Various Artists ‎– "Norwich - A Fine City" (Romans In Britain Records ‎– NERO 1) 1981

"And Now......from Norwich......it's the Quiz of the week.......'Sale Of The Century!"......the announcer said before a shite UK game show in the 1970's. I liked the Live From Norwich part, as if that was supposed to be impressive.
'I must watch that....its from Norwich!'......was never said by anyone?
I suppose that was the inspiration behind Alan Partridge being a host on Radio Norwich?
There was a time when Norwich had one of those local music scenes that cropped up every now and again, like Coventry with 'Two Tone', and Leicester with 'Grebo'. This one had no other name than It was From Norwich (Like Sale Of The Century). Led by The Higsons and The Farmers Boys, they managed to produce another one of those damned Local Compilations; "Welcome to Norwich,A Fine City".
Being stuck on a large expanse of flat farmland, Norwich was isolated somewhat from the rest of the land,so could breed its own insular kind of music.A funky brand of Post-Punk i suppose if you're being specific.
As it starts off with a song thats a tribute to the film i've seen more times than any other, "Plan Nine From Outer Space"; which i'm sad to say, i can recite all the dialogue to.
Like Dudley Manlove's famous 'Solarmanite' speech:...click here for this delight!

I know, this review is more to do with crap TV and Film than the actual album.....just indulge me will ya?.......oh yeah.....this records a cracker.

Tracklist:
A1 –The Happy Few - Plan 9 From Outer Space
A2 –The Higsons - My Love Is Bent (At Both Ends)
A3 –Screen 3 - Live And Learn
A4 –The Mohair Twins - Railway Sex
A5 –The Panic Parade - Little Games
A6 –The Clynics - Learning To Smile
A7 –Capitalist Music - Jane's Gone To France
B1 –Screen 3 - Shades Of Black
B2 –The Clynics - Eastern Exercise
B3 –The Mohair Twins - Five Hawaiian Bullets
B4 –The Happy Few - Ultimate Sanction
B5 –The Panic Parade - Blue Light Brigade
B6 –The Higsons - We Will Never Grow Old
B7 –Capitalist Music - Do You Really Love That Girl

DOWNLOAD this fine compilation HERE!

Jandek ‎– "Glad To Get Away" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0762) 1994

Its Monday, its Jandek,Its jandek monday!Whoop-e-dooo!
With a cover almost identical to the previous album "Graven Image", this album starts off with a 'Bitter Tale' then Jandek delivers the sing-a-long hook of  ‘Hey mister can you tell me, is there a knife stuck in your face?’
I think you know where this is going? And even what this sounds like; so, as i'm dying from heat exhaustion, i'm just gonna cut'n'paste a review from the internet on the end here,to save me going over old ground again,about detuned guitars, despairing vocals and stuff.

“Sixteen years after his first album, Jandek sounds more confident in his playing, and his vocals are more up front, but his detuned/untuned acoustic guitar and depressed, stream-of-consciousness folk/blues songs remain at the core of his music... ‘Rain in Madison’ jumps out, a cracked blues-style story about... something (‘you know you can’t bring no electric devices out in the rain’). On ‘Van Ness Mission,’ he turns up the echo full blast for a disturbing ’delic journey that continues on ‘Anticipation’ like a free-style Tav Falco goin’ down slow. ‘Nancy Knows’ is an awkward but complex instrumental that clearly shows Jandek now moving his left hand around the neck of his guitar in a way very foreign to his early open-strum approach. I wonder if the tune is named for the same Nancy who sang on chair beside a window back in ’82. ‘Take My Will’ is more early blues, Jandek-style... He pulls out his harmonica for a little dylan-squeal accompaniment on ‘Plenty’. The cycles of nature are not often rapid; listen as one of nature’s strangest wonders continues to slowly ‘progress.’”
Tracklist:

1 Bitter Tale 2:25
2 Hey Mister Can You Tell Me 3:33
3 Ezekiel 2:49
4 Moon Dance 2:22
5 Flowers On My Shirt 2:36
6 Morning Drum 2:58
7 Down Clown 2:45
8 Rain In Madison 2:19
9 Van Ness Mission 3:03
10 Anticipation 3:12
11 Nancy Knows 3:10
12 Take My Will 4:03
13 Plenty 2:00

14 What 3:06

DOWNLOAD and be glad to get away with it HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "Rupert Preaching At A Picnic" (Naïve Records ‎– Naive 002) 1981

Another 'New Town' and Britains premier,experimental, 'Garden City' of Welwyn Garden City,on the outskirts of London, is the next destination in our trip around the more obscurer end of the UK local band compilations fad.
I had no idea where this place was until i just googled it.
Portion Control came from here,and an early, pre-industrial track from them is included here,nestling awkwardly among the Power Pop and Post-Punk choons.
The other group who made a future impression on the record buying public here, was The Marine Girls. A quoted favourite of Kurt Cobain no less,not that that's any recommendation, they included future Everything But The Girl chanteuse, Tracey Thorn;and went on to adorn the CD racks of white collar employees everywhere.

Tracklist:

A1 –The Frets - Two Choices
A2 –Elusive Diplomats - Twist And Run
A3 –Bona Dish - Actress
A5 –Life Machine - Life And Times
A5 –Köln - Dope Prohibition
A6 –Oblivion II - Sword
A7 –The Absentees - Fairytales
B1 –The Innocent Vicars - She Was My Girl
B2 –Marine Girls - Hate The Girl
B3 –Frankies Crew - Somebody
B4 –Deranged - Factory Girl
B5 –The Plugs - Bat Brain Moon Man Boiler Boy
B6 –Amatory Mass - Girl On The Corner
B7 –Eddy Steady Go - Boy Named Sue
B8 –Portion Control - Preach

DOWNLOAD music from the garden HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "A Warped Sense Of Human" (Peartree Records ‎– EJSP 9688) 1981

From a place more famous for its concrete cows sculptures than its music. This is a compilation of various post-punk groups from Britains premier 'New Town',Milton Keynes.
Along with the "Cows",the sculpture on the cover is called "Octo", created in 1980 by the artist Wendy Taylor and is still on display in Milton Keynes today....unlike all the bands included here.

