Tuesday, December 2, 2008

3 Split LP's

It's been quite sometime since the last post, during which all of the content added to this blog has been graciously contributed by those reading it. (& what a surprise it was to find out that some people actually read part of it - no, really.) I haven't gotten any closer to ripping the Radio Utopia tapes, as I have been swamped with work & personal stuff (friends visting us/us visiting friends) - a tape takes about ten hours to rip, divide into tracks, compress, listen to in order to tag, tag, & catalog, & there's been no time at all to do any of that recently. I've ripped about 1/3 of my tapes by now, & I hope that I'll do more during vacation time, but don't expect much any time too soon. Spring looks more like it.

To ease the pain, meanwhile, I'll proceed with uploading three freshly & lovingly ripped split records featuring one greek band each: the Mushroom Attack/Forgotten Prophecy LP (1991), the WWK/Πανικός LP (1996), & the Knallkopf/Stateless In The Universe LP (2001 or shortly after - if you know the release date of this one, please post a comment!). The B-side tracks of all three records have been available in the internet for 7-8 years, ripped (mostly in low bitrates) by the first generation of techno-savvy greek punks (to which I, among others, remain deeply & irrevocably grateful). Apparently, in an attempt to catalog the recordings of the greek scene, those people made the - in my opinion misguided - choice to not include Side-A tracks. A somewhat ironic state of affairs, given punk's self-proclaimed internationalist character, although this particular choice was most probably due to lack of means/time/critical thinking (or otherwise is a sign of poor judgment &/or sheer laziness). I am significantly less understanding, though, when it comes to contemporary greek mp3 blogs (re)posting these mp3's, occasionally with historical notes & words of wisdom but often without bothering to comment on the fact that the foreign bands' tracks are not included. (Not that mp3 blogging is, in my opinion & for some bloggers, much more than a perfection of the art of reposting what's already available.)

Anyhow - unless I'm very much mistaken, the first two of these three records have previously appeared in full (in other rips) while the third one hasn't: the Mushroom Attack/Forgotten Prophecy LP was kindly ripped by & posted in Malisha Old 666's blog (Malisha is Croatian), while the WWK/Πανικός one in Foris's blog. Seeing as the Stateless In The Universe tracks have also appeared in punk.gr's music database, the sole direct benefit of this post is that the Knallkopf tunes & the record's booklet appear in a blog for the very first time (completists of the world unite).

At any rate, & as per usual, you can skip down to the download links - what follows is the usual mix of 90% reminiscence (or self-indulgence, if you must) & 10% historical fact (often inaccurate) for which I expect to be put up against the wall when the revolution comes.

Regarding Mushroom Attack (or virtually any other dutch band, especially those coming from Groningen), see bacteria's page here - suffice it to say that Mushroom Attack are, essentially, pre-Fleas & Lice (I would even dare say that they are more refreshing & original than Fleas & Lice, if somewhat sloppier). I only discovered them through this record, so I've nothing to add to what can already be found in the web - good, refreshingly imaginative kraakpunk with a nerve & audacity somewhat characteristic of dutch bands. (Note, for example, how they raise the issue of political asylum a full decade before exclusion became a european priority, & then link it to the fact that the country has traditionally been receiving a large number of asylum seekers.) As for Ξεχασμένη Προφητεία (Xehasmeni Profiteia/Forgotten Prophecy), look at Malisha's post (linked above) &, most notably, at Billy's comment on it ('Ntinos,' that Billy refers to, is Ntinos Zoumperis). Αλέκος (Alex, for those abroad) has been around for over two decades now with some of the most influential athenian crust bands; my earliest memory of his is the back cover of the Χαοτικό Τέλος (Haotiko Telos/Chaotic End) "Μπροστά Στην Παράνοια (Mprosta Stin Paranoia/In Front Of Paranoia)" LP, circa 1993, with the band posing on top of a big rock (here). I never liked that record (modulo the burgundy vinyl...), until I got hold of a copy of their "Πόλεμος Του Μίσους (Polemos Tou Misous/War Of Hate)" demo less than a decade ago (thanks to Agathocles' Jan AG, who still has it in his distro along with the Ναυτία demos!) - that one hit the spot for sure! Of course, by that time Hibernation were also in the process of releasing their first 7", & the rest is history... Αλέκος & Γιάννα are definitely two of the people I look up to in terms of commitment/continuity & of defying the punk stereotype in more than one ways. (Note for the aforementioned completists: the sample concluding "Never Ending Road" comes from Sex Pistols' "Anarchy In The UK," while that concluding the "Tale Or Reality" comes from Κοινωνικά Απόβλητα;'s (Koinonika Apovlita?/Social Outcasts?) "Folklore.") So what do we have here? Well, the birth of the athenian crust legacy of course! Heavy, lengthy crust masterpieces from a time when crust was not stale (amazingly enough, one can still hear traces of this sound in Hibernation's work). Equally importantly, the lyrical content is genuinely reflective, avoiding 'war=bad' pitfalls (&, unbelievably enough, one can also see certain themes resurfacing in Hibernation's work more than a decade later!). Altogether a great listen.

