Nuclear Addicts

When I visited japan in 2011, one of the main reason for that trip was record shopping to check if all the stories I've heard over the years about japanese record stores were true. And they bloody were! Tons of crates full of hard to find stuff for decent prices. I gave myself a budget and I quickly spent it all in the first two shop I visited in Tokyo (Shibuya & Shinjuku's Disk Union). I was able to cross off so many japanese stuff from my wantlist that I could consider myself satisfied. In my compulsive buying, I also got a couple of amazing used shirts. One of them turned out to be too small for me (the best Judgement shirt I've ever seen) so a few days later I went back to the shop to see if I can change it. Of course I couldn't but no big deal since I knew I could sell it easily for good money back home. While there, I spotted one record that I wanted badly but couldn't find in my early visits. Confuse "nuclear addicts" flexi. In great condition and for a great price too. I was looking for it for a long time but somehow I convinced myself to do not buy it. "It's not that hard to find for this price" I told myself. Of course the price kept increasing so it took me four more years to find another copy for the price I wanted to pay for it. To make it short, the lesson is: fuck money, when you find a record you want badly and the price is alright, just buy it. I don't think this flexi needs more words. If you're reading this blog you already know how awesome it is. Primitive distorted punk/hc with great fuzzy sound and iconic artwork for a legendary band that is the definition (well, at least to me) of what japanese hardcore was in the "pre-Selfish Records" era. This is their best effort and still very influential even if it was released 31 years ago. A genre defining release for sure.

Libero di vivere, libero di morire

You might have noticed that the legendary Chaos Produzioni is back in action, officialy re-releasing almost the entire Wretched catalogue. No, the band hasn't reformed and I don't think it will happen anytime soon. But they instead decided to make all their old material available again, in the same way they did back in the early 80s: totally diy. It's good to see that more than 30 years later they are still loyal to the same attitude of their wild years! Check their facebook page if you need to contact them.

"Libero di vivere, libero di morire" is their first and only proper full lenght and for sure their most well known release. Perhaps the most iconic 80s italian hardcore release thanx to the incredible artwork made by none other than Stiv of TVOR fame. I must admit that I have a love/hate relationship with it. I've listen to it for the first time in the mid 90s, when the scene was so PC that it just bored me. Sure the music was good, but the lyrics were just annoying me. Later I've learnt to love their early noisy material and the later gloomier stuff. But this one still remains my least favourite Wretched release. Over the year I've come to the point of seeing it as a transitional record from their early wild days to the more introspective later stuff. A solid effort for sure, it just not always works for me. That being said, I might not shell out the amount of money asked for a first press in these days, but I'm glad to have secured a copy of this official repress for cheap. Perfect reproduction of the original one with the insert printed on the dust sleeve. Comes on transparent vinyl for normal people or urine yellow wax for golden shower crusties.

Nessuna Agonia Ci Farà Morire

Another big want crossed off. And this is a weird one, an obscure gem that came out from this boot shaped penisula around 1985. I'm talking about the elusive Agonia/Hydra split lp. This record is so filled with boring pacifism propaganda that it still amazes me how much I love it. Half of the running time of side A are spoken parts that deals with the typical banal and boring militant squat uberPC rethoric. Side B has just one track and it's a goddamn soporific interview with an ex alcoholist that I've never managed to listen to completely. What a waste of wax. To make it short, if we cut all those useless parts, we got left enough music to fill perfectly a 7" ep. This record would have been indeed way better if it was just a split ep. Hydra mere contribute is just a classic punkrock song with female vocals. A good one but it pales compared to the sheer brutality of the main reason why you should get a copy of this: Agonia. These guys hailing from Modena, featuring Zambo from Wretched under the skins, unleashed some of the most primitive proto-noisecore that I've ever had the pleasure to hear. Fast, violent, brief and unpredictable stuff that was waaay ahead of its time. Is this perhaps the first noisecore record ever? Before noisecore exploded around late '80s, I can't think of another band with such short, abrasive and fast "songs" in the early days of hardcore. A truly underrated classic in my opinion.

This record should be filled with tons of inserts and pamphlets about the stuff I've mentioned before. Unfortunately mine is missing'em all except for Agonia lyrics sheet which in the end is the only one I'm vaguely interested in. On the other hand, what really pisses me off is that inside the sleeve I've found a recent price tag that says that someone sold it for just 5€. And unfortunately I'm not the lucky one who paid that amount for it... 

PARABELLUM interview

Here's a weird interview with the legendary Parabellum from Medellin, Colombia. Kinda pointless interview but still worth reading it. Taken from Hell'zine#7, not sure about the year. Both spanish and english translation. Thanx Jum for providing again awesome stuff!!

Artic Nights

Here's the record I've got for free that I've mentioned in my previous post: the vinyl debut of Oslo's Shipwrecked "artic nights" on Anger Management Records. I keep thinking about this as a recent release but goddammit it's already ten years old! Here we got a healthy dose of perfectly executed boston hardcore (SSD "the kids..." above all) with a hint of Oi! and norwegian/vikings mythology as graphic & lyrics background. The final result is probably the most coherent band doing this kind of stuff. Way better than most yankee bands that recently attempted to reproduce this sound. While I'd tag them as a bunch of tuff skinheads solely based on their music and imagery, the recent interview on Chunks'zine proved that these are mature and serious people, not a bunch of kids playing tuff. Featuring an ex-Insurance Risk member, if I haven't convinced you yet. No(r)way delivers again. Solid stuff.

Do The Crop Circle

Another big want that I'm finally able to knock off from my want list: the uber rare Darvocets "do the crop circle" 7" released exacly 20 years ago by Non Commercial Records in the mere quantity of 300 copies only. I've been worshipping these guys for such a long time that is still hard to believe that I finally own a copy of their debut release. A mate from downunder unloaded to the masses his collection recently. I've asked him to sell me his copy so many times that I kinda feel like this copy had to be mine. The deal went super smooth (he even thrown in a great extra ep for free!) and a couple of weeks later this ep's journey from the other side of the globe ended safely in my mailbox. Darvocets were the weird band from the clevo scene. While all the clevo bands have that distinctive sound that make them unique and easily recognizable, this stuff would indeed fit better in a Killed By Death compilation. Both musically & lyrically, D. sounds like that dumb retarded kid who did way too much psychedelic drugs and had a morbose obsession for ufos, aliens & sci-fi horror movies. All of course done with a good dose of tasteless humour that makes me appreciate these guys even more! Not only this record is quite hard to find, but there are several cover version. Regular one with coloured back cover, super limited "Darvisettes" version and photocopied sleeve (this one, unsold stock copies that the band sold around 2005-06). Good luck scoring one!

ITALIAN HC flyers

Here's some old italian hc flyers. The first two are from the 80s', the last one is from the early 90s.