various artists - Heavy Nuggets Vol. 4 (13 Sabbath Inspired Tracks)

Rabbit, rabbit, my friends. We've made it this far into 2026; let's keep going. Happy June.

An old friend of mine, the last person I attended high school with who I still stay in contact with, celebrated their 50th birthday last weekend. When I think of bands like BORIS and Sleep and the Obssessed, I think of him. Where I dove deeply into the the numerous branches of punk, he explored the world of metal. So when I'd want to know if it was worth picking up a new record from Sunn O))) or Boredoms, I'd turn to him. Matt's a fountain of information, and has impeccable taste. Just a good dude.

Happy birthday, old pal. I wish I'd been back home to celebrate you in person.

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various artists - S-ssy Man Blues (25 Authentic Straight & Gay Blues & Jazz Vocals)

Update, 5/31/26: this one got flagged as spam, so I'm tweaking the title to see if get republished.

What's everyone been up to the past month? I've been listening to this...a lot.

Just a shit ton of country blues and ragtime, all guaranteed to rile up the church goers and white folks, on account that these all have to do with fukkin'. It's a great collection of recordings from 100 years ago, with a pretty fun Milton Knight cover.

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Dove - Wrecking Ball

Here's another reason why I'm glad Lost & Found existed when it did. I would have never heard Dove.

Dove was a Revolution Summer-era quartet originally led by Eric and Toni from Red C, with Pete Moffett on drums and Stu Casson on guitar. When Toni died from pneumonia in the mid-80s, Ben Pape stepped in on bass. Their recorded output consisted of a contribution to 1984's "Bouncing Babies" compilation on Fountain of Youth, and what I'm guessing was a single song released posthumously in 1987 on the Olive Tree sampler "DC Rox". It would take eight years for everything they'd recorded to be compiled here under the title "Wrecking Ball", their song from "DC Rox".

Like a lot of mid-80s DC releases, this is both an example of how a lot of hardcore kids progressed after the first wave crested in 1983, as well as demonstrating how much of that work is still missing in action, 40+ years on. A lot of folks rep Second Wind as a great post-Minor Threat band, but good luck not paying high collector prices for a copy of "Security". Madhouse's self-titled LP, recorded around the same time as these Dove songs, is a truly great deathrock record that I've only ever heard on dubbed tapes. I'd love to see more of the records released by DSI and Fountain of Youth around this time to get reissued, even if it's just a straight transfer from the old master tapes.

So here's a good start: you can apparently purchase the CD master for "Wrecking Ball" directly from Lost & Found for 25 Euro. Somebody get on that.

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various artists - Hold Your Ground

You have to understand, now during a time when so much is available at the strike of a few keys, the depths we'd resort to in the 90s to obtain recordings that were only a few years old. If it was something contemporary, you'd typically be able to find it at a good underground record store, via mail order, or a show distro. If it was a few years older, you might be able turn up a secondhand copy, or maybe it was just temporarily out of print. But if it was more obscure than your typical Dischord, Revelation, or Victory catalog, you might be shit out of luck. If you were like me, in that I bought a ton of CDs because they were easier to transport, you'd split the difference, and end up buying the Lost & Found version. Because that was literally the only one you could turn up with any regularity.

This 1994 sampler from the Hanover-based quasi-legitimate label remains a great place to start to see what they were up to, and serves as the late 80s version of Killed By Death for kids like yours truly. There were contributions from the first wave of DCHC (Void, Government Issue, Artificial Peace), NYHC legends (Warzone, Side By Side, Judge, Violent Children), and contemporary Euro hardcore bands (Brightside, Rykers, Crivits). It was also the only place I could track down Project X, Abused, and Citizens Arrest. L&F kept bands like Unity and Urban Waste available long after those bands had broken up.

Should they have paid the bands for what they released? Well, duh. Should they have asked permission? Absolutely. But I'm glad to have had exposure to the Warzone tracks that went out of print when Caroline quit pressing "Don't Forget the Struggle...", and the Ignite cuts when Conversion went out of business. The FU's records that Xclaim! put out are amazing classics; can you imagine knowing they exist, but can't find a copy to listen to other than a 3rd generation tape for years afterwards? Lost & Found filled that void, and, legitimately or not, kept a great deal of classic HC available for so many kids in the 90s. And that's why I don't feel bad sharing this one today.

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various artists - Mojo Presents: The Dreamers (15 Tracks Of Kate Bush-Inspired Dream Pop)

I don't have the October 2014 issue around which to contextualize the claim, but can one truly say this collection is Kate Bush-inspired? This stretches the definition of what "dream pop" is, and I always found Kate Bush (who I love...don't get me wrong) to be more akin to Peter Gabriel on the art rock tip, so I'm casting a gimlet eye towards the title. But there's a Wye Oak song here, and one by Julie Holter, and I can always skip over The War On Drugs, so I guess I'll just throw this one out to you, my people, and wish you not only a happy Mojo Monday, but a solemn Memorial Day.

