various artists - Requiem By Rough Trade

A brief update: I've reuploaded the rest of the missing 2026 posts. I'm debating what from 2025 or before I'm going to reupload, but, as is still the fashion online, please feel free to drop a comment asking for a fresh upload.

This also came from the estate sale where I obtained Monday's "Cohen Covered" blog. And, boy howdy!, does it check a lot of boxes for me:

• It's a compilation.
• It's a Japanese pressing.
• It was released only two years after the introduction of the compact disc.
• It's a sampler of Rough Trade artists.
• It was a buck.

When I'm out in the world, this is EXACTLY the sort of thing I'm looking for. It's not that the music is especially rare; Lord knows how many times I've heard that Smiths track. But the selections here generally aren't drawn from the songs I would have expected. The Wire cut comes from the "Our Swimmer" 7", and there are two Weekend tracks (instead of Young Marble Giants). Robert Wyatt also contributes a pair of songs, including the rousing "Red Flag", which I love, but is no one's idea of a hit. There's also a Dome side, coming from the Gilbert/Lewis side project that I didn't know existed until I picked this up.

It's a very cool compilation, and, clearly, I'm a fan of cool compilations.

Discogs

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various - Zetrospective

This is a late post. I blame the missus, who distracted me with her feminine wiles while I was in the middle of writing this up. Mea culpa: I am quite susceptible to feminine wiles.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might think that I came to ZE Records via no wave. I've written about James Chance multiple times over the years, and the tag has a number of entries associated with it (I should probably remove it from the Screamers' live set). And that's not a terrible assumption. However, it was David & Don Was's Was (Not Was) that poisoned my brain with their mutant disco and led me to the venerable downtown label. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but every time I heard the Waitresses during the holidays, or the DJ spinning "Mr. Softee" as part of a Friday, 5pm closing shift, I was getting introduced to the downtown sounds of ZE.

And this is why I like both types of music: hardcore and disco.

This two-CD set came out back in 1989, an early digital collection of ZE's five-year heyday. I'm not entirely certain where I found it, but I'm sure I plotzed when I found it on the shelf. The combined set was only available in Europe; each disc got its own release here in the States. The artwork on said 2CD set is a horrible merge of the American releases' covers; I've subbed in the vinyl cover below.

All this is to say, I got a good deal when I turned this up for a few bucks.

Discogs

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various artists - CMJ Presents Certain Damage! - Volume 3

Here's a look back to when people still thought the Red Hot Chili Peppers were edgy, when college rock meant you could loop Fields of the Nephilim, Robbie Robertson, and Kool Moe Dee together, and funk metal was the next big thing. Truth be told: I kept this because I found the cover art so goddamned charming. The Cabaret Voltaire song is pretty solid, Lion was on the "The Transformers: The Movie" soundtrack, and I'm not sure I'll ever get Bryan Ferry solo. 1987 was weird for music, man.

Discogs

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various artists - Jon Savage's 50 Pre-Punk Missing Links

I'm writing this blog about 35 minutes before it's scheduled to post. It's less than an hour to Labor Day, so I don't feel particularly obliged to do much more than post something up.

One of the homies over at Twilight Zone originally posted this up last year. Apparently, very early on in Mojo's history, Jon Savage made a list of 50 songs predating punk that led to its explosion. It's a list that runs from 1969 (Gong) to 1977 (Richard Hell & Devo). And it is an incredible playlist. For every "T.V. Eye" or "Final Solution", there are songs like Lucifer's "Fuck You" or George Brigman's "Jungle Rot"; total outsider rock that never made it to the cut-out bin.

My contribution was properly dating each song, attaching the original release it appears on, and adding a genre. Put this on today and tell the boss you ain't coming in.

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various artists - Let Them Eat Jellybeans!

This is the rare instance on this blog where what I'm sharing isn't a first generation copy from my personal archive. In this case, this is a rip of the CD-R that came complimentary with a copy of the 1981 Italian cassette I bought five years ago. A good dude, that anonymous punk who sold me one of the finest punk/HC comps of all time.

