martedì 25 novembre 2014

Basta!

Earlier in october I got a mail from Fred, a guy from Brazil who asked me if he could send me a couple of releases from his band Nao Conformismo. Since I liked what I've heard on their bandcamp, I said yes of course. Almost two months later (not sure if I have to blame for such a long delivery time poste italiane, brazilian post or the scary combination of both!) a big parcel from brazil finally showed up. It contained two copies each of their 2012 "basta" lp and "autoflagelo da humanidade" 7" from this year. Both self-released on their own laber Atitude Consciente Records. First thing I've noticed, like all the other brazilian records I own, they do smell funny. Not sayin' they stink. But brazilian records always have their own peculiar & intense scent. And it's not just a matter of smell, Nao Conformismo also sound as brazilian as feijoada and saudade. A combination of solid & heavy production, midpaced hardcore songs with a metallic sound, political lirycs and gruff vocals that cannot not bring to mind their legendary country mates Ratos De Porao or Colera. All well executed and pretty solid if you want my two cents. Too bad the computerized graphics of both their records are quite horrible. I can see a lot of people skipping it since, honestly, they look like bad modern nu-metal bands cover. And that's a shame since this band deserves attention.
Since Nao Conformismo were kind enough to send me two copies each of their records, the first person who ask for them will get my extra copies for free (as long as they will cover the shipping costs).Just drop me a line or leave a comment if you're interested.

martedì 11 novembre 2014

Tales of a pretentious asshole#005

Let's keep it colombian with one of the main political raw & noisy hardcore band from Medellin, the legendary Restos De Tragedia. These guys got together in late 80s' from the ashes of local classic metal acts such as Parabellum, Maleficio, Blasfemia and Masacre. When indeed Parabellum and Blasfemia disbanded, Ramon Restrepo (vocals in Blasfemia & Parabellum) and Cesar Quiceno (bass and vocals in Maleficio) joined forces to create RDT with Agustin Moscoso (vocals) and Elkin Cossio (drums). The band lasted from '87 to '92, releasing a demo and two full eps. While colombian records usually pop up for sale once in a while, for some unknown reason both the RDT eps are pretty elusive and damn rare in these days. So when I found a guy selling both, I knew that I couldn't miss them. Sent a fair offer, et voilà, now both these fuckers are finally mine! 
"Ser Y No Ser" 7" is their self-released debut ep from 1989 and their best release in my opinion. Incredible raw & dirty sound that goes along perfectly with the catchiest songs the band ever wrote. Along with Imagen, Herpes, Dexkoncierto and Ataque De Sonido, RDT are part of the noisiest and rawest band from the medellin scene and probably the best band doing it (well, it's a tie with Imagen). And this ep captures them in their finest moment. Also the cover artwork is pretty good. For sure a solid debut.
Fast forward to 1992, the year when they also disbanded, and we got their second full ep: "Medellin presenta: a Restos De Tragedia". Again self-released by the band with nine tracks on it, this is pretty much the same band of their debut ep. Well, except for a rougher & more confused sound that make them loose a bit of their energy. Also the front artwork is quite ugly (but back cover looks very good). That being said, I'm just being anal. It's still solid, raw as fuck proto-noisecore from south america. The way I love it. Definitely worth your time if you're not already familiar with them.
Annoying collector details: inside cover of my copy looks like a printing error: there's only 1/4 of what should be printed on it. Am I the not so lucky owner of what looks like an unwanted variant or do all copies look like this?
Around 2008 the band reformed. Not only they do play gigs, but they re-recorded most of their material and released it on a cd and a split ep with Coche Bomba. A couple of years ago FOAD released a full discography lp. Here's the complete RDT discography I've tried to put together:

-demo tape (self released, 1987)
-"ser y no ser" 7" (self released, 1989)
-VA "la ciudad podrida vol. I" lp (1990, three tracks)
-"medellin presenta: a restos de tragedia" 7" (self released, 1992)
-"malos tiempos buenas ideas" cd (Calderon Prod, 2008)
-split 7" w/Coche Bomba (Noseke Rec, 2012)
-"radikal evolution" discography lp (F.O.A.D., 2012) 

sabato 1 novembre 2014

Sociedad Violenta on MRR plus Medellin ads

Here's some kind of bio written directly by the guys from Medellin's very first punk/hc band Sociedad Violenta that appeared on an old MRR from 1989.
Here's also a couple of Medellin related ads from early 90s' MRRs.