Black Mass - Of First And Last Things (2013)

Bit of shameless self promotion here. We (Black Mass) have been sat on this for some time now. Its a compilation of all the material the band had previously released. After myself and our two guitarists had joined we started building up our own recording rig and this compilation is the result of those forays into home recording. Its come out pretty good if I do say so myself. We have now dropped most of this from the setlist as well, so we saw this release as a good sign off for the first period of the bands life. For now, we have released it on Bandcamp for free. If it doesn't work then use the Mediafire link under, we only get so many free downloads a month. A physical version should be available from Witchunter Records in March.

Bandcamp

Mediafire

Fugazi - Inner Ear Demo (1987)

I remember seeing Fugazi back in about 2000/01. One of the most unintentionally terrifying/upsetting moments in my young music goer life was brought on by some metal chump stood right in front of me, throwing a plastic beer glass into the pit. Ian Mackaye saw this. The band stopped. he pointed right at the chump and told him to pack it in. it seemed like he was pointing at me.
Fugazi's 87 demo right here. Songs that would go onto make up on the Fugazi and Margin Walker EP's and Repeater three years later. Recorded at the Inner Ear Studio. Everyone should love Fugazi. These versions really don't differ from the album versions at all. Little guitar tweaks or slight changes here and there. I'm not going to point any of them out for you, work it out yourself. There is the added awesome bonus of the unreleased (officially anyway) "The Word".

Fugazi - Inner Ear Demo

The Minutemen Duo/Watt and Hurley - Live at ATP (2003)

You like The Minutemen? Everyone should like them. If you don't know about them then get reading and hearing up on your history. They will enrich your life. Obviously the band ceased to exist after the tragic loss of D Boon back in 1985 but Mike Watt and George Hurley have got back together on a few select occasions. Just that wonderfully tight rhythm section laying it down. Here is a live recording from an All Tomorrows Parties show in LA back in 2003. They rip through 26 classic tracks.  For all these shows, Watt even set up a guitar and amp at the other side of the stage in memory of D Boon.

The Minutemen Duo - Live at ATP 2003

Turn Cold - Sewing The Seasons (2006)

You all know that band Dead Swans? Well this is what they did before. Good old, straight forward, AN/Boston worshipping hardcore. Fast to the point songs that stick in your head and finish before you even realise it.

Turn Cold - Sewing The Seasons

"Because we are food for worms lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die."

Mr.Keating - Dead Poet's Society

Coalesce - Live at the First Unitarian Church, PA 2005

Hands down one of my all time, favourite bands. EVER. A true inspiration and influence. Here they are back in 2005 laying it down. Awesome live set and awesome sound. There is nothing I can say that hasn't already been said about them.

Track Listing

1- Harvest of Maturity
2- One on the Ground
3- cowards.com
4- Blend as Well
5- Burn Everything That Bears Our Name
6- What Happens on the Road
7- A Safe Place
8- Jesus In The Year 2000 / Next On The Shit List
9- A Disgust For Details
10- 73-C
11- You Can't Kill Us All
12- My Love For Extremes

 

Coalesce - Live At The First Unitarian Church 2005

This has popped up at quite a few different places but I originally got it from the awesome Lo Res Viscera ages ago. Check that blog out.

D-rail - 3 Track (2006)

D-rail where the bullet proof band from Leeds that did what they did before anyone cared about them or started following the same trends. If you ever saw them live you will completely understand how good this band where. If you where ever on tour, you will have stayed and partied at the D-rail house. My old band shared a label with them for a while and played with them on so many different occasions. Here is a 3 track sampler that came out before there first album "The Kinetics Of A Decaying Structure". It contains different versions of the album tracks.

D-rail - 3 Track Sampler

Much missed but its still possible to get there final recording from Thirty Days of Night Records. Since they split the members have been sighted with The Lock & Keys, Death Hand Approaching and Black Fang.

It makes sense if you where there.
x

Gatechien - S/T (2004)

This comes from my very lax attempts to put gigs on years ago in Liverpool. It was more really helping out some friends who already did it. It was pretty fun. Saw some awesome bands. One of those bands was French drum/bass duo Gatechien who we put on. Really surprised me at how much I enjoyed them. Its pretty common nowadays with the whole 2-piece/bass + drum setup, everybody is doing it. Gatechien stray away from the loud/distorted nature of a lot of that stuff, instead they have this whole Joe Lally crossed with math rock crossed with an almost pop-like element of melody. I believe this is album number 2. They are onto the fourth one at the moment. I do really love this album, download and have a listen.

Gatechien - S/T

Chronicles Of Adam West - Demo (2006)

Gonna post something every day this weekend. First up is self proclaimed "hardcore kids gone tech" SW based Chronicles Of Adam West. They existed for a few years, toured quite a bit, fell out a little and changed a few members. Not around anymore. After this demo they released an EP on the awesome Holy Roar Records ( which you can still pick up really cheap) and then decided to split up. I drove them on a tour with D-rail ( Who I will post about later) and it was blatantly clear how stupidly talented they where. This is the 2006 3-track demo they released to coincide with the afor mentioned tour.

Chronicles Of Adam West - 2006 Demo

Since the split the guitarist Theo has been playing even more technical music in Antares. Which if you know him is no surprise whatsoever.

x

Don Caballero

Don Cab need no introduction whatsoever. Instrumental, math rock masters. You can read about the band themselves nearly anywhere else on the Internet so I won't recite some Wiki biography. They rule, simple fact.
My good friend Stu hooked me up with this article recently and it made for such a interesting and insightful read that I reckon it needs to be spread around some more.
In 2000, while on tour in support of American Don with singer/songwriter Fred Weaver, the bands van was involved in a huge highway pileup. This and a number of other problems forced the break up of Don Cab. Weaver went onto document this whole tour and the dissolution of the band in his tour diary which was later published in the magazine Chunklet.
Funny, depressing, retarded and eye opening in equal measure. Anyone who has ever been involved with touring will see so many familiar themes in the story. This is the break down of Don Cab.

The Dark Final Days Of Don Cab

Enjoy. Cheers to Stu for this one as well.