Everything about this has a timeless quality. The Fallout Productions cover. The Ed Colver photography. The fold-out poster. The roster of first wave North American punk, hardcore, and outsider music. More so than "Flex Your Head" or "Chunks" or "Charred Remains" or "Meathouse", this is representative of the true width of the scene in 1981. It served as a calling card for the bands contained within as they had reached a point to escape the New World and bring American sounds to Europe and beyond.

This record is 45 years old. It's been out of print nearly 40 years. And yet it's a still a pretty incredible listen, whether you're blasting Flipper, the Subhumans, Half Japanese, or the Offs. The variety present along with the artwork make it a stone cold classic.

Discogs

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various artists - Audioflashcard

Note: fixed the link to include the entire comp. Thanks to Friend for leaving the comment.

GSL made it a decade and a half, starting out in Boulder in 1993 and wrapping things up in Los Angeles in 2007, with a stop-over in San Diego. During that time, they released no less than a half dozen records that I still find irreplaceable. Early releases from the Locust, the V.S.S., and Get Hustle built a track record that would soon include the Mars Volta, !!!, and the Rapture. This was the sound of late 90s hardcore growing up. And I'm not talking about the youth crew...these were the weirdos from your town who were booking Born Against and Heroin and Huggy Bear in their basements, then going off to college towns where they'd get into Christian Death or Albert Ayler or Karen Dalton. They'd meld it all together, making sounds that'd turn off every macho shithead and turn on their friends and younger siblings.

This sampler came at the midway point of Gold Standard Laboratories' lifespan. GSL would put out the first !!! full length, a Mohinder discography, a collaborative 7" between xBxRx, Miss Pussycat, and Quintron, the Locust's remix 12", and the first post-At The Drive-In release from Cedric and Omar as De Facto in 2001. The last of those would lead to the Mars Volta, who ultimately reached the sort of popularity that honestly blew everyone's I knew's minds. These were deeply different, viewed with some level of distrust, and thus were deeply, honestly, punker than anything else running at the same time. 25 years on, this still feels pretty transgressive, and makes me wonder why the hell we thought anyone was selling out.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: The Who Jukebox

I sometimes wonder if I hold a low opinion of the Who because they just won't go away. Like, if they'd wrapped it up, gone solo after the death of Keith Moon, would I more easily be able to separate the music they made from 1964 to 1978 from the people composing the band? This is one of the bands I actually remember my parents going to see when I was a kid, whose records I was allowed to look through and listen to in my first encounters with the family turntable. I still enjoy a lot of their catalog, but it seems like, for most of my life, anything I've heard about Pete Townshend or Roger Daltrey just left a bad taste in my mouth. I almost want them to pass away so they can't further damage their reputation.

But this was a minor step in the right direction. Even if you think Roger Daltrey is a grumpy old prick, or that Pete Townshend might have...predilections, there's no disputing that they can put together a solid comp. There's not a bad song in the lot. I'll even give them a pass for putting on two songs released after my birth, b/c they're by Ian Dury and ANOHNI and, hey, not everyone can keep their finger on the pulse of modern music like Paul Weller or Jon Savage do with their compilations.

In conclusion, Primitive Offerings remains a blog of contradictions. They wish death on 80+ year old rock stars, but commend their curation of giveaway comps.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Piece Of Cake (20 Years Of Rykodisc)

What can I say about Rykodisc that I haven't already said? As a reissue label, they were responsible for my first listens to so many important artists and bands: Bowie, Zappa, Mission of Burma, Big Star. They ended up shepherding the catalogs of Hannibal, Restless, and Twin/Tone, give the Meat Puppets' SST catalog a home, and offer Morphine a place to grow. Along with current labelmate and previous fellow indie traveler Rhino, they were a label that you could count on for quality. They now exist only as a historical imprint, still the label of note on Morphine reissues, but not having released a new record in something like 20 years.