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Dennis Bovell And The Dub Band - Audio Active

I don't have a great deal of insight to share about this record. I knew Dennis Bovell produced the Slits and the Pop Group when I found this several years ago. I ripped it and stashed the CD. No big deal. But it's getting to be summer, which means I swap all my post punk records on my phone for dub records, and this just started getting some spins. It's a very weird, very cool record to come out in 1986, when reggae had either gone full dancehall or full Rasta. Of course I dig it.

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various artists - Fort Reno Benefit Compilation

As summer approaches, I start thinking about outdoor shows. And that's because I spent my formative years driving down I-95 to DC to dodge summer thunderstorms to watch punk rock outside in the dusk of the capitol, on the site of a Civil War fort in Northwest.

There have been shows held at Fort Reno since 1968, but, for me, it was a great way to see Fugazi every year for free. Not that $5 was ever a burden, but it was nice applying that fiver towards making the 3-hour round trip to the historic park. I saw some amazing sets from the DC quartet, and got introduced to a ton of the younger bands from the Metro. A lot of them appeared on this 1997 benefit compilation for the music series, put out by Resin Records. Resin was run by Carlton from the Better Automatic, who put out 16 records over six years, all of which I own and most of which I still view favorably. The big names here are the Dismemberment Plan, Chisel, and Trans Am. Corm was John Davis' pre-Q & Not U band; the Impossible Five put out a single LP on Gern Blandsten and were outstanding when I saw them at the park in '97. I never got to see Smart Went Crazy live, but "Con Art" remains my favorite underheard record on Dischord.

Like all great compilations, this one is a curated snapshot of a scene. Some of these performers went on to bigger things; some of the bands were only heard here. But listening to this (Jesus) 29 years later immediately brings back a Discman velcroed to the dash, stickiness briefly interrupted by gentle winds atop the highest natural point in WDC, and pilgrimages to hear something new and brilliant. That's a great feeling. 

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various artists - Made In Britain: Mojo Presents The Sound Of A New England 1977-1983

"I don't want to change the world/I'm not looking for a new England/I'm just looking for another girl." What a perfect chorus. What a great song.

And this freebie, tacked onto the cover of September 2005's cover of Mojo Magazine, is chock full of songs like the Billy Bragg classic quoted above. Some, like "Too Much Pressure" or "The Modern World", are ones I've known by heart since long before this comp landed in my hands. Then there's deeper cuts, like the cuts from the Ruts and Soft Cell compiled here, that I came to when I finally landed myself copies of the full-lengths they originally appeared on. Then there's music from Alien Sex Fiend and the Meteors, who I'd never in a million years buy a record by. Yet, here, I found it all pretty compelling, which, knock ME over with a feather. Also, there's a Pop Rivets cut present. I probably should be a bigger Billy Childish fan.

The point? Ah, yes, the point. The point is that this 21-year-old is jam packed with pretty amazing 40+ year old songs, all of which where created by people who were in their early 20s, and probably just wanted to get laid and make music (not necessarily in that order). And that's pretty awesome for this old man. Just keep writing, keep chopping...you'll get there soon enough.

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Big Dipper - Slam

Slam. Duh duh duh, duh duh duh. Let boys be boys.

I pulled this one back out after acquiring a copy of the Embarrassment's discography a few weeks ago. Big Dipper was, of course, staffed with two members of the Embarrassment, along with former members of Volcano Suns. And if you know how any of those words relate to independent music...well, congrats, unc; you probably played vinyl only on your 3am radio show back in 1988.

"Slam" was Big Dipper's third and final full-length in their first iteration. It was also their only LP on major label Epic Records, with their first two coming on Homestead. If I had to guess, their Epic A&R, who also signed Living Colour, probably was looking for the next Hüsker Dü, something tuneful and noisy that'd cross over from college rock into the lower depths of the mainstream. And while I don't love this as much as I do their two Homestead records (still available as part of the excellent Merge anthology "Supercluster"!), it's still really good, and probably primed for a Music on Vinyl reissue.

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various artists - Insound Tour Support Collection Vol. No. One

It seems weird that I've only written about the Insound Tour Support series once, for how many of them I ended up with and how many times they got me onboard with a band or an artist. The Kind Of Like Spitting release, in particular, is the thing that got me listening to Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Leon Redbone. I heard the Canyon EP before I saw them live, even though they were based in DC and were dudes from emo bands playing Neil Young-style country rock...a genre engineered to grab my early-20s interest.

A lot of this is now hitting the quarter century mark, which explains why the original records are being revisited (s/o to Numero Group and Solid Brass for their ongoing reissue programs). So I thought it was a good opportunity to finally post this one up. It compiles a fair amount of the bands who appeared in Volumes 1-19. And like a lot of what I share here, it's a good snapshot of indie rock in the years around 9/11. Bright Eyes, Ida, and the Faint are the biggest names here, although relistening to this makes me wish I had held onto my copies of the Lion compilation EP and the Very Secretary release.

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Beyond Saturn (Mojo Presents 15 Mind-Blowing Cosmic Tracks Approved By Paul Weller)

It's another Mojo Monday, another compilation "approved" by Paul Weller. I'm not going to complain. They bring me Sun Ra and Charles Mingus and NEU!; I'm going to listen to the entire thing. Space music is always going to grab my attention.

Discogs

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