Equalizing Distort Gauze Rar
Japan was a bit behind the rest of the 1st world when it came to hardcore - the US had Hardcore bands in 1978, Europe had stuff going by 1979 - with the excepti. On of the SS from Tokyo, (who might just seem hardcore because of a very noisy live recording) who had a 12' recorded March 1979. The Stalin were making music in 1980 but the recorded output in the early days was definitely on a more Punk/No Wave slant.
A band called Typhus did an early flexi that is punky but definitely has some hardcore elements; the members of this band went on to be in 3 of the most important bands in Japanese Hardcore history. The Guitar player Tam was in the Stalin and also the excellent G-Zet. One of the guys went on to be in Aburadako who have continued to this day. But the most hardcore of them all was Gauze formed in the Fall of 1981.The original plan according to Shin the bass player was to play as fast as possible.
Now this is an admirable thing, but the Gauze approach was a bit different from say DRI. They attempted to give the impression of playing fast without actually playing fast. To imitate the feeling. Or something. I'm not going to pretend to understand what they are talking about. The first Gauze recordings are the tracks from the City Rocker compilation LP with features a bunch of New Wave bands and Gauze doing 10 songs, which don't sound like any other Gauze tracks. They are very UK influenced down to an almost straight up cover of Discharge's 'No TV Sketch' except the song title is 'Anti-Machine'.
The Outsider tracks are much rougher so I assume this was recorded in later '82. They are also live which adds to the roughness. Gauze weren't heard again until 1984's Fuckheads LP on ADK records.
This LP is rough hardcore and perhaps this is the beginning of what they meant by the fast feeling without playing fast thing. The sound is intense but is certainly not fast for most of it, even compaired to the standards of 1984.1986 saw the release of Equalizing Distort - to me this is the beginning of the modern Gauze sound. After 5 years of playing they had found their sound.
Although by 1989 when they released the Genkai Wa Doko Da ('What's the Limit?' ) LP (1/2 studio, 1/2 live in Scotland) they had picked up the pace a little bit and the song structure had become even more ugly and hateful and powerful. The production is very muddy on this but it's still one of the best hardcore records of the late 80s/early 90s. At this point Gauze had been around for almost 10 years, in fact in 1991 they played the 10th Anniversary gig, where they played 3 sets covering the 3 periods they had gone through, roughly in the last 10 years. They played 51 songs over these 3 sets and even changed equipment to give it a more authentic feel as well.
It wasn't until 1996 that they did anything notable again when they came to the US to do a tour. Now this is a sort of typical Japanese tour: they only played 3 shows. They had a 4th scheduled but it was cancelled when some dope broke a pipe in the ceiling and flooded the gig space in the now defunct Epicenter Zone record store/distro. They also played at Gilman St. In Berkeley, at the Bomb Shelter in Minneapolis and in Chicago at the Fireside Bowl.
They also recorded songs for a 7' that came out on Prank a little after this, while they were in SF.1997 saw the release of their newest 12' Kao O Aratte Denaoshite Koi (literally translated means 'Go wash your face and come back' - a Japanese expression used after someone is physically beaten by someone else) which has to be the best record by a hardcore band that had been around for 16 years ever. It is simply their best work, the songs explode from the grooves and kick your face in, then snap off your teeth with a pair of rusty pliers.
It's that intense. We are now in the year 2001, September we are likely to see a Gauze 20th anniversary show. Perhaps we'll see a new LP by 2005. It'll be worth the wait.
Not sure when i can get this all back on track, but until then if you need something from the blog just drop your request in the comments section of this post and i'll hook up the links. I already put some Sendspace links in there from requests in other posts that i just noticed.
Benumb, Lack of Interest and a few others.Happy Holidays!VinIn case anyone's interested. I recently came across the original Absolution files that Freddy Alva send me way back when i first started Blogged and Quartered. These sound top notch, much better than what i had on the blog like 10 years ago, back when i didn't know any better and would rip WAVs into 190kbps mp3s, and clean files that didn't really need it and fucking up the sound in the process. Anyway, here are the original files. The EP, the 2 comp tracks and the 88 demo.
I split the WAV files into 2 parts because it was too big for Sendspace. Both the mp3 and WAV folders have the high res covers included. Absolution anthology 320 mp3santhology WAVS part 1anthology WAVS part 2political rant.I'lltalk to family and friends endlessly about movies, books and music, butnever about politics. And especially on any form of social media.But i see the US being divided and it disturbs me. So fuck it, i'llexpress my opinions on all this here. Sorry in advance if anyone isoffended by my views.I could never understand why somany people would follow a tyrant like Trump. It confused me for solong.
Until recently. I watched part of an oldTrump rally where he announced to the crowd that he was 'building a wallin Colorado'. And the crowd, a sea a red hats, did they look confused?No.
