Agathocles/Shikabane - split

Artist: Agathocles
Title: split
Release: 1997
Label: Keloid Records

Track List:
1. Agathocles - Bio-Industry Fucked Up Humanity
2. Agathocles - Macho-Crowd
3. Agathocles - Just Injust
4. Shikabane - 所業
5. Shikabane - 無
6. Shikabane - 仏造って魂入れず
7. Shikabane - 摩訶般若波羅蜜多心経
8. Shikabane - 欲にきりなし、地獄に底なし

Fans of grindcore should be very familiar with Belgium's Agathocles as they've been around for the last 25 years (yikes!) and have been regularly putting out split 7"s with seemingly any band that will agree to do so. Wikipedia lists 69 splits but I would not be shocked if there were more out there.

The B-Side of this record (which I tend to favor considerably) is by the less prolific but no less awesome Shikabane.

I didn't mention it in my last post but their name means "corpse". Although my understanding is that 屍 (shikabane) is really closer to like what we might call a zombie or ghoul, although not necessarily animated. The implication is that some evil shit has gone down at some point and the result is a shikabane, a body without a soul, and thus no life. 死体 (shitai) just means a dead body usually of just any person. 亡骸 (nakigara) however is the remains of someone close to the speaker or for whom a degree of respect is given.

I only mention all that because the nuance of shikabane is a whole lot more appropriate for a grindcore band.

Download: Agathocles/Shikabane - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Agathocles/Shikabane - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Shikabane - 人間に生まるること難し・・・

Artist: Shikabane
Title: 人間に生まるること難し・・・
Release: 1997
Label: Self Released

Track List:
1. 善悪
2. 人間に生まるること難し・・・
3. 独裁者
4. 現実逃避
5. 罰すべき世俗の偽善者
6. 過剰欲
7. 精神安定剤
8. 虚栄の過ち
9. 心身脱落
10. 無心無念の境界

This here is Japanese hardcore/grindcore act Shikabane's first EP. Recorded in 1996 and self released in 1997. This shit rips. If you're a fan of thrashy fast and loud hardcore that borders on grindcore half of the time this is for you.

This is a personal rip. I got super lucky and was able to snag a copy for myself a few weeks ago. I've seen this posted elsewhere many times but it's always been the same kinda sub-par sounding rip. I thought I could do better so here it is.

I really wanted to provide pronunciation/translations for the song titles but I suck at reading kanji still and even when I can read them I don't know which onyomi or kunyomi pronunciation to use in a sentence just yet (生 has 2 on and a whooping 17 kun). I can tell you the title of the EP roughly translates to "It's difficult to be human..." or something like that.

Download: Shikabane - 人間に生まるること難し・・・ (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Shikabane - 人間に生まるること難し・・・ (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Under the Influence

Artist: Various
Title: Under the Influence
Release: 1999
Label: Vicious Circle Records

Track List:
1. Where Fear and Weapons Meet - Glue
2. Ten Yard Fight - Forced Down Your Throat
3. Committed - Get It Away
4. Fast Times - Under Your Influence
5. Time Flies - Nothing Done
6. Kill Your Idols - X Claim

If you're a fan of SS Decontrol or Boston hardcore in general then consider this a must download.

Download: Under the Influence (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Under the Influence (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Tom and Boot Boys/The Discocks - Hated and Proud E.P.

Artist: Tom and Boot Boys/The Discocks
Title: Hated and Proud E.P.
Release: 1996
Label: Knock Out Records

Track List:
1. Tom and Boot Boys - Tom and Boot Boys
2. Tom and Boot Boys - Young Punks Pogo
3. Tom and Boot Boys - Oi Boy Oi Girl
4. The Discocks - Have Your Fun Tonight
5. The Discocks - Part-Time Youth

I love songs named after the band who performs them. Especially when the chorus is pretty much just the name of the band yelled over and over. If that's your sort of thing then Tom and Boot Boys are for you. They're fun, obviously not too serious, pogo/Oi! punk from Japan. Last.fm claims the singer, Noriyasu, runs a label called Pogo 77 Records.

I suspect for some people the band on the other side of this record, The Discocks, will probably not need an introduction as they've been around for quite a while in one form or another have a number of records to their credit. The rest of us who don't subscribe to RSS feeds of blogs dedicated solely to Japanese Oi! can probably be forgiven for being ignorant. While a little less aggressive sounding than Tom and Boot Boys, The Discocks are the same sort of Oi! punk. Personally I found their side of the split getting stuck in my head more so than the Tom and Boot Boys side.

