Saturday, January 01, 2022

 


"No Filler: USHC 1978-1985" - DJ Sleeve 2019-2022

OK OK here's a streaming link for the kidz:
https://soundcloud.com/sleeve-the-dj/va-no-filler-mp3-mix

Maybe a year ago (in 2018), I was doing my monthly DJ set in a local restaurant, and it was right after they opened. Nobody had come in yet, so I decided to throw together a short impromptu set of old school US hardcore/thrash tunes. It rekindled my love affair with the stuff, and I started toying with the idea of a personal best-of mix CD. I ended up researching down into the primary source level to find release or recording dates, buying at least a dozen records to fill some gaps in my collection (and by extension, the mix itself), and going through 6+ early versions of the final tracklist.

As obsessive as any mix I’ve ever made, this is a love letter to early US hardcore. It was kind of amazing to make this, having lived through the last third of it as an active participant (I first heard true hardcore/thrash punk music in late 1982). It's so clear in hindsight that the bell curve peaks sometime in early 1982, I mean you can’t deny the 1-2 punch of “Gas Chamber” and then “Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight”, which are smack in the middle of this CD.

Even though that ’82 peak date might have been true in the urban centers of the movement, the detonations continued (especially in the Midwest, where I was from 1984 on) well through 1985. At that point it started to morph into the more metallic droptune/blastbeat stuff, or indie, or C86 jangle, or “pigfucker” music, etc. To me personally, this particular scene kind of ended with the death of D. Boon, hence the last track (which also looks back on the era, being a Urinals cover).

The tracklist here obviously reflects my Midwest punk roots, and I genuinely believe that’s the best the years had to offer (although the primo California/DC/Texas tracks are also undeniable). Y’all also get to benefit from my obsessive collecting, I wouldn’t be able to make this mix on Spotify.

Everything is/was officially released (although possibly out of print now) except for the Fear track, which is from a live bootleg recorded in Eugene Oregon in 1982, and the Necros tracks which remain out of print rarities.

It's sequenced in the best chronological order I could research, so you can hear the sound evolve (lol). Sometimes I used date of recording, sometimes official release date, whichever fit best in the sequence (for example, Vicious Circle was recorded in 1981).

Tracks have been ruthlessly edited to minimize any gaps in the onslaught.

Yes I know this is like 99% straight white dudes but I grew up with this music and it is burned into my heart.
(cue Sebadoh's "Gimme Indie Rock")

The rules are:
All songs must be under 2 minutes. This weeded out a lot of poseur bullshit right from the start. Sorry, Social Distortion! I still love you, I promise.

US bands only. Sorry, D.O.A!

1 track per release per band per year. This means compilation albums are allowed more tracks in a given year than LPs. LPs only get one track no matter how great they are - apologies to Damaged, Vicious Circle, the Die Kreuzen debut, and the Angry Samoans ( I kinda cheated with the Samoans cuz ‘Lights Out” was on the Take It magazine flexidisc as well as the LP).

The only bands to get two tracks in a given year are Minor Threat and Black Flag, each for separate 1981 releases. Compilations that get more than one track are Not So Quiet On The Western Front, Flex Your Head, The Master Tape, the Take It flexidisc, and This Is Boston Not L.A..

No "joke" punk (i.e. Meatmen, AOD, whatever, no thanks, also no “Killed By Death” style punk or anything influenced by old-school punk - sorry, Toxic Reasons).

No proto-indie (i.e. Meat Puppets or Replacements, but Minutemen and Husker Du get a pass because I say so).

NO METAL (fuck that shit, D.R.I’s Crossover was where I drew a permanent line. Siege barely made it in here).

The track needs to fuckin rock and at least approach thrash tempo (apologies to The Wreck’s “Punk Is An Attitude” which is still awesome).

80 tracks in 80 minutes.

