sxe sells

V/A - sxe sells LP - 2014 Cobra Records CR-60

I bought this pretty late. It was out for I don't know how long already and I always meant to pick up a copy but for some reason I didn't want to spend postage on it. But then we did a show with Give, Minutes and Echoes. It was a great night. Unfortunately I didn't catch either Minutes' or Echoes' set because I had to take care of other things. The down side of organising shows. You book bands you like and more often than you'd like to you don't get to see them. But what I heard was great. Unfortunately two members of Echoes couldn't make it to the show but instead of cancelling they got Bigma (of Mainstrike and Birds Of A Feather fame) to fill in on vocals and decided to play a sweet cover set. Nice! Of course Give played a killer set as usual. I think it was at least the third time I saw them. If they would play around here every month I guess I'd be there every time if possible.

After the show I grabbed this LP  from Echoes who contributed to it and therefore had a few copies for sale. MDMA, Xwalk awayX and Echoes are really good. Constrict are even a little better if you like that 90s militant vegan sound. But Hangin' Tough and Last Warning are killing it. Definitely the best songs on this 12". As much as I like Hangin' Tough I have to say that the Last Warning track on here is more interesting. Each contribution to this this piece of wax was previously unreleased. Except for one of the two HT songs which was already on the 7" on Good Intentions HC and their other one is 'wound up' from REV 1 so this is why LW got them beat. Their song I didn't know before. The rest of the bands are not bad but somewhat don't hit home with me. All together it's a nice varied compilation but because I'm quite bored with 9 out of 15 bands I will probably not break this out again anytime soon. I guess it's the curse of the compilation.

I think there were 3 different vinyl colors pressed and all of them used the same colors as the layout. I like that. It's the best choice you can make when pressing color vinyl. The wax has to match the rest of the layout otherwise I don't see the point and prefer black. In this case there is no standard black vinyl pressing though and the choices available all looked ok so I didn't mind. Which is why I had  Marc (from Echoes) pull a random copy out of the box and that's the one I documented just now.

Cruisin' 1962

V/A - cruisin' 1967 LP - 1970 Increase Records INCM 2007

'Do you remember Rock'n'Roll Radio' did the Ramones ask. Well, with a record out of the Cruisin' series how could you forget about it. There were 15 LPs released covering the years from 1955 up to 1969. All of those have a live radio show cut into the grooves. Including commercials, jingles and the DJ talking. I love it.

My 4th one out of the series. 1955, 1957, 1959 and now 1962. It should have been the 1961 version to keep with the flow but what the heck. It seems '62 was a good year too. I even got me a first press. Increase Records Re-issued all of their original releases a few years later in revised editions with slightly different tracklists. Which means I'll probably end up with 30 of those LPs at some point.
This baby is 44 years old.

More verbal assault(s)

I'm going to put two different records in this post because I bought them for one and the same reason. They feature a Verbal Assault song.

V/A - another shot for bracken LP - 1986 Positive Force Records No. 9

A one and only pressing compilation on the legendary Positive Force Records run by Kevin Seconds out of Reno Nevada is what we have here. Too bad none of the songs really stand out. Quite a few big names chipped in. Still I listened to it once and then filed it. If it wasn't for the Verbal Assault track and the feeling that the collection will not be complete with out this LP I would probably never have picked up a copy.

V/A - It's your choice...
      unreleased live material from the Your Choice Live series 2x10" - Your Choice Records YC-LS 013

This record should never have been released. No wonder these songs were left off the original releases of the series. Probably the record least likely to ever be played again. Yet I needed it for my Verbal Assault collection.

Rock 'n' Roll radio

Same day. Same city. Same store. Totally different record.

V/A - cruisin' 1957 LP - 1983 Increase Records INCM 2002

This is the 3rd record of what is a perfect compilation series that I own now. I think the first one I picked up was 1959. Then it was 1955 and now I scored right inbetween the two. All of those records feature sets by radio dh's from the mid 50s on through to the late 60s. Including all the original jingles and ads perfectly capturing the mood of the time. A truly historic record of the year each instalment represents.

Discogs lists two different pressings. The first one from 1970 and another one from 1986. My copy is from 1983 though and has a slightly different track list to either of those listed on Discogs. Seems that with every pressing they used a different day's recording. Interesting. I'll most definitely keep my radar tuned in on these.

starting from zero

Crucial Response Records is a force to reckon with since the late 80s. Continually putting out new stuff and yet staying true to the real hardcore-punk sound. Surviving all the ups and downs of the scene and shitloads of kids. Say what you will about the dude but this deserves respect.

V/A - starting from zero LP - 2014 Crucial Response Records CRR 084

This platter compiles 34 tracks by 24 different bands from all over the place. What an effort. I once put out a compilation with 16 bands from germany and I thought that was a lot to do. I can't imagine how much more hard it must have been to get this thing put together. No wonder it took the time it did. Not sure how long this was in the works but it felt like it was about 2 years.

Stand out tracks are supplied by Dogends, Crucial Section, Zero Progress, Echoes, Isolation, Night Prowler, Eye-Gouge, Sniffing Glue, Skaggs. The others are good too I guess. Just not my thing.

Great effort. Definitely worth checking out.