A Sleepee Mix

Artist: Various
Title: A Sleepee Mix
Release: 1997
Label: My Room Records

Track List:
1. Sarcastic Bitch - Tea Party
2. Goodnite Moon - Tummysuck
3. Make a Wish - Fifteen Traumas
4. Acetaminophen - Harriet
5. Complete Sentences - Button Forest

This is a quiet little compilation of quiet indie rock (for lack of a better description). Not necessarily my cup of tea, but I figured someone might enjoy this.

Download: Various - A Sleepee Mix (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Various - A Sleepee Mix (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Slave One - Bloodied Body

Artist: Slave One
Title: Full Circle
Release: 1997
Label: Highwater Records

Track List:
1. Bloodied Body
2. The Wounds of Lost Love

Here's one more Slave One 7".

Download: Slave One - Bloodied Body (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Slave One - Bloodied Body (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Hoover - Hoover

Artist: Hoover
Title: Hoover
Release: 1997
Label: Slowdime Records

Track List:
1. TNT
2. New Five Drive
3. Breather Resist
4. Weeds
5. Relectrolux / Electrodub

Here's the rest of Hoover's recorded output.

Download: Hoover - Hoover (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Hoover - Hoover (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Ursa Minor - Smoke

Artist: Ursa Minor
Title: Smoke
Release: 1997
Label: Abraham Records

Track List:
1. Smoke
2. When Ships Set Sail
3. Goodnight

I picked this record out of a bargain bin based solely on the cover. It screamed mid 90's emo at me. And guess what, it sounds exactly like Mineral, The Gloria Record, and Knapsack. I love that about emo bands from that time. You can tell exactly what the music is gonna sound like based on the cover. Obviously to an extent that's true with a lot of bands. But with 90's emo it just seems more so for some reason.

That being said, if you've listened to the more popular examples of the genre then you probably know exactly what to expect. Quietly sung vocals, mildly dissonant but not unpleasantly so guitars, and a subtle hint of a keyboard buried somewhere in the mix that occasionally stands out loudly. All played at a speeds shifting between drudgingly slow to just a pace above mid-tempo.

I could not find a damn thing about Ursa Minor on the internet. My guess is that they probably only did this record and maybe one or two others. They probably didn't tour much or at all. And they probably never tried to make a name for themselves. If I had to guess, they were probably just college friends who played for a few years then went their separate ways after graduation. Nowadays with the ubiquitousness of the internet bands like that tend to leave a bit more of a record behind. But even in the 90's it's entirely possible that not a single word about Ursa Minor ever made it to the internet. Being the nerd that I am, to me there's something sad about that.

The 7" came with a small insert with the track listing. It says the record was recorded at Wintersound by Bob Gurske in the fall of 1997. I looked him up. It appears he's retired from recording now. Wintersound is in Gloucester Point, Virginia. The address for the record label says Charleston, South Carolina. So my guess is that they're either from Virginia, South Carolina, or somewhere nearby.

Download: Ursa Minor - Smoke (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Ursa Minor - Smoke (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

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

Through Being Cool - A Tribute to Devo

Artist: Various
Title: Through Being Cool - A Tribute to Devo
Release: 1997
Label: Jolly Ronnie Records

Track List:
1. The Johnnies - Gut Feeling / Slap Yer Mammy
2. The Role Models - Jerkin Back 'N' Forth
3. Mexican Breakfast - Come Back Johnny
4. The Sillies - Through Being Cool
5. The Slobs - Be Stiff
6. Snap-her - Mongoloid

I just picked this up yesterday and I thought it was so much fun I had to share it right away. When I first saw the title I thought it had to do something with Saves the Day, and then I noticed where it says "A Tribute to Devo" and got really excited. Lo and behold, one of the bands featured on this record was The Role Models, whom I have posted about before. I wasn't 100% certain if it was the same band at first, but the address on the back was the same as the one given for where their song on "As I Look to the Future" was recorded.

I don't know anything about the other bands on this compilation, except that I think this is the same band as The Sillies on this record. What I do know is that Devo is awesome and these covers are all in their own way excellent takes on their songs. My personal favorite is The Johnnies' cover of "Slap Yer Mammy".

Scans of the front, back, and insert included.