Its all good stuff, maybe except for chunky pub rocker 'Kingsize Keen and his Rockin Machine", who are pretty terrible.

Needless to say that none of these acts were ever heard of again.

Tracklist:

A1 –Dancing Counterparts-Jacob's Room
A2 –Offbeat  - Fun City
A3 –Ethnik Minority -  Victim Of The Bomb
A4 –N.A. Pop 2000 So-so
A5 –Ticketz -  All I Want To Do
A6 –Kingsize Keen & His Rockin' Machine - Hang Over You
A7 –Fictitious - I Must Adjust
B1 –N.A. Pop 2000 - Panic In Your Mind
B2 –Fictitious - New Expression
B3 –Dancing Counterparts - Pain
B4 –Ticketz - Control
B5 –Ethnik - Minority Cult
B6 –Kingsize Keen & His Rockin' Machine - New Wavin'

DOWNLOAD post-punk milton keynes HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "The Snoopies Album: The Last Remains Of A Richmond Venue" ( 1,000 Only Records ‎– RSB1) 1981

Staying in the London area with,not quite a local bands compilation,but an album of studio recordings of some of the bands who played in very posh Richmond's premier alternative music venue....."Snoopies".Which closed its doors in 1981.
Some cracking tunes on this one, including a 'Hit', with an earlier version of The Cardiacs stadium pop classic "Is This The Life?", which was a minor hit single in 1988!? 
There's plenty of classic UK DIY as well, including the Tronics and the legendary Scissor Fits!

Tracklist:

A1 –Rich & Famous - Machine Gun
A2 –The Mag 7 - Rosalind Jones's Umbrella
A3 –Tronics - I'm A Diver
A4 –The People Upstairs - Whips Leather & Other Animals
A5 –Plain Characters - I Am A.
A6 –The Trudy - The Trudy
A7 –Thirteen At Midnight - Follow Yourself
A8 –Babybabybabybaby - Supernatural
B1 –Snatch 22 - Be Like You
B2 –Sister Sister - The Blackmen Dance
B3 –Scissor Fits- Radio Teeth
B4 –M.L.R. - The Recked Rectors Of Og
B5 –The Crew - Songs Like These
B6 –The Europeans - Drink Pink Zinc!
B7 –Cardiacs - Is This The Life?

DOWNLOAD these remains HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "Hackney Musicians Collective" (self-released ‎– LP 1) 1981

Another London Borough with a compilation was Hackney,which straddles the boundaries between the east end and the north of the UK Capital. I suppose its been gentrified nowadays, but back in the 1980's, it was rough as old arseholes, and a breeding ground for alternative musicians.
All the groups on this record could easily have been the same band, which is great for continuity, but not great for those with eclectic tastes;but who wants to appeal to them anyway?. Every one of these aspiring also-rans could have had their very own John Peel session, or a minor hit in the alternative charts.
Its a kind of 'perfect' music for my genetic sequence, which was mutated by this sound when i was a teenager,and of course what you hear during the five year period between 13 to 18, sticks.
It's all very post-punk peel band,but a very high quality of post punk peel band.
Sometimes London based bands were far too cool for skool.

Tracklist:

A1 –Pretty Graves - T.V. Fix
A2 –The Managing Directors - Wimp Song
A3 –Nerves - Dangerous Kitchen
A4 –Lazy Lizards - Lost In The Street
A5 –Vozhd - The Moon In Hackney
A6 –N.16 - Too Late
B1 –Ivory Coasters - Bullshit
B2 –Oxy & The Morons - Vandals
B3 –The Alternative Sloane Rangers - (no title)
B4 –Fladge 200 - Macho Man
B5 –International Rescue - Your Special Friend
B6 –Badges - Who Made Me?

DOWNLOAD pre-getrified 'ackney HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "East Of Croydon" (Nothing Shaking Records ‎– SHAK 1) 1981

Moving next door to Bromley we have Croydon. There was no Croydon Contingent of attention seeking middle class kids here. Home of the legendary Johnny Moped and the Damneds Captain Sensible, there was a different kind of Punk Rocker from this constituency. A lot sillier and out for fun rather than trying to shock their parents and be cool.The punk uniform for Croydon was still Flares and Tank Tops in 1977, just like us lot north of the watford gap.The realm of outsider punk.
Of course Croydon had to have a local compilation as well as Bromley,but the difference is that this one pisses all over "From Bromley With Love". Whereas the Bromley one trys desperately to appeal to the latest unforgiveable youth cult of  the New Romantics/Futurists, East Of Croydon is just a perfect array of post-punk/proto-indie relevance that would appeal nicely to yer average John Peel listener.
As usual, none of these bands (except maybe the Normil Hawaiians?) were ever heard of again,but we do have the complete works of Greenfield Leisure if you click HERE!