01 Black Flag - Fix Me 1/78.flac
02 Misfits - Spinal Remains 1/78.flac
03 Middle Class - Out Of Vogue '78.flac
04 Bad Brains - Black Dots 6/79.flac
05 Urinals - I'm White and Middle Class '79.flac
06 Germs - What We Do Is Secret 10/79.flac
07 Black Flag - Revenge 3/80.flac
08 Angry Samoans - Hot Cars '80.flac
09 Bad Brains - Pay To Cum 6/80.flac
10 Untouchables - Nic Fit 7/80.flac
11 Misfits - Horror Hotel 8/80.flac
12 Dead Kennedys - Your Emotions 9/80.flac
13 The Fix - Vengeance '80.flac
14 Necros - Caste System '80.flac
15 Circle Jerks - Deny Everything 11/80.flac
16 Teen Idles - Teen Idles 11/80.flac
17 Minutemen - The Maze 12/80.flac
18 Dicks - Fake Bands 12/80.flac
19 S.O.A. - Lost In Space 3/81.flac
20 Adolescents - Word Attack 5/81.flac
21 Big Boys - Advice 6/81.flac
22 Minor Threat - Filler 6/81.flac
23 Black Flag - I've Heard It Before 6/81.flac
24 Dead Kennedys - Nazi Punks Fuck Off '81.flac
25 The Fix - Cos The Elite 7/81.flac
26 Angry Samoans - Lights Out '81.flac
27 Necros - IQ 32 '81.flac
28 Zero Boys - Vicious Circle '81.flac
29 Husker Du - Guns In My School 8/81.flac
30 Really Red - Pigboy '81.flac
31 Kraut - Matinee '81.flac
32 SSD - Typical '81.flac
33 Poison Idea - Give It Up '81.flac
34 Negative Approach - Lost Cause '81.flac
35 Bad Brains - Attitude 10/81.flac
36 Bored Youth - They Don't Have The Right 11/81.flac
37 Void - Condensed Flesh 11/81.flac
38 7 Seconds - Fuck Your Amerika '81.flac
39 Black Flag - Police Story 11/81.flac
40 Minor Threat - Out Of Step (With The World) 12/81.flac
41 Angry Samoans - Gas Chamber '82.flac
42 Misfits - Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight? 3/82.flac
43 Negative Approach - Sick Of Talk 4/82.flac
44 Die Kreuzen - Fighting '82.flac
45 Tar Babies - Confusion 4/82.flac
46 Articles Of Faith - Street Fight '82.flac
47 Husker Du - M.I.C. 5/82.flac
48 Zero Boys - High Places '82.flac
49 Bad Posture - GDMFSOB '82.flac
50 Descendents - I'm Not A Punk 6/82.flac
51 Big Boys - Apolitical 7/82.flac
52 Really Red - Teenage Fuck Up '82.flac
53 Poison Idea - Castration '82.flac
54 SSD - Wasted Youth '82.flac
55 Fear - Gimme Some Action (live) 9/82.flac
56 Jerry's Kids - Straight Jacket '82.flac
57 MDC - The Only Good Cop... '82.flac
58 Gang Green - Snob '82.flac
59 Scream - Came Without Warning 10/82.flac
60 MIA - New Left '82.flac
61 The Freeze - This Is Boston, Not LA '82.flac
62 Void - Think '82.flac
63 Husker Du - Obnoxious 1/83.flac
64 Poison Idea - Think Twice 1/83.flac
65 Die Kreuzen - Don't Say Please 2/83.flac
66 Battalion Of Saints - Too Much Fun ’83
67 Fang - Landshark 2/83.flac
68 Necros - Satisfy 2/83.flac
69 Bad Brains - F.V.K. 3/83.flac
70 D.R.I. - I Don't Need Society 3/83.flac
71 Big Boys - Assault '83.flac
72 Suicidal Tendencies - I Shot The Devil.flac
73 Misfits - Devilock 12/83.flac
74 Dicks - Nobody Asked Me ’84.flac
75 Siege - Starvation 2/84.flac
76 Die Kreuzen - Hate Me 4/84.flac
77 Naked Raygun - Stupid '84.flac
78 Nip Drivers - New Meiji Takeover '85.flac
79 D.R.I. - Bail Out '85.flac
80 Minutemen - Ack Ack Ack 9/85.flac

https://www.mediafire.com/file/y2kbdkuabazwjc9/va+No+Filler+-+USHC+1978-1985+version+3+MP3.zip/file

1 comment:

Bill said...

Welcome back! This was unexpected.