Download: Through Being Cool - A Tribute to Devo (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Through Being Cool - A Tribute to Devo (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Affront/District - split

Artist: Affront/District
Title: split
Release: 1997
Label: Plastic Bomb Records

Track List:
1. Affront - Time Is Now
2. Affront - New World Disorder
3. Affront - It's Your Life
4. District - I Can't Stand the Crush on Me
5. District - Bored for a Lifetime
6. District - Sensational

Yet another bargain bin gem (I'm gonna be posting a lot of these). This split features two bands from Germany. It was recorded in 1997. That's about all the background information I know. Both bands are fast, energetic, and angry hardcore punk. Nothing you haven't heard before, but if that's a problem for you then you probably don't like punk anyways.

Download: Affront/District - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Affront/District - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Gauze - 面を洗って出直して来い

Artist: Gauze
Title: 面を洗って出直して来い
Release 1997
Label: XXX Records

Track List:
1. 栄枯盛衰
2. 面を洗って出直して来い
3. ワッショイ
4. 歯を喰い縛れ
5. 口を閉ざした臆病者
6. 金返せ
7. 一言物申す
8. エッサホイサッサ
9. 負け惜しみ
10. 最後のお願い

This is Gauze's fourth album, released around the same time as the reissues of their previous three albums. I've posted this before, but this is from a source I can verify as being perfect or near perfect. It's a LAME V0 encode made from a FLAC rip of the CD.

Download: Gauze - 面を洗って出直して来い (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload
Download: Gauze - 面を洗って出直して来い (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Gauze - 限界は何処だ (reissue)

Artist: Gauze
Title: 限界は何処だ (reissue)
Release 1997
Label: XXX Records

1. 山深雪未溶
2. 己
3. 聾桟敷
4. 一触即発
5. 小細工無用
6. ふんだくる だけなら 誰にでも出来る 汚い 臭い 手前らクソ爺に 四の五の言われ 銭を取られるのは 真っ平御免だ
7. 人非人
8. ゴム紐どうだ
9. 逃れの街
10. 死人に口無し
11. Live in Scotland 1989 August

Originally put out in 1989 by Selfish Records this is Gauze's third album. 限界は何処だ (genkai wa doko da?) means "where is the limit?". Kind of an appropriate question for Gauze to be asking.

This is a LAME V0 encode made from a FLAC rip of XXX Records' 1997 CD reissue.

Download: Gauze - 限界は何処だ (reissue) (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload
Download: Gauze - 限界は何処だ (reissue) (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Gauze - Equalizing Distort (reissue)

Artist: Gauze
Title: Equalizing Distort (reissue)
Release 1997
Label: XXX Records

1. Pressing On
2. Crash the Pose
3. Thrash Thrash Thrash
4. 勝手にさらせ
5. Fact and Criminal
6. パッパッパ
7. Low Charge
8. Absinth Trip
9. Distort Japan
10. 言いなり / Children Fuck Off

Originally put out in 1986 by Selfish Records this is Gauze's second full length. Probably their best work. Probably one of the best hardcore albums period.

This is a LAME V0 encode made from a FLAC rip of XXX Records' 1997 CD reissue.

Download: Gauze - Equalizing Distort (reissue) (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload
Download: Gauze - Equalizing Distort (reissue) (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Gauze - Fuck Heads (reissue)

Artist: Gauze
Title: Fuck Heads (reissue)
Release 1997
Label: XXX Records

1. Power
2. Fuck Head
3. Shot
4. Coretik
5. One Last Kiss
6. Love Song
7. Ghostlike Crime
8. ノイローゼ
9. 酔狂
10. Go

Originally put out in 1984 by ADK Records this is Gauze's first LP. Consider this required listening.

This is a LAME V0 encode made from a FLAC rip of XXX Records' 1997 CD reissue.

Download: Gauze - Fuck Heads (reissue) (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload
Download: Gauze - Fuck Heads (reissue) (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

As I Look to the Future

Artist: Various
Title: As I Look to the Future
Release: 1997
Label: Solution Records

Track List:
1. Capgun - Take a Hint
2. Bane - Lay the Blame
3. Driven - Fear
4. The Rolemodels - Messy

I bought this solely because of the track by Bane but I was surprised to find that The Rolemodels song was actually my favorite on this. From what little I can gather this compilation was put out around 1997, it may have been 1996 but I'm gonna go with 1997 since that's when someone on a certain message board says they remember buying it.

The Capgun song isn't anything special, pretty typical 90's hardcore. If you've heard anything from that era you've probably already heard this. Bane's offering to this compilation is apparently some of their earliest recorded output. It definitely sounds more youthful in comparison to "Give Blood", and that was nine years ago now! I'm not really a fan of the song by Driven. It's got some dude from Killswitch Engage on it, vocals I think. Not my style at all.