Tracklist:

A1 –Janet Armstrong - Inadequate
A2 –The Heartbeats - Funny Anymore
A3 –The Flips - Schitzo
A4 –The Big Combo - 21 Girls
A5 –Local Heroes SW9 - Another Modern Romance
A6 –Big Hair - Over You
A7 –Bobby Henry - Next Move
B1 –Calling Hearts - In The Jungle
B2 –Kan Kan - Phone Call
B3 –Sir James - The Selection
B4 –Spοοn Fazer - Fly On The Wall
B5 –A Circle Charmed - Henrietta Missing
B6 –Greenfield Leisure - Leisure
B7 –Normil Hawaiians - Dark World

DOWNLOAD at your greenfield leisure HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "From Bromley With Love" (Alternative Music ‎– ALT 007A) 1981

Up north from the south coast to Sarf London,and the London Borough of Bromley.....yes, that Bromley, where the horrendous 'Bromley Contingent' came from.
For those of you who didn't know, the so-called Bromley Contingent were a bunch of spoilt brats from suburban London who followed the Sex Pistols because they were the nearest they could get to following David Bowie about.This Pistols entourage contained such punk rock photo opportunites as Billy Idol, Siouxsie Sioux, Jordan, Soo Catwoman, and other such middle class artschool dropouts.I think they enjoyed the early exclusivness of the early Punk scene rather than the groups and art aspects,so as soon as it became marginally more popular they melted away,moaning about how it had all been ruined.....which to some extent it had,as their favourite pop Group was handed over to us 'Outsiders'. Some of this entourage were seen on that toe-curling interview with Bill Grundy and The Pistols........jeeez,times were different then.........Now come on what was the rude word?........."Shit" answered that naughty schoolboy Johnny Rotten sinking into his seat with awkwardness.......this caused an outrage which i'm sure you're all extremly bored with.Very silly stuff.
Four years or so after the Grundy debacle, the remaining residents of Bromley produced one of those Local Band compilations, that on the whole sounds as if 'Punk'had never happened.
It seems everyone in Bromley decided to buy a synthesizer, or become Classix Nouveaux or The Cure.There's a definite 'Futurist' vibe, with ambitions to hang out at 'The Blitz' with Spandau Ballet,which stinks of the former Bromley Contingents raison d'etre.
There's a couple of decent Power Pop tunes, a couple of Adult orientated Rock numbers (awful),and the odd decent Post-Punk ditty. The stand out tune is one by The Locusts, called "Lost fight", which seems to have a singer/shouter who seems not to be listening to the backing track;a technique I always admire.
As an album,this patchy compilation deserves a prize for managing to squeeze 18 tracks on 12 inches of black vinyl.So the sound quality is not of the highest standard,but hey....value for money is always desirable isn't it?

Tracklist:

A1 –Story A - Only Dreaming
A2 –20:20 System - Dresden
A3 –Hepatitis - Risk Wet Dreams (Beyond The U Bend)
A4 –Easter And The Totem - Nothing There
A5 –Easter And The Totem - One
A6 –Thin Men - Exercise
A7 –Acid Drops - Distance
A8 –Blueprint - It's Not Easy
A9 –Aquila - Without A Care
B1 –Praxis - The Insect Within
B2 –Telegents - I've Snapped
B3 –Telegents - Touch And Go
B4 –Ekofisque - Tide And Bound
B5 –Ekofisque - Maybe Tomorrow
B6 –The Contacts - Magic People
B7 –Locusts - Lost Fight
B8 –Burlesque - Collision Of Sex
B9 –The Limit - A Tidy State Of Mind

DOWNLOAD from die or diy? with love HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "South Specific" (Brain Boosters Records ‎– lobotomy 01)1980

Another classic 'Local' compilation, this time from Portsmouth.
Only been to Portsmouth once, for the Championship play-off semi final in 1993.....of course Leicester won, and the local hooligans weren't best pleased. At one stage it was just me and four chums and a policeman facing a wall of angry 'pompy' fans bearing down on us on a narrow terraced street outside Fratton Park.There seemed no way to escape being hospitalised! The copper said, whilst pulling out his baton,
"Get behind me son!".....to which one replied, "you must be fucking joking,i'm off!"
So we raced back into the ground to hide for half an hour.The copper probably got a proper kicking.A noble sacrifice indeed,but sometimes cowardice has very real benefits.
When the coast was clear we skulked back to the car which was untouched amongst the surrounding damage and we escaped.Never to return again.
But,I won't hold it against them.If you supported Portsmouth you'd be angry too.
On the plus side however, Portsmouth did have a rather good local band compilation, called, as if you didn't know, "South Specific", hahaha! It had a small square of sandpaper on the cover to ruin the Lp filed next to it in you record collection;not unlike the Sandpaper covered Durutti Column album from the same year.Although I doubt it had the same pretentious situationist inspiration as the Factory Records mob did.
It was wall-to-wall new wave power pop, with the very odd exception of three tracks from Residents sound-a-likeys, Renaldo and the Loaf; with some tracks from their self-released cassette ,"Play Struvé and Sneff",from 1979.
The New Wavey stuff is all pretty good foot-tapping stuff, and contains at least one tune that should have been a number 39 smash......namely, The Chimes' "I just can't get Through To You".
What a fertile period for classic guitar driven pop it was in 1980?
It'll never happen again, but why should it? Been done, and can't be bettered.

Tracklist:
A1 –Attic - This Child Is Dead 3:17
A2 –Attic - Strange Numbers-Base Seven 3:01
A3 –Renaldo And The Loaf - A Medical Man 1:17
A4 –Renaldo And The Loaf - Bali Whine 2:26
A5 –Renaldo And The Loaf - Scottish Shuffle 3:20
A6 –Toxicomane - This Nice World 4:22
A7 –The Nice Boys - Maybe That's Love 2:37
A8 –The Nice Boys -(Remember) This Room 5:45
B1 –Dance Attack - Not Instrumental (It's A Dance Attack) 1:03
B2 –Dance Attack - Last Of The Teenage Heartaches 3:01
B3 –Dance Attack - Keep Moving 3:33
B4 –The Chimes - I Can't Smile 3:09
B5 –The Chimes - Through To You 2:46
B6 –The Chimes - Who Do I Believe? 2:05
B7 –Anna Blüm - Mourning In Yellow 4:07
B8 –The Frames - Lost In Space 2:48
B9 –The Frames - Reduced Watches 2:24

DOWNLOAD this specific file HERE!
or
DOWNLOAD it from Google Drive HERE!