They cheered. Then i kinda understood what we're dealing with. I'mnot throwing a dumb-blanket over all Trump supporters, just trying tounderstand the die hard fanatics who would fall on his sword no matterwhat he did.I'm an Independentso for me i'd feel the same way about this if was a Democrat or a Republican. Sidesshouldn't matter when it comes to crimes like this, but here we are. Ifeel like the Democrats closing arguments could be in part taken fromthe Matthew McConaughey movie 'A Time ToKill', where McConaughey plays a lawyer defending a black man who'syoung daughter was raped in the South. The closing argument could be something like this,'Tomy Republican friends on theother side, i'd like you all to close your eyes and envision a largerthan life Republican President. Can you see him?
Imagine him asking aforeign country to investigate his political rival. Imagine himadmitting to it on the White House lawn in front of the world, and thensuggesting China should do the same. Imagine his own Director ofthe OMB, also in front of the world, admitting exactly why the aid washeld and saying they 'do stuff like thatall the time' and to 'get over it'. Imagine this same President firingoff a hundred nasty tweets a day between golfing and holding rallieswhere he incoherently rambles on about toilets, windmills and conspiracytheories.
A man who attacks people who have bled for this country,teens with autism, and suggesting the longest-servingmember of Congress in history is in hell, while his grieving widow ispreparing to spend her first holiday without the person she loved themost. Can you see him standing there?
Imagine this person actuallyripping off a Children's Cancer Foundation to finance his campaign.Imagine this person ripping immigrants who have lived and worked herefor years from their homes. Imagine this guy telling the world he'd lovenothing more than to show his 'perfect' tax returns, then running tothe Supreme Court to hide them. Imagine this person blocking everyoneinvolved in his crimes from testifying or providing documents to showhis innocence, then claiming he had 'no due process'. Can you still seehim? Imagine this person writing a 6 page letter to House Speaker thatlooks like it was written by a 5th grade inpatient at a mental ward. Imagine thisman abandoning our allies, who fought alongside us, and then tellingthem, on TV, to go 'play in the sand'. And all this is just the tip ofthe iceberg.
Keep your eyes closed. Can you see him there, smiling? Now,imagine he's a Democrat. The defense rests your Honor.' Ofcourse in that movie thelawyer was trying to appeal to an all white jury in the South, and thelast line was'now imagine she's white' after detailing the little black child's fightfor survival after being raped and partly hung. That film had a happyending though (kinda).Unfortunately this isn't a movie.
PS - vote this coming year.CheersVin. In short, firstpress thought i was taking up too much space on theirserver and dumped all my files.
Even if i find another storage space idon't think i have it in me to re-link over a thousand links. So i guessi have to close up shop. If anyone needs anything they didn't get achance to grab when everything was active, just hit me up and i'llthrow it on mediafire or sendspace or something for you.
I can do this for a month or so if it doesn't get too crazy.The blog lived for 10 years, which i guess is better than most.Thanks to Seth and to firstpress for letting me store tons of shit there for aslong as they did.Thanks for all the kind words and help all these years, to everyone who sent me music, left comments and helped in any way at all. I met a lot of great people doing this, and got to help get some great and rare music out there, some of which i thought would never have see the light of day otherwise.I'll miss doing this, and i wish there was a way i could keep it going. I guess i'll keep the blog up as some kind of info archive, but the links will remain dead.Take care everyone.Vin. Before i start with the intro to this post, i just want to thank mybud Justin for taking the time and interest to interview me for hisawesome blog, Mustard Relics. You can check out the interview if you want. Justin did a killer job.Thistime around i've just decided to throw all the '80s hardcore stuff ihad on my server into one huge post. It's broken into three sections.
Equalizing Distort Gauze Rare
Section 1 is Anthologies, Discographies, LPs, EPs, and Demos, Section 2 is Japanese HC Classics, and Section 3is Compilations. Aside from that there's no real order to anything. Ittruly is just a grab-bag. Many of the anthologies and discographies icompiled myself using the best sources possible.
I also went back andre-did some stuff i've posted in the past. I've tried to include as muchrare/harder to find stuff as i could. Other stuff may be available onbandcamps or Amazon or whatever, but those are remastered, so i'dsuggest still buying it. A lot of the sources i used were from long outof print CDs, or cassettes and vinyl which i 'mastered' myself.Hopefully this post exposes people to some new music.If anyone want music removed, please just email me or leave a comment and i'll delete the link immediately. Thanks.Roughly 250 downloads in this post. Plenty of Easter Eggs too, out in plain site this time to make it easy. All together probably well over 300 downloads of all '80s hardcore / punk.
Enjoy!Anthologies, Discographies, LPs, EPs and Demos. This,along with the Plague, was some of the first stuff i ever ripped fromvinyl back in the mid-'90s when the technology was new.
I had two hugecomponents hooked up to my turntable and would use re-writable CDRs,which cost like 10 bucks a pop. A of of that stuff came out reallygreat, including this one. The first Chronic Disorder LP from 1985. Thisis catchy as hell, amazing hardcore punk from South Windsor,Connecticut.