What is my style though is The Rolemodels. When I was looking over the inside of the sleeve I noticed that the address given for them was Denton, TX. I thought this was pretty weird since the rest of the bands were from the North East so with a little help from google I found out that their drummer was actually the drummer from The Marked Men and their bass player was one of the early bass players for The Riverboat Gamblers. It seems the drummer started The Rolemodels not long after moving to Denton from Connecticut. I guess it makes sense that I found a copy of this in Carrollton, which isn't too far from Denton. Pretty interesting connection between two far away (especially in the 90s) places if you ask me.

600 DPI scans of the sleeve included.

Download: As I Look to the Future (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: As I Look to the Future (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

100% British Oi!

Artist: Various
Title: 100% British Oi!
Release: 1997
Label: Captain Oi! Records

Track List:
Disc 1
1. ABH - Don't Mess With the SAS
2. Angelic Upstarts - Victory in Poland
3. Anti-Establishment- 1980's
4. Anti-Social - Official Hooligan
5. Attak- Today's Generation
6. Barbed Wire - The Age that Didn't Care
7. Blitz - Warriors
8. The Blood - Such Fun
9. The Burial - Friday Night
10. The Business - Product
11. Cockney Rejects - Beginning of the End
12. Cock Sparrer - Chip on My Shoulder
13. Combat 84 - Poseur
14. Condemned 84- Oi! Ain't Dead
15. Crack - Going Out
16. Fighting the System - Criminal Class
17. Crux - C. I. A.
18. Ejected - Have You Got 10p?
19. 5ive-O - Dr. Crippins
20. The 4-Skins - Sorry

Disc 2
1. Gonads - Jobs Not Jails
2. The Guttersnipes - Addicted to Love
3. Infa-Riot - Riot Riot
4. Intensive Care - Ghost Town
5. The Last Resort - Resort Bootboys
6. Menace - Screwed Up
7. The Oppressed - White Flag
8. The Partisans - 17 Years of Hell
9. Peter & The Test Tube Babies - Up Yer Bum
10. Prole - Generation Landslide
11. Red Alert - Take No Prisoners
12. Section-5 - For the Love of Oi!
13. Sham 69 - Borstal Breakout
14. Skin Deep - Football Violence
15. Slaughter & The Dogs - Situations
16. Splodgenessabounds - Pathetique
17. Strike - Skinhead
18. Subculture - Loud & Clear
19. Vicious Rumors - Anytime Day or Night
20. The Warriors - Horror Show

I'm not really a big oi fan. That doesn't mean I don't like what I've heard. It's just that where I'm from it's a pretty underrepresented subgenre of punk so it's not something I'm exposed to that often. As such I've never really made much of an effort to really delve in too deep into the world of shaved heads and boots (I'm more of a long hair indoor desk job kind of guy anyways). This compilation seems like as good a place to start as any based on what little I know.

I can't really comment on whether or not this compilation good. I mean I like it, but aside from Sham 69 there isn't anything else on here that I've heard more than a few songs of. And outside of this compilation the only oi band I've really heard is On File. I know how annoying it is when someone who knows next to nothing about a type of music that is important to you starts singing the praises of thoroughly mediocre bands that play that type of music and when asked don't know any of the genre defining bands. I think I'd run the risk of being that guy when it comes to oi. So I'll just say this, as someone who knows little about oi this is a pretty cool compilation. Big fans of oi may or may not like it, but they probably already know about it anyways.

Download: 100% British Oi! Disc 1 (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: 100% British Oi! Disc 1 (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Download: 100% British Oi! Disc 2 (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: 100% British Oi! Disc 2 (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Fiesta Comes Alive!

Artist: Various
Title: Fiesta Comes Alive!
Release: 1997
Label: Slap A Ham Records