Jandek ‎– "Graven Image" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0761) 1994

"Remember Jandek Monday and keep it Holy", said the big bully in the sky.....he/it/she also said....

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"!?

In other words this anthropomorphic sado-masochistic entity;...you know...the one who demands us to love 'it' by making us shit scared of 'it';the one who used his finger to carve these words on a tablet of stone,... is saying "Don't have any Idols",which is probably the best advice he/it/she ever gave. Unless 'God' was refering to a Jandek album, in which case its the stupidest advice ever given.

Fittingly there is no Graven Image of outsider number one on the cover.Just one of those photo's that never get put in a photo album,and is just left in a pile of rejects in a plastic bag at the bottom of a cupboard. Its the same house that appears on another religiously referenced Jandek LP from the nineties, "Twelfth Apostle",but this time from the backyard looking onto the street.

The same view is used on the next album too, "Glad To Get Away"(scheduled for next monday is that one).

The songs are shorter on this,his 23rd message in a bottle which was set adrift in 1994,and washed ashore, nowhere in particular,relatively recently in public terms(in fact this was Jandeks first CD release!?).There's even a light hearted novelty tune in "Janky". There's also an accordian solo,and some ear piercing harmonica.All this augments the usual intimate moaning,soul bearing and stubbornly anti-music guitar work.Jandek remains as enigmatic and mysterious as ever; seemingly oblivious to the outside world.

Tracklist:

1 Remain The Same 1:29
2 Helena 2:04
3 Ghost Town By The Sea 3:00
4 A Real Number 2:13
5 Be Going Down 2:07
6 Nothing You Lack 2:03
7 Chilocothe 2:35
8 For You And I 2:48
9 Janky 2:27
10 Lake Lagoon 2:36
11 Philip Was Mentioned 3:01
12 Closing 2:21
13 Fishing Blues 2:44
14 Going Away My Darling 5:10
15 Going Away 2:13

DOWNLOAD this graven cd HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "City Walls - A Southampton Compilation" (White Elephant Records ‎– RIOCH 1) 1980

From Southend, we logically move along the coast of the UK round the corner past Kent , Sussex to Southampton. Where, like everywhere else in the UK had a compilation of local New Wave pop groups unleashed onto a disinterested public.
It includes a smorgasbord of wanna-be power poppers, cold wavers, and Noo Wavers, all busting a bloodvessel to be the new Vapors or the next Department S. Luckily I love Power Pop, and secretly wish i was in the Vapors too;complete with mullet and tiny fringe.....but as i'm bald I cry myself to sleep every night knowing this is just the dying embers of a cruel dream.
All the tracks are jolly good (which sadly includes the obligatory Punky Reggae number!), and pogo-able; which is a rarity among local band comps,of which this is one of the better ones.

Tracklist:

A1 –The Motifs - Julie
A2 –The Motifs - Disillusion
A3 –Vertical Motion - Last Chance
A4 –Vertical Motion - You've Lost The Thread
A5 –Almost Cruelty - Foetus
A6 –Almost Cruelty - Dangers Of Tranquility
A7 –Exploding Seagulls - Prefab (Buildings) !
B1 –Exploding Seagulls - Ring Pull/Takes
B2 –The Point Fives - Stabbed
B3 –The Point Fives - Next Time
B4 –Inferior Complex - Crimean War
B5 –Inferior Complex - Not Concerned
B6 –Games To Avoid - Nature Nurture
B7 –Games To Avoid - Wasteland (Crusader 80)

DOWNLOAD the rubble from southamptons city walls HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "Realities. Vol 1." (Adventures In Reality Recordings ‎– A.R.R. 001) 1982

The last Essex band to be featured are the criminally underexposed 86:Mix, from Westcliffe-on-Sea it seems?
They featured on "New Crimes Volume 1", but there seems to have been little else released;although i have been informed that they did self-release a couple of cassettes, and were considered as a possible for Namedrop records. They could have been Delta Six or an essex boy Fire Engines, but no-one was interested.
The only other tracks by 86:Mix i could find are on the debut Adventures In Reality compilation, "Realities Vol 1.", and rather excellently post-punky they are too.
Oh Yeah,....Attrition's on here too, and various other  Goth rockers, new poppers, and futurists mostly from the Coventry/Northampton area....in fact a classic compilation from a great era in Pop music.

Tracklist:

Red Side:
A1 –Trance -Instincts
A2 –Trance - Dawn Of The Dead
A3 –I Want-Myself Desired
A4 –I Want-99th Creation
A5 –By Product-You're Not One Of The Boys
A6 –Reviva Component-Black Forest Girl
A7 –Reviva Component-This Lunar Beauty
A8 –Send No Flowers-Wall Of Convention
A9 –Send No Flowers-Untitled

Blue Side:
B1 –Attrition-Hours & Hours
B2 –Attrition-Tomb
B3 –TSC - Untitled
B4 –86:Mix-Too Much The Barman
B5 –86:Mix-Custodian (Live)
B6 –The Aucadion -3 AM
B7 –The Aucadion -Closet Boys

DOWNLOAD reality HERE"

The Sinyx ‎– "Britain Is A Mausoleum" (Grand Theft Audio ‎– GTA 065) 2005

After the kids had read all the Tabloids in 1976/7, some of the less intelligent ones absorbed the standard line and became Yobs with guitars,with an agressive thug on shouty vocals. The ones who were just making up the numbers with nothing special about them whatsoever.
Southend's Sinyx were a great example of this plague upon our shores.
They were around for around six years from 79-85, managed one ep, and an appearance on 'Bullshit Detector 1' ,despite having very little of the Anarcho-Punk about them. The hooligan lead singer evolved into a standard Skinhead, as befittin the sad decent of street punk into the new standarised territiry of 'Oi'.
All their Demo's and  solitary EP, were collected onto one CD released in the USA in 2005...and here it is......so if you like your punk wearing boots,leather jackets with studs on, and made by football hooligans, then this is for you. A nostalgia trip back to when some people carried it all on as if they had never really listened to any actual punk records,but just read about it in The Daily Mirror.
Don't wanna be Sinycal(sic)but....'Punks Not Dead' said the Exploited......yes it fucking was,and stuff like this were the nails in its coffin.

