Thursday, October 8, 2009

Is The Human Heart So Selfish - A Benefit For Food Not Bombs


Here is the download: Food Not Bombs Compilation

Here is the track listing:
1: Orlock - Dressed Up
2: The Mike Douglas - Untitled
3: Aslund Constant - Number Six
4: The Party of Helicopters - There's A Bomb In My Food!
5: The Perpetual Sciamachy Theorem - Acquiring The Asymmetric Ear
6: Griver - Postmarked Division
7: Twenty Seven Hours - Dear You
8: Wheeljack - Baton
9: Cerberus Shoal - Broken Springs Spring Forth From Broken Clocks
10: Blue Stockings - Bubble People
11: Quadiliacha - What's Wrong With This Picture
12: The Forty-Two - Sound Age
13: Bughummer - Bird Dog
14: Full Scale Replicas - Raised
15: Flakscrampe Tramauntra - The Lost Art of Dueling
16: Titus - The What Little Boys Are Made Of Trilogy

I cannot tell you how many benefits I have played for Food Not Bombs. Back in the nineties, they were like the pet charity of the DIY hardcore/postpunk/indie scene. Sometimes it seemed like half the VFW/basement/warehouse/etc. shows I would play or attend would have some sort of affiliation with Food Not Bombs. I hadn't really heard so much from them over the past ten years or so, but then the other day I saw a banner and a group of people giving out food from a shopping cart at the plaza across from City Hall East on Ponce. It was a nostalgic moment for me.

So this compilation came out sometime 1997, but for some reason I never owned it. Jon Lukens gave me a copy a while back and finally I'm getting around to posting it here. This is actually a great compilation, with many unreleased songs by some awesome bands from this time period, at least in the tiny scene we had at the time. I believe the CD was put out by someone in Athens and maybe came with a zine, but I definitely do not have the zine or any more information on its origins. The bands on this compilation mainly hailed from the Atlanta/Athens area, however you have some notable regional bands (i.e. Bughummer from Savannah and Griver from Chapel Hill area) as well as some bands from farther out (i.e. The Party Of Helicopters from Kent, Ohio and Cerberus Shoal from Portland, Maine), which I'm sure are on the compilation due to their connections with Stickfigure Records.

As for the local talent, there are some unreleased songs by Wheeljack and The Forty-Two, songs I very much remember from their live shows, so for me it was like a little trip into my house show past. There is an Aslund Constant song, which was Bryan Fielden and Craig Lee Dempsey from The Forty-Two (pre-At the Price of the Union and San Agustin) along with Lewis Lovely from Scout on bass. We have a song by The Mike Douglas, which was a band started by Will Greene from Quadiliacha up in Athens, and included Damian Schafer from Levelhead and later The Walt Lariat. There is a Quadiliacha song included as well, once again being probably the most prolific band - compilation wise - from this era. I believe this was the only Flakscrampe Tramauntra song released (post Wheejack, pre Electrosleep International, Carbonas, GG King, etc.), but you can get all their other songs on this blog as well. Another noteworthy item on this compilation are two of Josh Fauver's early bands, The Perpetual Sciamachy Theorem and Titus (also featuring Dave Ahuja from Wheeljack on drums), before he played in The Mascara Aesthetic, Electrosleep International, Action Porn, SIDS, Diet Cola and most recently Deerhunter. I am not sure about the origins or conclusions of Orlock, Blue Stockings or Full Scale Replicas, but maybe someone out there can inform us. I also never heard of Twenty Seven Hours before, but I did find their Myspace page and found out they were related to the Pink Collar Jobs, which I remember from the old days. Enjoy the music.

11 comments:

  1. If I remember correctly, Full Scale Replicas was Bill Bardot from Jawbox's 4-track solo project. Obviously sort of a strange fit here - I can't remember who it was that got him involved. Also, I believe Pat "Whack," a friend of Josh Lott's, was involved in putting this out, so maybe Josh can shed some light on all of this.