But when Mojo celebrated Ryko's 20th anniversary in 2003, the esteemed label was still running hard. From this comp alone, there were contemporary tracks from the Fire Theft (ex-Sunny Day Real Estate), Josh Rouse, Kelly Willis, and Joe Jackson. They co-released Warren Zevon's last record in the UK, and put out a new Robert Wyatt record in 2003. And the reissues! The Replacements' and Soul Asylum' Twin/Tone catalogs, the early recordings of the Flaming Lips, all the Galaxie 500 records on Rough Trade. Rykodisc put out remastered versions all around this time, making these recordings easily attainable for the first time in years. This one's capped off by a hidden track from Bill Hicks, whose records were, you guessed it, also available posthumously on Rykodisc.

Discogs

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various artists - Spin: 100% Original

The words "Ocean Pacific" pops out at me, one of those brands of my youth, up there with Airwalk, Vans, Stüssy, Jncos, Bones Brigade, and Sex Wax as signifiers of teenage fashion of a certain era. Not that I could afford any of the above, nor did I have the cool uncle/aunt/older sibling who'd plunk down money on them so I could feel cool. As a result, I'm not particularly driven towards tracking down any fluorescent shorts or skin-tight monochromatic tees from early adolescence. Thank g_d for Mom & Dad's cheapness for avoiding that particular nostalgic curse.

This promo, sampling the contemporary Atlantic Records roster of 1999, is the sort of thing I would have tossed immediately back then, but happily share with you today. Just do yourself a favor; avoid track 4. Nothing good comes of listening to Bob Ritchie nowadays.

On the other hand: Fountains of Wayne, Fat Joe, Bad Religion, and Latin Playboys all provide no worse than decent cuts from their then-current records. There's a Collective Soul track, a sampling from the swing revival, and a few others that I cannot be arsed to revisit. Also sponsored by Spin Magazine, although I couldn't say if this was a giveaway with Spin, an OP purchase, or a mailaway. I'd think this was attached to a Spin subscription; otherwise, how would I have ended up with a copy?

Discogs

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various artists - Particle Theory (A Compendium Of Lightspeed Incursions And Semiotic Weapons From Warner/Reprise)

Ah, yes; the rare place to find Elvis Costello, Boredoms, Sven Väth, and Julee Cruise all in one place.

The Warner family of labels, circa 1993, was a pretty rad assembleage. There was big daddy Warner Bros. Records, who released "The Juliet Papers" that year, a weird concept for 16-year-old me to wrap my brain around. Elvis Costello with a string quartet? Don't worry; I get it now. They'd also put out records from the Flaming Lips and Goo Goo Dolls, which actually got daytime airplay on the one rock station in town. Then there was Ms. Cruise, who, at the time, I wasn't actually aware had worked with David Lynch on the Twin Peaks soundtrack.

Reprise was still flogging Mudhoney's first major label record, put out a Boredoms record in the States, which tickles me to no end, and were still trying to break Babes In Toyland big. Their release slate in 1993 was a bit mixed in quality, but I like how weird a mix it is. You just don't see folks throwing around major label advances on odd shit anymore.

There were also co-releases from Sire, 4AD, Giant, Blanco Y Negro, and American Recordings, all bearing either the WB shield or lower-case R. "Alternative" was a pretty big tent back in 1993, and the majors hadn't had a chance to cock it all up yet. For me and many other future college radio DJs, it was a good time to catch a shotgun's blast worth of genre music and absorb it all, even if you weren't totally into it right away. And, hey, this one could have turned out worse. Candlebox put out a record on Sire in 1993 that sold a metric fuckton and very well could have been represented here. The compilers got it right on this one.

Discogs

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various artists - Spin This V

I've been laying pretty low on purchases since the first of the year. But I broke edge a few days ago; a record nerd can't stay out of the thrift store for long. I stumbled across this now-31-year-old sampler from Spin Magazine, and immediately flashed back to seeing the video for "Undone (The Sweater Song" in my neighbor's den for the first time. His folks kept the shades well drawn, so what natural light made it in had this yellow tinge to it. We stopped what we doing at the first beats from Patrick Wilson; it was unlike anything we'd ever heard up 'til then. Fuckin' Weezer, man. Always brings a smile to my face.