Tracklist:
7" Black Death EP (1981)
1 Death To Decadence
2 The Plague
3 Animal
4 Zulu
1st Demo (3-1-1980)
5 9.2.5. Auschwitz
6 Bullwood Hall
7 Bombs For Mental Health
8 Camouflage
9 Britain Is A Mausoleum
10 Automaton
2nd Demo (9-6-1980)
11 Death To Decadence
12 Animal
13 Suicide
14 Britain Is A Mausoleum
3rd Demo (1985)
15 Deathmonger
16 The Plague
17 Bullwood Hall
18 David's Star Is Flying High
19 Blasphemer
20 Alienation
21 Kiss Of Death
22 Animal
Live At Action Space (9-19-1980)
23 Death To Decadence
24 9.2.5. Auschwitz
25 Camouflage
26 Bombs For Mental Health
27 Bullwood Hall
28 Automaton
29 Mark For The Beast

DOWNLOAD this mausoleum to punk rock HERE!

Cold War ‎– "Irrational" (Rasquap Is Dead Tapes ‎– rid 1) 1982

Essex is now known as the home of the fake tan and vacuous vain morons, thanks to the godawful scripted reality TV show 'The Only Way is Essex' or 'Towie' on UK TV.
But remarkably didn't Dr Feelgood come from round there? Eddie and the Hot Rods, Ian Dury, Stripey Zebras, and,as Joey Essex would say, 'Reems' ,of lesser lights, like Cold War.
On this home recorded tape they achieve a watered down Killing Joke brand of Post-Punk,after the Joke were three albums in to a very influential career by '82. The Anarcho-punk stylings of their earlier sound have thankfully disappeared as they try hard to be trendy. Retrospectively its not bad,but Killing Joke it certainly ain't...not even up to the standard of other joke-a-likes 1919 or Red Beat..... 'Reem'!

DOWNLOAD rationally HERE!

Cold War ‎– "Live At The Autonomy Centre Wapping 18-10-81" (Rasquap Products ‎– RAS 4) 1981

Another Essex based bunch of them dirty punk rockers with their spitting and their habits.
Well, not exactly. Cold War were one of those groups caught in the limbo of the changing times who didn't really know who they were. Still very 'Punky' sounding,they clearly would have liked to have been on early 4AD records,but simply didn't have an original brain cell amongst them. They ended up sounding like a more growly version of Zounds.....hence the gig at the Autonomy Centre.......now why didn't they have one of those near me?......The fact that an autonomous person would need a centre to meet like minded autonomous chums to hang out together,autonomously, is something of an oxymoron is it not? Like Anarchists who always seem to need leaders.

DOWNLOAD autonomously HERE!

The Apostles & The Mob ‎– "Live At The LMC" (Cause For Concern ‎– CFC 015) 1983

You may have guessed that your host is not too fond of Anarcho Punk?
The exception to the rule for me is The Mob......yes, I like The Mob!? Got a problem with that?
Whereas The Apostles sound like normal people,complete with ,probably, faux cockney accents.The Mob sound like they grew up in a cupboard in an abandoned georgian terrace and emerged to find that it was a squat full of 'Peace Punx'.Feral, and in search of guidance, they were raised and schooled by Anarchists.After 'how to doss and sign on',lesson two was form a band and preach to other anarcho-punks about how bad war is.
There's something innocent about The Mob that, over the intervening thirty years, has made them charming enough to actually listen to, and play their excellent records more than just once.I can sing along to 'No Doves Fly Here',and would do so in public if Karaoke machines had the backing track......that is unless the machine also had "Frankie Teardrop" by Suicide of course......maybe there's a gap in the market there?
The Mob are in great form here, churning out those wobbly voiced incompetant classics like they had a bus to catch;no introductions,no banter, like the shy boys they obviously were.
Unlike The Apostles, who were obviously very normal confident young men, who liked to explain themselves between every tune....."We're not Anarchists"....who cares?....."This ones about Racism"...yeah?I better think about this then!?.....its good being patronised by your peers innit?

Track List:

A1 - Erics detachables
A2 - Skin Deep
A3 - Fucking Queer
A4 - Proletarian Autonomy
A5 - Pigs For Slaughter
A6 - Alien Asian Alienation

B1 - Cry Of The Morning
B2 - Gates Of Hell
B3 - Prison
B4 - Dance On You Fool
B5 - Our Life Our World
B6 - Witch Hunt

B7 - Slayed

DOWNLOAD and be concerned HERE!

The Apostles ‎– "Topics For Discussion - 4th Demo" (Scum Tapes) 1982

You can't really discuss anything with a cassette.It kinda dictates the conversation,just like heckling someone with a microphone, you can't win because they can shout louder than you.

One thing you can do with a cassette is turn the volume down, or turn it off,just like you did on all those other preaching Anarcho-Punk tapes you bought in 1982. Shouldn't they have been FREE? This one was £1.50.

I suppose they raise interesting points, but they've been discussed out of existence in large.

Musically, the Apostles turn away from the standard fuzzy shouty thrash of Anarcho-Punk in general, and at least make an attempt to make it interesting, although they do sound like a crap rock band rehearsing in someone's dad's garage. A lemon Kittens influence is detected, which suggests a deeper potential than is exhibited here.