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  2. This is a great comp for sure. Full scale replicas was Bill Barbot from Jawbox and Burning Airlines. Orlock was some crusty dudes and a lady from Richmond. They were involved in other heavy, sludgy bands like Gingwin and Nudibranch which I believe played the Driverdome a few times. You can find that Nudibranch 7" ("Automaton") all over the place for some reason.
    I remember this comp being sort of a big hit in our circle of friends, and it made the cut of cd's which I won't liquidate out of my collection.
    Didn't that guy Pat from Athens have a lot to do with putting this out?
    Definitely sentimental but also very good. Great post.
    -Kelsey

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  3. Not that it matters anymore, but the full title for track 15 is: "The Lost Art of Dueling".

    I always loved this comp. Thanks for posting. I only have random tracks from over the years, so it's nice to have the whole thing. Ahh, the memories

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  4. Yup. Patrick was the lead on this comp and he had shows at his house in Athens. Bruce and I printed the booklets for the CD and Galanas Cerdd played our last show at his house in October 1997 with Bughummer. (We were in the middle of playing, Bruce looked at Marcus, who was playing anything but the right song, turned off his guitar amp and walked out of the room.)

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  5. Myself and Ryan Kellogg put this CD together. Back in the mid/late 90's I put on lots of shows at the Buckhead Beach Warehouse in Athens and in my basements, Union Hall, which was the home of At the Price of the Union, and HOBS (House of Brave Souls). Most all of these bands played in one or all of those old venues. The Buckhead Beach eventually got condemned, along with the pirate radio station it housed. Those were some fun shows to say the least..
    Orlock drummer David played in Nudibranch and went on to play in Song of Zarathustra who slayed my basement, and was also members of Gingwin and Hose Got Cable. Blue Stockings were an Athens-based group who have mostly left town.. We tried to get new material from Mile-Marker, Sweep the Leg Johnny, and Spirit Assembly, but wanted to get it out while we could. The Wheeljack recording is slow, I think the DAT tape got warped by sunlight, but unfortunately I didn't know until after it was released.. We had 1100 pressed and managed to sell most of them. We spent next to nothing on it as Furnace gave us a nonprofit rate on pressing them and David Barbie gave me a discount on the mastering. I gave almost all of the remaining CDs to some touring bands like Carrie Nations and to Food Not Bombs groups across the Southeast after orders quit coming in for it. Gavin sold tons of them and may still have some copies. I have a few copies still if you or anyone else wants one. And yup, through my high school years in the mid-90's I threw tons of benefits for FNB and other non-profits in Marietta. Hal al Shedad and Year Zero, etc. played many of them. We managed to give away quite a bit of money to Athens and Atlanta FNB groups.. I was really happy that this project worked out as it did take a lot of work. Much love to Kip for printing the little 48 page booklets full of band art, FNB info, etc. And thanks for posting this James. I love this site! It's killer to have all of this available. So much good music.
    Patrick

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  6. Hey Patrick - thanks for putting the compilation out! Like I said in the post, I didn't own this compilation at the time, so it's like unearthing a lost treasure or seeing an old friend. I would love to post the artwork, if you can get a scan of it. Send me an email! jejoyce77@hotmail.com

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  7. Will do! I'll mail you a copy if I have any issues with scanning it, but it shouldn't be a problem. Thanks James!

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  8. James, been a while, but glad you posted this. Lotta memories. -Charlie (Griver)

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  9. Hey Charlie - It's been awhile! Good to hear from you, and I hope you are doing well.

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  10. I remember going to a FNB benefit in conjunction with the release of this CD. I remember Titus and Blue Stockings, but there may have been other bands as well. This was at Buckhead Beach in maybe '97. I think I was still in high school. I couldn't get into other clubs regularly and seeing bands was really all I wanted to do. I still remember how much I loved Titus. They looked like rockabilly greasers or something, but had no connection to that sound at all. My band wound up playing there and it was really crowded. Someone told us it was the most people they'd ever seen there! I used to have a lot of fun going to those shows. Thanks for posting, this is a great site!

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  11. Thanks for the comment - I don't remember Titus myself, but I only lived in Athens during the 1993-1994 season, so I missed a lot of the Athens bands that came later.

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