE AK47s and a bedroom 4 track instrumental from MR. LULLEY are total winners.  A chilled out and not at all serious sounding comp, meant to benefit a wholly serious cause.

GET OFF MY LAND

NOTHING TO LOSE BUT OUR CHAINS

Late '80s UK comp benefitting Anarchist Black Cross (did you ever wonder how much money a $2 cassette comp could actually raise to benefit any cause?) and featuring a few tracks from a few really good bands. This D90 starts with INTERNAL AUTONOMY (who contribute four of the best songs on the tape) playing a genuinely weird sax and keyboard fronted number before HERB GARDEN launches into one of the few hardcore songs included. Reverbed dub (TOTTENHAM AK47s, CITIZEN FISH), classic UK punk (THOUGHT POLICE), proto industrial punk (K.Y.J., PLUG, SLOWJAM) are all represented, while POLITICAL ASYLUM, MORTIFIED and EMBITTERED provide other highlights. There are a couple of turds, to be sure, but that's to be expected on a 90 minute tape.

NOTHING TO LOSE...BUT OUR CHAINS

A.O.S. 3

Look at those paisleys!! You know this shit sounds like a bowl of non-confrontational corn flakes, right? You should also know that I'm posting this A.O.S.3 demo to remind you that you should be working in your garden (urban or otherwise), reconnecting with long lost friends (digitally or otherwise), making a mix tape (analog only), or smashing the system instead of downloading long forgotten tapes off the internet.  Seriously. The most interesting tune here is "3rd World War," which somehow takes the bass line from DEAD KENNEDYS "Holiday In Cambodia" and slows it down to make it relatively uninteresting, adds a guitar lick lifted directly from JOY DIVISION and peppers the tune with vocals trying so earnestly to be intense. The acoustic BILLY BRAGG sounding tune "Embers" is the shortest jam on the tape, and even it approaches the 4 minute mark...get ready to get into some anarcho dub/ska/reggae. Or perhaps you could read a book, totally up to you.

Live at The Kazbah, 1990