The various Apostles still make and release music today in various combo's that escape me for the moment?.....Academy 23 I think??.....just checked,and they are in Unit as well.

The file is just two sides of the cassette i'm afraid.....couldn't be arsed to edit them...its too effing HOT!

Tracklist:
Side 10
1 Skin Deep
2 After The Fact
3 The Scream
4 Red Vote Poll
5 We Buy A Hammer For Anne
6 Rediffusion Refugee
7 Just When You Thought It Was Safe 

Side 27
8 Hello John
9 Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan
10 Chalet Un Colere
11 1980’s
12 Untitled
13 Fucking Queer

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The Apostles ‎– "Libertarian Propaganda - The 3rd Demo" (Scum Tapes) 1982

How many Demo's does one have to make before you realise Crass records aren't gonna release your album?
Plenty more social comment from Jesus Crass's Apostles, sitting around the travellers campfire strumming three chord tunes about freedom,whilest at the same time knowing that they can slope off to Mum and Dad's nice warm house in London NW3 if they run out of fuel.
It was hard being an Anarcho-Punk you know?.....especially after 'the Battle of StoneHenge' (1985) when the cops smashed up all their buses and ended this all this fake trust-fund hippie nonsense once and for all.

Tracklisting:

1 The Apostles
2 Kill Your Pet Prole
3 Kings Cross
4 Thalidomide
5 Fear Of Freedom
6 Eric’s Detachables
7 Fucking Queer
8 Proletarian Autonomy
9 Burn The Witch
10 Libertarian Youth
11 The Innocent Bystander
12 Etc Etc
13 Mister Missed Her
14 The Death Factory
15 New Face In N16
16 After The Fact
17 Alien Asian Alien Nation
18 1985

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The Apostles ‎– "The 2nd Dark Age" (BBP Records) 1982

On the day after Presdient Trump (Yes I said 'President'!), risked invoking the death penalty on himself by committing Treason in Finland, basically allying himself  with Dictator and enemy of freedom, Vladimir Putin. And Sarah Palin asks where were NATO in world War Two???...you've gotta ask yourself ,is this a second dark age?
Back in 1982, things were clearer.The was two massive military blocs facing off, with the nuclear threat a real possibility everyday of the year.......but was it? At least back then we had lunatics who at least gave the process a bit of thought. Even Reagan prepared himself for meetings by watching TV documentaries. Trump does nothing. Even ignoring his advisers. The western alliance is on a precipice, led by a Vain, ego driven ,inarticulate....er....yes this does apply....Moron!? Whose simplistic thought pattern encounters a Problem, then skips the thinking part, straight to a 'Solution', no discussions, no careful considerations. This of course appeals to the frustrated and disenfranchised, who want quick satisfaction for their prejudices. Like Hitler, he promises them bread, or Plasma screen TV's in the red-necks case, closes the economy, blames foreigners, and makes alliances with Russians. But. like Chamberlain, he is being openly manipulated  by a much wilier opponent. Complicit in attempting to break up the western alliance this small handed Oompah Loompah/ clown is actually risking world peace....which never  happened during the Cold war,even during the cuban missle crisis. This is happening!?

As for The Apostles' take on the second dark age,it involves a lot of songs about the noble art of Cricket(again revealing their social standing)......after all the slogan, "Geoff Boycott is Innocent", was daubed on the Berlin Wall.
I have actually met the great man back in the nineties,after the wall had fallen. There's something of the Trump about him too; a no-nonsense straight forward yorkshire type that doesn't mess about with technicalities and goes straight to the simple solution to complex problems. This is why Boycott was never Captain of the England Cricket team. But he talks in the same style as Trump,so maybe send in Boycott as a desperate last resort to knock some sense into the idiot?There's a headline for you, Geoff Boycott saves western democracy!?......less likely things have happened...like electing a five times bankrupt, misogynist, racist ,reality TV star as leader of the western world.....Nah!...thats too far fetched.......innit????? 

Tracklisting:

Side Seventeen
A1 The Shures Of Time
A2 Thalidomide
A3 Kings Cross Etc
A4 The End
A5 NW3
A6 LBW
Side Twenty Seven
B1 Hello Mark
B2 The Wicket
B3 Geoff Boycott
B4 The Innocent Bystander
B5 Alien Asian
B6 Silly Mid Off

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Jandek ‎– "I Woke Up" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0764) 1997

It's the conspiracy theory that is 'Jandek Monday' again.
I used to like a nice conspiracy Theory but now "I Woke Up".
Of course, "Wake Up" is a favourite phrase of those suffering with the latest God replacement therapy  of Global Conspiracy Theories ,which has many sects....such as...... Chem Trails, Anti-Vacc, the approach of Planet X/Niburu, Flat earthers, 9/11 Troothers, alien abductees,......the list goes on.
Like the inmates of organised Religions, they have an inpenetrable talent for dismissing facts and evidence  harmful to their delusions as Lies from the secret government, and that anyone who believes the 'Official' line is either brainwashed or a government 'Shill'....whatever a 'Shill' is?
Its a special kind of madness to which Jandek is the perfect soundtrack for. All are products of the modern information age, where nothing can be truly believable,except that which cannot be disproved, Jesus-style......even when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they can argue that the evidence isn't in itself proveable, which is correct.Nothing based on imagination and superstition can be disproven,or proven 100%. The best I can do on the existence of Planet Niburu is say that according to current scientific evidence Planet Niburu almost certainly is not coming towards the earth and so far there is little evidence that such a planet exists in our solar system.
The Flat-Earthers are the best ones for this. The simple mountains of evidence that the Earth is spherical,is literally undeniable......but they still deny it. Its all a cover-up isn't it? And we need to "WAKE UP"! Well I woke up anyway, and have no need to fill the empty void inside myself with either a God or silly theories about how we're being controlled.......of course we're being controlled, there's no news there,it just depends on how to cope with this fact......and it ain't nothing to do with Planet Fucking Niburu either!!!!!We do it it to ourselves.
Maybe a Jandek LP can get them to "WAKE UP" but its doubtful?
Anyway, this record will either wake you up with its startling anti-musicality, or send you deeper to sleep with Jandek's moaning croons about hopelessness and loneliness.