Plus: Mazzy Star! Frente! covering New Order! Major label Meat Puppets! Morphine! Guided By Voices! Plus a bunch of stuff that 30 years on I still don't recognize outside of a radio station giveaway bin. Kinda perfect for this space. I can never resist throwing a buck to a animal rescue or a job's program in return for something like this.

Discogs

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various artists - The Infinite Zero Almanac: 1996 Sampler V

I ran out of time coming into today, so it's time for an easy write up. The fifth in the series of six Infinite Zero samplers; this one is one of the more comprehensive, coming as it did in the last year of the reissue label's existence. Most of these are available here on the ol' blog; just type in Inifnite Zero and expand your mind. I'm feeling the cover of this one most of all; the caricature of Rollins, flanked by the Def American and Infinite Zero logos, big, stronge fonts. It's a golden joy to behold.

While lacking the superior graphic design and the even-deeper record selection, it's no surprise that my early exposure to these drew me into an ongoing love of the Numero Group and Light in the Attic. I kind of got a kick out of watch the Grammy pre-broadcast show on YouTube tonight, seeing Numero's 90 Day Men set get a Grammy nom. It's great to see even the most obscure bands get beloved treatment, the expense of which makes a hell of a lot more sense then that double LP Chappel Roan release at $50 retail.

I'm all over the place tonight; forgive me, friends. I'm looking at a big record purge within the month, so my head isn't thinking about anything particular.

Discogs

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various artists - PRO-CD 95.ZERO.1

My preparation for a colonoscopy prevented me from posting this Thursday; mea culpa. Here's a Friday taster for y'all.

10 songs, five artists: you know the drill. Devo, Flipper, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Alan Vega, and Alan Watts.

This makes the second of six samplers that I've posted so far. I've also posted a dozen of the 27 releases that Infinite Zero put out in its four-year history. Should I jump off the ongoing comp theme to get some more of these out these? It's not like any of it is particularly hard to find. But it is all interesting, and, hell, it should be easier to track down Iceberg Slim's album.

Discogs

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various artists - Steal This Disc 3

In fact, I did not steal this disc. I paid a dollar ninety-nine for it mere weeks ago.

A quick one, as I prepare for a full-day training session on my Sunday. It's fascinating how the music you're introduced to at an early age shapes your entire listening existence. While I didn't own an exact copy of this in the early 90s, my early CD collection was littered with Ryko releases. The Bowie and Zappa reissue series, Hendrix's Radio One sessions and "Live at Winterland" set, "Hardcore Devo" Vols. 1 & 2, and Mission of Burma's Ace of Hearts output all populated my shelves before I graduated high school. They were mostly appointed in the distinctive green Rykodisc jewel cases, making them stand out that much more amongst the other pieces of my slowly-growing collection.

This one broadens my decidedly-narrow view from junior year. There are a trio of Beatles-adjacent tracks from Ringo, Badfinger, and Paul McCartney's brother. Rykodisc really leaned into world music with the likes of 3 Mustaphas 3 and the Oyster Band. I had no clue Jerry Jeff Walker and Evan Johns had put out records on Ryko until I snagged this; Nils Lofgren was less surprising, as was a Henry Kaiser project.

I don't know if it says more about the priorities of the music industry or the tastes of listeners that you just don't get this sort of awesome shotgunning any more. I suspect it's the former; I know that amongst my own aging group of freaks that we're even more likely to acknowledge that we want to listen to Ornette Coleman, Lack Of Interest, Wendy Carlos, and Barbara Dane, often times one right after the other.

The fold-out cover, exhibited below, is just the cherry on top of a collection that still fucking slaps.

Discogs

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various artists - Infinite Zero Promotional CD #1

I initially had another release planned for today; you'll get that one next Monday.