One of my faves. If there was ever an '80s HC album thatwas underrated or overlooked, this is it. Incredible songwriting andmusicianship, a great vocalist, and epic songs with a perfect sense ofmelody. This is one of those rare gems where every song is better thanthe last. My highest recommendation for this one, and i spent an ungodlyamount of time on this, so i doubt you'll find a better rip anywhere.If you click only one link today, make it this one.Theband's EPs from 1983 and 84 are also excellent. They also recorded twomore full lengths.
Blithering Idiots from '86 and Drums Of War from '88.I've yet to hear either, but i'll remedy that soon enough. There's alsoa 3-way split CD called Hardcore From The Early Days with ChronicDisorder, White Pigs and Target Cells which was released on ColdsweatRecords in 2004. If anyone has a rip of this, please hook me up. This is my fave Plague stuff, half of it not released on the official CD.The 'discography' CD is missing 1 track from the first EP and 8 of the10 tracks from the split LP.
This collection has both EPs and the split LPin their entirety, plus a demo from '82 (which is free on the band'sbandcamp). If you want to hear the full length from 1990, buy the CD. Ifirst heard Plague back in '87 on the Pat Duncan radio show on WFMU andbecame obsessed with the band at the time. I wrote the vocalist back inthe mid '90s and he was nice enough to send me some of their records,which i immediately ripped onto CDR.
The EPs are from the CD, the splitLP tracks are from my own rip which i recently revised. This shit isabsolutely ripping. Some of the most underrated '80s hardcore you'llever hear. NewYork City hardcore band that sounds nothing like your typical NYHC.This is absolutely furious heavy hardcore punk.
Duel guitar and duelbass attack, with massive drumming and monstrous vocals. Just relentlessand raging thrash here. Both LPs recorded live at CBGB, then overdubbedand remixed.
The comp track sounds different from the LP tracks. It's asuper fast and short ripper that sounds completely unhinged. I lovethis shit.
This collection has much better sound quality than the oneposted in the past. Oh yeah, bassist Mike Kirkland went on to form.
Hardcorefused with dark post-punk from London. They had releases on CorpusChristi and Crass among others, so they got lumped into the wholeanarcho scene. But they kinda stuck out in the same way the Peni did.This is all the band's '80s stuff. Heavy Joy Division vibes. They alsorecorded a batch of songs in August ofin London, all written in the early to mid '80s. They sound excellentby the way.
Seriously every bit as good as their early recordings. Thoseare all on the Americanized CD put out by GTA in 2001.
Straight forward NYHC with Billy Milano on vocals. Tommy Rat from the early Warzone lineup replacedin 1985. When he started Trip 6 about a year later, he took most ofthese songs with him. Roger Merit played bass in the beginning, soyou'll recognize a couple of early AF songs as well. This is a reallygood rip of the demo (much better than the one on the S.O.D. / M.O.D.website), plus some rehearsals including a track not on the demo.
Thesong Before was on the Big City's One Big Crowd comp from '85. No shortage of great early '80s Cali punk HC bands. These guys played fast and melodic, with some darker songs that have that creepy Rikk Agnew guitar sound. I love stuff like this.
The 1980 demo is nuts, especially for it's time. Most of it is 20-30 second fast HC songs. The second demo from '83 fleshed everything out and laid down the sound for the LP. This CD has everything these guys recorded from 1980-1984. VocalistJohn Macias was murdered by SantaMonica Police in 1991, three days after a reunion show.
Since i've posted a few influenced bands, i figured i'd throw in the real thing, plus it wouldn't be an '80s HC post without these guys. I love all their stuff up to '85, but the Never Again EP from '84 is my personal fave. This is the CD version of the Never Gain anthology, which has the EP, plus various EP and LP tracks, all remixed. I've always loved the sound on this collection more than any other Discharge. Maybe because it was the first recordings i heard by the band, and it just stuck with me. Early punk band from Toyko and one of the best. The Anthology CD contains all the more punk sounding material from 1980-1982, plus the more HC tracks from '83-84.
Lastly is the Fish Inn LP, which shows the band moving away from hardcore and into slower, and much longer, sometimes jazzy rock / punk. Definitely an acquired taste LP. The Stop Jap Go Go Mushi CD has exactly what you'd expect. The first 2 full lengths and the '83 EP.
Incredible stuff. All ripped from the Best Sellection 2xCD on Japan Records in 1986. Sounds much better than the current remasters in my opinion. The mighty Death Side. Blazing 'Burning Spirits' hardcore. Epic, metallic thrash songs that sound like a combination of Motorhead and Iron Maiden, with one of the best guitar players in the genre, the late Chelsea (who also played in Paintbox). The Anthology covers all the EPs and comp tracks from 1987-1994.
The Bet On The Possibility LP, released in '91 on Selfish, is absolutely flawless. The band at the top of their game just blasting out one song after another, each better than the last, right up until the last track.
And finally, Wasted Dream, the band's first full length released in 1989. Another banger. This is the full discography ripped from the Nucleus-R reissues. Sound is amazing.