Tracklist:

1 First Awake Moment 2:26
2 Alone On That Mountain 3:53
3 I Can Not 4:03
4 Get Back Inside 3:00
5 Long Long 3:47
6 Joab 2:40
7 Equaled In Life 2:16
8 Star Of Zenith 3:55
9 Take It Easy 2:09
10 Just Die 3:53
11 Pending Doom 1:15
12 Sleepless Night 2:22
13 Today 1:26

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The Apostles ‎– "The 1st. Demo!" (Scum Tapes ‎– SCUM ONE) 1981

Although previously described in these pages as the 'Worst' Anarcho-punk band, that was meant as no criticism. If all Anacho/Peacepunk bands sounded as awful and grungey (not as in Nirvana!) as this lot, then I'd probably listen to more of it. Also they don't seem to adhere 100% to the Anarcho-template, with a wide variety of toe-curlingly bad styles. Of course, the lyrical content covers the same subjects as Crass, as if we didn't know what they were.
Their DIY aesthetics were unreproachable, releasing many homemade cassettes, only relasing a few singles later in their tenure.
Respect is due however, as they seemed to actually notice that the Anarcho-Punk movement was becoming nothing more than an army of conformists dressed in fading black uniforms,ridgily adhearing to a distorted interpretation of what 'Anarchy' really was, Not a grubby perversion of Communism, but about Autonomy ,libitarianism and personal freedom. They also dared to habor varied musical tastes, as opposed to the conformist tendancies of their contemporaries stuck in the Zounds/Crass straitjacket.
Unsurpisingly,however, the address on the insert is very much a classic Anarcho-punker's one....Julian of Hampstead.Scum tapes from the cruel leafy lanes of semi-detatched north London.

Tracklist:

A1 Erics Detachables
A2 Some Men Are Born To Rule
A3 Killing For Peace
A4 Solidaridad Proletaria
A5 New Crimes
A6 Unknown
A7 Proletarian Autonomy
A8 The New Subhumans
A9 Hyde Park
A10 Time Bomb
A11 Indian Thing
A12 Drop The Bomb
A13 No Clear Future
B1 Absolution Of Guilt
B2 Anti-Christ
B3 Pete The Plectrum
B4 Hyde Park
B5 A Social Disease
B6 The Stoke Newington Eight
B7 N.W.3
B8 Unknown
B9 The Uniform
B10 God Is Dead

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This Bitter Lesson ‎– "Value Of Defiance" (96 Tapes ‎– 96#1) 1982

Wouldn't you have loved to know these geezers when you were 18? What a barrel of laughs they must have been? My mate's an 'Anarcho-Poet' you could proudly boast......or alternatively keep that one very quiet.
Where I live in France, its quiet common to meet someone at soirees of all social groups who declare themselves a 'Poet', or a 'Philosopher', when you know they really work on the check-out at the Super-U (French supermarket chain), 'Je suis une Artiste' they announce, and all the french in the room go glassy eyed in admiration.
In the UK, its, 'I'm an Actor', or yeah cool, i'm a DJ, or i'm in a Band......ain't we fucking all......but you don't do it for a living do you? Its a Hobby......if they actually do anything at all, and its not a pure fantasy.
"I'm writing a Novel' the bloke with a beard says with a thinly disguised look of disdain......."Yup, neither am I!?" one replies.
As odius and revealing as Pretentiousness is, you just gotta love it as well. It provides endless hours of entertainment, listening or watching someone denying that they are just 'Ordinary' ,with nothing in particular to offer the world. 
As Claire recites a soliloquy about people in a night club having fun instead of thinking about how nasty the world is outside......."Poison gas flows as she pulls another pint.Yes, this is the laughing time" she  informs us.....but we already know it is Claire!
There was always a 'poet' on the bill back in the eighties, or a 'Ranter', as they renamed themselves, to avoid the 'Poet' tag. Some smartarse rhyming couplets of the most uninspired and obvious politics, like an unwashed Pam Ayres on PlaySchool, was not what one wanted to endure after paying a quid fifty to see some anarcho-punk band telling us the exact same shite, but with over-distorted guitars instead of the restless murmuring of the 27 punters and a dog that made up the 'crowd'.......but, i'd kinda want to see one of them again?....what special kind of madness is this?
Yes, I love this pretentious pile of crap immensely.Its so bad, its kinda good. This is right up there with Jimmy Pursey (late of proto-Oi band Sham 69) doing contemporary dance on the artsy-fartsy  'Riverside' programme on BBC2 in the early eighties....check that out HERE!
I love the track titles too......"In The Eyes Of A child"!!!....you' couldn't make it up could you?.......haha....I just saw "Living.....?"....its der question mark what done it!LOL!

Tracklist:

Side One
1 In The Eyes Of A Child
2 Untitled
3 Japanese Girl
4 Ode To A Trendy Nite Club 

Side Two
5 Your Legal Slaughter
6 Poison Policy
7 Living...?