But then James Chance passed away Tuesday, June 18th, and I felt like it was a good time to share this label sampler from 30 years ago. I remember finding this in the promo bin at the first record store I worked in, just a year after it came out. But it was a revelation for me, led off by the Contortions' "Design To Kill", and followed by the likes of Devo, Gang of Four, Alan Vega, and Tom Verlaine. Hell, there's a LL Cool J track here. I'm guessing it's a result of Infinite Zero being a Rick Rubin/Henry Rollins joint venture.

RIP to a real one. There ain't many of his like left.

Discogs

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various artists - CMJ Presents Certain Damage! - Volume 30

When i think of CMJ, the College Music Journal, I think of going to the cool bookstore as a teenager, copping "New Music Monthly", and learning about what the kids a few years older than me were into. I didn't know about publicists or the politics of major labels or the world of college rock; I just knew I was getting drawn into something that didn't play on the radio in southwestern Virginia. It wasn't covered in "Rolling Stone" or "Spin", aside from the occasional 50-word review. And when it did show up on MTV, it was in the "120 Minutes" ghetto, banished to late, late night.

Not that I got cable that far out in the boondocks.

"Certain Damage!" was the precursor to the NMM samplers that I'd swipe out of Borders. I've turned up a few of these recently, all dating from the days before Lollapalooza. Volume 30 here has the last great Replacements song, a Redd Kross cut, the Jane's Addiction song you'd actually hear on the radio in the daytime. There's also a Hank Rollins side project, an appearance by both Fred Firth and Henry Kaiser on the same track, and the first house track I remember hearing (Soho, "Hippychick").

This was what the College Music Journal thought was worth hearing, the month of my 13th birthday.

Discogs

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various artists - Live At The Knitting Factory, Volume One

I picked this up the other day for the following reasons:

• It was $2, and I already had a $2 CD in my hand. I feel weird spending less than $5.
• The Knitting Factory was, in my adolescence, this magic place where the cutting edge of music played every night.
• I saw Tom Cora played on a couple tracks. Tom Cora made some records with the Ex.

It turned out, this was a pretty good snag. The first of five volumes of live cuts from the NYC venue released by A&M Records, this one captures performances from the winter of '88-'89. I dig it.

Boring-ass cover on the US releases, tho.

Discogs

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Measles Mumps Rubella – Fantastic Success

I wrote about Measles Mumps Rubella back in May, covering their 2002 demo (still available for download, as far as I can tell). Go check that out to hear the embryonic MMR. This is their final recording; a full length that was long overdue, and that I didn't acquire until just a couple months ago.

I'm not a good fan.

Discogs

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Measles Mumps Rubella – Summer 2002 Demonstration Model

Double Dagger. Jesuseater. Economist. Black Eyes. Crispus Attucks. Q And Not U. Liars Academy. Pageninetynine. Oxes. Municipal Waste. Measles Mumps Rubella. Those were the sounds of my summer twenty years ago. I hesitate to call it a golden age for the Baltimore/DC/NoVA metro area, but it definitely was the first time where I felt I could go to a life-changing show any given night. And I pretty much did.

It was a High On Fire show where I remember seeing MMR for the first time. I remember being really bummed out that there weren't any Baltimore bands in support, but psyched that Black Eyes was going to play. They had already played a few gigs up north, and had just owned the show every time. I knew very little about Measles Mumps Rubella, except that one of the guys was in Panopoly Academy, and another one of the guys had done some stuff with His Name Is Alive. Pretty "meh" credentials, as far as I was concerned at the time.

But they lit it up when they opened up the show. Brett sang and played percussion, alive like Fela Kuti fronting Gang Of Four. In about 30 minutes, they blasted through a half dozen sweaty songs, setting the stage for almost certain disappointment with the rest of the show. It's one of those nights I can only remember in little blasts of sound and light, a feeling more than a concrete memory. I'd see MMR play a handful more times, but they never had the same sort of impact of punks playing disco than they did that night in 2002.

Discogs

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