WWK are a german band of which I know very little, apart from the fact that they have been around for ages (since 1986, reportedly) & that they released a new LP in 2004 which had something funny going on with the cover (but I'm not sure what, as I never got hold of it). Not my cup of tea at all: those into '90s german punk & HC will not be disappointed, whereas the rest might find them somewhat derivative or outright too chaotic. Πανικός (Panikos/Panic) , on the other hand, are a crust band from Thessaloniki which has recently reformed - for more information on & recordings from them, check out Foris's blog linked above. I came across the name through a very close (& very old) friend, who once said something along the lines of 'My schoolmates who play in Πανικός, at least, realized their lifelong dream: to play with Doom' (I still have the poster from that show, I think...) - despite that, I somehow failed to catch them live in their heyday. Or, maybe, precisely because of that, as I subconsciously (subconsciously?) classified them as generic just because some of them happened to attend school with somebody I knew (instead of crawling out of a gutter, I guess - what an idiot...). When punk.gr released their discography "The Burning Of The Brain" in retrospect (a cd-r release), it blew my mind. The tracks in this record, especially, stand out like sore thumbs - brilliant, heavy greek crust at its best!

It is Knallkopf that I know absolutely nothing about! I tried to connect them to the few other austrian bands I know - E.M.S., Plague Mass - but I failed. If you have some info on this band, please leave a comment behind... Their material here is rather interesting, if not outstanding, although I'll have to say that the one track that really, really gave me that familiar feeling of butterflies in the stomach turned out to be a Petrograd cover (no wonder - I adore Petrograd). Αθίγγανοι Του Σύμπαντος (Athigganoi Tou Sympantos/Stateless In The Universe), now, also hail from Thessaloniki & go back to the mighty Ναυτία (Naytia/Νausea), what with Sonia having been a member of both. Lyrically speaking, they're the most interesting band among all six featured here. Leaving behind Ναυτία's brutality, they settle for a more elliptic style with fewer catchwords which, surprisingly, becomes all the more emotive - & also more serious, seeing as each track is accompanied by lengthy supplementary material (see booklet). What particularly appeals to me is the treatment of homosexuality (in "Ερωτικό") & of gender roles (in "Γυναίκα"), as these are issues that I tend to think a lot about (& reportedly so did Sonia); & also because what they wrote remains painfully resonant (especially in the greek scene) today: '(...) to overcome egocenrrism and the kind of (petit) bourgeois conditioning we have undergone in order to perpetuate the reproduction of the monstrosity: of a society which exclusively consists of the heterosexual couple, of the nuclear family neat households. This transgression is perhaps the most crucial point for all those who consider themselves being members of a subversive social scene and (or) a corresponding subculture.' Now take this & compare it to what happened to Kill The Cat's female members when the band played in Biologica a year ago... Incidentally, the band wins a lot of extra points for coining the term 'turbo folk' as a translation for 'σκυλάδικα' - not that it's so hard to connect the two; but because the greek scene has also been traditionally distanced from its balkanian counterparts for one reason or another (exceptions do exist & are vastly important, of course), & this shows that these people did not share this such isolationist views. (Keep in mind also that Dead Ideas did play Villa Varvara in Thessaloniki, which shows that someone(s) did care about forming ties with the scenes in neighboring countries.) Naturally, my biggest grievance relates once again to my own idiocy: having missed Ναυτία in September '93 (terrifying first week in college; absolutely dying to take the bus & get back to the pa-/maternal residence on Friday already; sacrificing Ναυτία playing FLS the same night...), I also managed to miss Αθίγγανοι Του Σύμπαντος 4-5 years after: in fact, I did catch them for about 5min playing in front of Biologica, thought ill of their name (I told you, idiocy always prevails), disliked the PA, & left. Oh well, at least these are grievances against my own self... If you like what you hear & read, go get their demo from Billy's second blog.

Happy downloading.

P.S.: Does anyone know the No Sin (Thessaloniki, currently active) discography & where to find it? I came across them looking for information on Moot Point (Thessaloniki, late '80s-early '90s), as I believe Moot Point's Lia was playing with them, & now I see they also featured Πανικός & Stateless In The Universe members!