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Various Artists ‎– "New Criminals Volume 2" (New Crimes Tapes ‎– NC6) 1982

It's New Criminals Volume Two and its jam packed with unmusicianly joy.
The Apostles are probably the worst Anarcho-Punk band ever...which is a good thing by the way.
Attrition, are as DIY sounding as Industrial electronica can get.....speaking of 'Get'.......
We have 'The Get', which includes at least one Stripey Zebra,who are almost as wonderfully dysfunctional as the Zebras themselves.
Train Fares,apart from the great band name, are the blue-green Algae of the Indie primeaval soup, which evolved eventually emerging as mudskippers,or stuff like Talulah Gosh.
Terminal Disater, avert the total disater of the anarcho-punk carbon copyist mass grave, by being totally incompetent at replicating said generic dead end.
Cold War,are badly recorded Rema-Rema wannabes.If they had Martin Hannett producing they could have been as big as The Danse Society.
Twelve Cubic Feet, were almost the very first fully functional 'Indie' band....well, it was either them or the TV Personalities, Subway Sect,or Dolly Mixture?
This Bitter Lesson, are usually fine exponents of the pubescent art of anarchist poetry, which is normally hilarious.....but the two tracks on here don't reach those laughable heights of uber-seriousness. This can be found on their highly recommended 'Value Of Defiance' tape....coming soon to these cyber pages.

A fine compilation charting the shifting waters of the 1982 music scene,and the first glimmerings of the 'Indie' curse.

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APF Brigade ‎– "Live Brigade" (Self-Released Cassette) 1980

Charming is not normally an adjective I would use in relation to any Anarcho-Punk recording or Band,but, The APF are really rather sweet and, yes, charming.
Their teenage soap boxing is almost adorable, like Lena Zavoroni was on 'Opportunity Knocks'.Then she grew up and became a haunted shell of a woman who starved herself to death.(See 'grown up' Lena singing 'Going Nowhere HERE!)
I'm not sure this is what happened to Andi Export and his mate from the inner city hell-hole of Peterborough Cambridgeshire......did any Anarcho-Punk bands actually come out of areas where life was actually really as terrible as the music????
Ah Bless, Andy's adolescent Didactic* (*thanks Laurence) charm, patronises us with info about those same subjects these rather self-righteous groups bang on about ALL the time,...yep...fox hunting Nuclear War etc....all are admittedly relevant, but....change the record for fucks sake!
At least ADF Brigade pre-emmpted the latest fad on single use plastic waste 38 years before Sky News.
The music is a melange of UK DIY and less shouty Crass, a drum machine replacing Penny Rimbaud is an added bonus. Andi Export's voice does have a nassaly middle aged quality about it, that belies the naivety of the music.
Whats also impressive, is that all tracks recorded live specially for each copy, therefore every tape is unique and has different sequencing of songs. All the tapes sent in to the band were recorded in this way, so the tapes themselves were all different in order of tracks and the quality of the ‘performance’. Of course this made each tape completely individual. I suppose this was before they could afford a dubbing cassette deck. As far as I know this is quite unique in cassette culture...except maybe  Organum's Pulp cassette?
Andi, himself, actually went on to be 'Man's Hate' and produce the renowned "International Sound Communication" or ISC cassette series. 
The first Man's Hate cassette can be found HERE, thanks to that nice Mr Burton of Ferric Archaeology fame.

(*Didactic: designed or intended to teach people something

• —used to describe someone or something that tries to teach something (such as proper or moral behavior) in a way that is annoying or unwanted)......if that doesn't sum Anarcho-pop up I dunno what does?

Track Listing:

01 Anarchist attack-plastic crap-religious dictator
02 The professional
03 Ban The Bomb
04 No Effect
05 Disease
06 Truth
07 I'll have the last war with you
08 Revolt
09 Waste Away
10 Syndrome
11 Bloody mad
12 We're not your Tools.

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Jandek ‎– "Follow Your Footsteps" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0751) 1986

Yeah Yeah Yeah, I know!....I forgot to do Jandek Monday!
Well, it'll have to be Jandek Wednesday instead won't it?
Anyone got a problem with that?
Got carried away with the world cup didn't I?
As much as I want England to win the fucking thing, I dread the waves of Jingoistic 'Pride', washing away the reality of what a fucking mess my motherland is in...especially politically.
All the lazy,thick, racist 'little englander' scumbags, will be racing down the streets in their mobility scooters, singing 'Footballs Coming Home' alongside chants of  'we've got our country back'; despite the fact that the government is reducing this poxy grey island to the status of a vassel state off the coast of the largest trading bloc in the world. 
Those feckless fat cunts at least won't have to worry about foreigners taking the jobs they don't want, because the jobs will have moved to where those foreigners came from originally. I've never been so ashamed to be English, even if England do the unlikely achievement of winning the World Cup against the old enemy.....France. Somehow it was be fitting that England lost 2-1 (aet) to Croatia;very gratefully part of that huge trading bloc thank you very much. Part one of Brexit has happened, as in the Exit of England from the world cup....they'll be crying in their chips.

Oh Yeah.....Jandeks "Follow Your Footsteps" is a strange one from classic period Jandek.
The guitar appears to be tuned to a standard blues tunage, and played as such!?
There appears to be two 'other' singers involved also....maybe the 'Eddie' from "Blue Corpse", and a lone female interjection on "What Do You Want To Sing?"(Probably the mysterious Nancy,from the other contemporaneous albums around '86). The Drums are also pounded by someone with the percussive ability of a toddler.
Because of the conventional guitarwork, this is probably listed as 'very accessable' in the vast Jandek catalogue.

Tracklist:

A1 Honey 3:13
A2 What Do You Want To Sing 2:11
A3 Jaws Of Murmur 4:50
A4 Preacher 3:50
A5 Didn’t Ask Why 4:10
A6 Leave All You Have 3:48
B1 I Know You Well 3:13
B2 Dearly Need Some Words 4:16
B3 Straight Thirty Seconds 3:00
B4 Bring On Fatima 2:40
B5 For Today 3:49
B6 Collection 3:41
B7 We’re All Through 1:19

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