Track List:
1. Lack of Interest - My Life
2. Lack of Interest - Social Inequality
3. Excruciating Terror - Addiction
4. Bludgeon - Kill GOD
5. Dystopia - Backstabber
6. No Comment - Dead Stare for Life
7. No Comment - Distant
8. No Comment - Lament
9. No Comment - Skin Rape (Soiled by Hate)
10. Cavity - Burning My Eyes
11. Plutocracy - Dankstahz
12. Discordance Axis - Panoptic
13. Phobia - Internal Rot
14. Agents of Satan - Castigo Del Brujo
15. The Locust - Emaciation Fuckers
16. Gob - Columbian Nectie
17. Enemy Soil - Group Think
18. Nuclear Armed Hogs - Diff'rent Strokes
19. Man Is the Bastard - Heretic's Fork
20. Man Is the Bastard - Ether Rag
21. Man Is the Bastard - Instantly Beat
22. Man Is the Bastard - Semen in the Eysocket of Thomas Lenz
23. Stapled Shut - Killer Breed
24. No Less - Balls Deep
25. His Hero Is Gone - T Minus Zero
26. Noothgrush - Gage
27. Spazz - Might for Right
28. Evolved to Obliteration - Picked a Fight
29. Crossed Out - Pure Delusion
30. Crossed Out - Practiced Hatred
31. Benümb - Beyond Fucked
32. MDC - Nazis Shouldn't Drive
33. Cattlepress - My Only Wish Is to Destroy
34. Cop Out - Untitled
35. Cop Out - Over There
36. Hellnation - Silent Bigot
37. Utter Bastard - Macho Man
38. Capitalist Casualties - Rumor Mill
39. Capitalist Casualties - Fuck the Christians
40. Capitalist Casualties - Roll Over & Play Dead

This is a collection of live recordings taken from previous Slap A Ham Records compilations. Just look at the track list, you don't need me to convince you this is worth downloading.

Download: Fiesta Comes Alive! (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Fiesta Comes Alive! (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Hakodate City Hard Core

Artist: Various
Title: Hakodate City Hard Core
Release: 1997
Label: Straight Up Records

Track List:
1. Crude - No One Gave the Right Answer
2. Crude - 義勇 (Giyuu, Heroism)
3. etae - Protect Oneself
4. etae - Proof of Truth Proof of Power
5. etae - 絶望の時 (Zetsubou no Toki, Hour of Despair)
6. Mustang - 箱館 (Hakodate)
7. Mustang - 馬 (Uma, Horse)
8. Mustang - ヒエロ (Hiero)
9. Grass - 意識 (Ishiki, Consciousness)
10. Grass - 痛みの向こうに (Itami no Mukou ni, Beyond the Pain)
11. Grass - Humanity
12. Bad Trip - Fuck Religion
13. Bad Trip - Junky
14. Bad Trip - 矛盾 (Mujun, Contradiction)
15. Bad Trip - Impostor
16. Bad Trip - Decided Life

More on this later.

Download: Hakodate City Hard Core (FhG 192 kbps)

Crow - Anarchy Chaos Destruction

Artist: Crow
Title: Anarchy Chaos Destruction
Release 1997
Label: Crow Records

Track List:
1. Crow
2. Good-Bye Song
3. Last Chaos
4. Who Killed Dove?
5. Anarchy Chaos Destruction
6. War
7. Crow
8. No Violence
9. Give Up All Hope
10. The Day of Annihilation
11. Last Chaos
12. Storms of Despair
13. Is This Fiction?
14. Hiroshima Nagasaki
15. For Fucking State
16. Give Peace a Chance
17. Air Attack
18. Last Chaos
19. Disgust
20. Give Up All Hope
21. The Day of Annihilation
22. I'm Looking Out Over
23. Dance of Death
24. Bloody Earth
25. The End
26. Born to Die
27. Hiroshima Nagasaki
28. Storms of Despair
29. Is This Fiction?

Osaka's Crow should need no introduction, but just in case you're not familiar, they play a form of very raw metallic punk that one has come to expect from Japan, in no small part because of the influence of Crow. "Anarchy Chaos Destruction" is a compilation CD containing four of Crow's earlier releases collected together.

Tracks 1-4 from "Who Killed Dove?" (1986, Crow Records)
Tracks 5-18 from "Last Chaos" (1987, Crow Records)
Tracks 19-24 from "Eye of the Thrash Guerrilla" compilation (1988, Selfish Records)
Tracks 25-29 from "Last Tape Grind Crust"

Download: Crow - Anarchy Chaos Destruction (LAME 3.98r 320 kbps)

Gauze - 面を洗って出直して来い

Artist: Gauze
Title: 面を洗って出直して来い
Release 1997
Label: XXX Records

Track List:
1. 栄枯盛衰
2. 面を洗って出直して来い
3. ワッショイ
4. 歯を喰い縛れ
5. 口を閉ざした臆病者
6. 金返せ
7. 一言物申す
8. エッサホイサッサ
9. 負け惜しみ
10. 最後のお願い

Woo. Buy this here.

Download: Gauze - 面を洗って出直して来い (LAME 3.97 V0)