Tracklists

A01. Revolt (Mushroom Attack)
A02. We Are Happy With Our Rats (Mushroom Attack)
Α03. Consuming (Mushroom Attack)
Α04. Mohawk Struggle (Mushroom Attack)
Α05. Kill The Pigs (Mushroom Attack)
Α06. Political Asylum (Mushroom Attack)
Α07. Campaign For Non Violent Silly Dancing (Mushroom Attack)
Α08. Violence (Mushroom Attack)
Α09. The Fight Goes On (Mushroom Attack)
B01. Never Ending Road (Forgotten Prophecy)
B02. Tale Or Reality (Forgotten Prophecy)
B03. The Big House (Forgotten Prophecy)
B04. Anathema (Forgotten Prophecy)
B05. The Winter Song (Forgotten Prophecy)

A01. Vollalarm (WWK)
A02. Blind (WWK)
A03. Nicht Mit Uns (WWK)
A04. Amen (WWK)
A05. Endlösung Der 90'er (WWK)
A06. I A Gemüse (WWK)
A07. Tausend Gründe, Tausend Köpfe (WWK)
B01. Θάνατος Είναι Η Άγνοια (Thanatos Einai I Agnoia/Death Is Ignorance) (Πανικός)
B02/03. Where Is The Freedom/Φόβος (Fovos/Fear) (Πανικός)
B04. Πληγές (Pliges/Wounds) (Πανικός)


A01. Alice im Wunderland (Alice In Wonderland) (Knallkopf)
A02. El Duderino (Knallkopf)
A03. Umbertln (Knallkopf)
A04. Einer muss gehen (Someone Has To Leave) (Knallkopf)
A05. J.R. Ewing (Knallkopf)
A06. Winnie Puh (Knallkopf)
A07. Manchmal, aber ... (Sometimes, but ...) (Knallkopf)
B01. Ανάθεμα (Anathema/Curse) (Stateless In The Universe)
B02. Ερωτικό (Erotiko/Love Song) (Stateless In The Universe)
B03. Γυναίκα (Gynaika/Woman) (Stateless In The Universe)
B04. Σημαδεύουν Πάντα Στο Μυαλό (Simadevoun Panta Sto Myalo/They Always Aim At The Brain) (Stateless In The Universe)

Mushroom Attack/Forgotten Prophecy
WWK/Πανικός
Knallkopf/Stateless In The Universe

4 comments:

Unknown said...

EXOYME TI IDIA FILOSOFIA BLEPO, MOYSIKA EGO ANOIXTIKA PIO POLY TELEYETAIA. TESPA DE THIMAMAI AN STO KSANSTILA ALLA SEKANA ADD AN THES KANEME KAIYSY,,, http://www.pirate-industry.blogspot.com/ GOYSTARO XAX

tapes gone loose said...

Γεια σου ανταρτη, σε θυμαμαι απο το soulseek! Πρεπει να εχω κατεβασει & καποια πραγματα απο'σενα. Σκεφτομαι, σε καποια φαση, να προσθεσω μια λιστα με non-generic ελληνικα mp3 blogs ως sidebar - μολις γινει, θα προστεθουν αρκετα blogs. Καλη συνεχεια.

Anonymous said...

Όταν άρχισαν να παίζουν οι Ξεχασμένη Προφητεία έκλεισαν πολλά στόματα στη Θεσσαλονίκη μιας και για πολλούς βόρειους οι Αθηναίοι δεν ήταν για πολλά-πολλά όσον αφορά το "τεχνικό μέρος". Κι είχαν και κάμποσο δίκιο με μπάντες όπως Ναυτία, Γκουλαγκ, Πισσα και Πουπουλα και μετά Πανικός!
Το όλο αυτό το σκηνικό με τα βινυλια που κυκλοφορησαν-ευτυχως-εξω οφείλεται σε λίγα δραστήρια άτομα εκείνης της εποχής, όπως τα παιδιά που παίζαν στους Ναυτία, οι οποίοι πρωτόφεραν(?) το DIY πνευμα απο τα ακόμα πιο βόρεια (συναυλίες που στηνόταν από τις μπάντες και όχι σε club όπως συνέβαινε συνήθως), τον Αλέκο και τον Αλέξανδρο.
Και για όσους δε το γνωρίζουν οι Επιθανατιος Ρόχγος διασκευάζουν απίστευτα το Μεγάλο Σπίτι, και τα Μαυρα Πρόβατα Ανάσα Στάχτη και Ψύχωση.

yorgos-chios

www.clandestina.org said...

Dear tapesgoneloose,
you asked about the NO SIN:

Drop us your address and we can send you our new cd.

Love-

www.myspace.com/thenosin