Download: Tom and Boot Boys/The Discocks - Hated and Proud E.P. (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Tom and Boot Boys/The Discocks - Hated and Proud E.P. (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Carpenter Ant/Race to Die - split

Artist: Carpenter Ant/Race to Die
Title: split
Release: 2003
Label: Coffin Fund Records

Track List:
1. Carpenter Ant - Intro...The Grill Is Off
2. Carpenter Ant - 7 Plys Forever
3. Carpenter Ant - Ode to C. Herman
4. Carpenter Ant - Mohawk Combover Fuck Yeah
5. Race to Die - Disaster
6. Race to Die - Bald Leading the Blind
7. Race to Die - Possessed to Skate (Suicidal Tendencies)

If you google "Carpenter Ant Lehigh Valley, PA" most of the results you get are about actual carpenter ants and pest control service in Lehigh Valley, PA. I guess carpenter ants are a real problem up there. I suppose then it kind of makes sense for a bunch of pesky skaters to name their band after wood eating ants. There's pretty much no info about Race to Die out there so I have no clue where they're from or what they're all about.

Anyways, as if the cover and song titles didn't give it away, what we have here are songs about skating and other punk things that do an excellent job of not breaking the two minute rule. Both sides of this split are thrashy and at times a little sloppy hardcore played with your typical adolescent attitude problem. Race to Die even does a pretty gnarly Suicidal Tendencies cover.

Download: Carpenter Ant/Race to Die - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Carpenter Ant/Race to Die - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Fudge/Totsugeki Sensya - split

Artist: Fudge/Totsugeki Sensya
Title: split
Release: 2002
Label: 625 Thrashcore

Track List:
1. Fudge - No Racism, No War
2. Fudge - Selfish Rock
3. Fudge - 生存 (Seizon, Existence)
4. Totsugeki Sensya - Reality
5. Totsugeki Sensya - Search for the Sun

Sometimes I like to go on eBay and search for records without anything in particular in mind. I'll often just go to the records section and filter out all the bullshit like easy listening and world music as well as everything that is over a few dollars (if I didn't know I wanted it before I started looking then it really isn't something I want to spend much on) and sort by ending soonest. Every once in a while I'll find a gem amongst a seemingly endless number of Sex Pistols represses and Jefferson Airplane records misclassified as punk. This split by Gunma bands Fudge and 突撃戦車 (Totsugeki Sensya, which transliterates to "assault tank" but I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess it means "tank assault") is one of those gems. The best part about this record, for me anyways, is that I won the auction with a winning bid of $0.01. How's that for some luck?

Here's what 625 has to say about this record...

Gunma City hardcore fighters! My friend Mamada from SHIKABANE is always telling me about these bands from a small town outside of Tokyo called GUNMA CITY. By chance I got into contact with a member of TOTSUGEKI SENSYA and got their demo and it fucking floored me. I couldn't believe that they had been around for a few years without some kind of output. Mamada then told me about FUDGE and we started playing around with the idea of doing a GUNMA CITY comp of some type. This is the product. While FUDGE play a more traditional style of Japanese metallic hardcore (guitar solos, shouted choruses, etc), TOTSUGEKI SENSYA play a mix between CONFUSE and BASTARD. Putting Gunma on the map! (1000 pressed, all on black)

Speaking of Shikabane, expect a few awesome and related posts in the next few weeks.

Since I'm a bit of a dork and am always curious about places I've never heard of before I looked up Gunma City but couldn't find anything. It turns out, according to Wikipedia that "On January 23, 2006 Gunma, along with the towns of Kurabuchi and Misato, all from Gunma District, and the town of Shin, from Tano District, was merged into the expanded city of Takasaki.". So there was a Gunma-machi (town) in Gunma-gun (district) in Gunma-ken (prefecture) at the time this record was pressed but it has since been absorbed by Takasaki which is considerably larger.

The only pictures I could find that were definitely of Gunma-machi were of an old (probably neolithic) burial mound...





this western pasta restaurant...



and a snow covered field...



Not exactly someplace I can imagine as a breeding ground for great hardcore, but don't let the quaintness fool you, the bands on this 7" rip.

Download: Fudge/Totsugeki Sensya - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Fudge/Totsugeki Sensya - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

My Luck - Cleaver

Artist: My Luck
Title: Cleaver
Release: 2004
Label: Pass Youngblood Records

Track List:
1. Flashbacks
2. Alone
3. Caring for Nothing
4. Fingers Crossed
5. Vinyl Fix

More from this Houston band. This is their 2001 demo plus one more song. For fans of Champion, Carry On, Far From Breaking, etc.

Download: My Luck - Cleaver (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: My Luck - Cleaver (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire