TOXIK TRASH - Promo tape (France, 1990)

Toxik Trash was a late '80s thrash/grindcore band from Brittany that released a couple of tapes and, if memory serves right, had a song on one of the later 1984 compilation LP series on New Wave Records. By the time this (third?) demo came out, it seems they were already heading for a more death metal sound, but I don't think any recording from that era exists. Nothing groundbreaking on this 12 song effort, but there were so few bands playing that style in France at the time that it deserves to be documented, I guess.

TOXIK TRASH - Promo tape (France, 1990)

"Le Retour de Crème d'Enklüme et du Yaourt Pliable" - Radio show (France, 1988)

This is a 1988 radio show by one of my earliest pen pals, Laurent of the infamous Roger Mag (who might be better known by internerds as the main man behind the Church Of Zer music blog) back when he was still living in France. The hilarious and totally absurd chit-chat is in French but non-French speakers may enjoy the excellent set list.

En français du coup, car seuls les francophones seront à même de saisir la subtilité de l'humour absurde et décalé de Laurent, animateur de cette émission radio grenobloise datant de février 1988 à l'intitulé énigmatique, Le Retour de Crème d'Enklüme et du Yaourt Pliable, dans la fidèle lignée de son zine Roger Mag, de ses groupes de l'époque Eat Yourself et Ovorof, ou de sa désormais légendaire participation au jeu télévisé Tournez Manège. Les morceaux ne sont pas toujours annoncés, j'ai reconstitué la playlist de l'émission du mieux que j'ai pu à partir de mes propres connaissances et archives… vous n'êtes donc pas à l'abri de quelques approximations, ce dont je m'excuse bien platement. Notez une sélection plutôt pointue et de très bon goût pour une émission française de cette époque ! Laurent vit depuis pas mal d'années chez les cousins Québecois, d'où il anime le blog musical Church Of Zer que je ne peux que vous recommander.

The radio show playlist:

Part 1:
Napalm Death - The Kill
Heresy - Nausea
Zyklome A - Angry Faces
Agnostic Front - Hypocrisy
Satanic Malfunctions - Mosheriphia
Sudden Death - Blackflash
B.G.K. - Pencil Pusher
Fear Of God - ?
Desecration (AZ) - Time To Grow Up
Subverse - 101%
S.O.B. - Give Me Advice
X-Creta - Destructive Outfit
Adrenalin OD - Fuck The Neighbors
Heresy - Network Of Friends

Part 2:
Corrosion Of Conformity - Indifferent (live)
Impulse Manslaughter - Sedation
Neos - Ambitious
Ludichrist - Immaculate Deception
Protes Bengt - Radioaktiv
Wehrmacht - Suck My Dick
Atavistic - Perpetual Motion
Napalm Death - Deceiver
Sons Of Ishmael - Mystery Bonus Track
Negative FX - Punch In The Face
Deathnoise - No Society
Post Mortem - Run Amok
Mutilator (FR) - Wish My Death
Negative Gain - Psychic Hours
Gang Green - Narrow Mind

Le Retour de Crème d'Enklüme et du Yaourt Pliable - Radio show (1988)

BEASTIE BOYS • REAGAN YOUTH • THE YOUNG AND THE USELESS - Live CBGB 1982

A little more than a decade ago my friend Raf visited Donna Lee Parsons a.k.a Daze in Switzerland where she had relocated, and somehow showed her the Ratcage Records mock logo I had designed on one of my early releases on Ratbone Records. She wrote a very nice email out of the blue saying she loved the tribute, and that's how we started corresponding with each other, eventually swapping a few records and emails until she passed away in 2003 from cancer. Before she underwent gender surgery in the early '00s, Daze was better known as Dave, former head of the legendary New York label (and former store) Ratcage Records and editor of Mouth Of The Rat zine as early as the late '70s. He released a few incredible and timeless records, some of which really had an impact on me growing up – Agnostic Front Victim In Pain LP, Beastie Boys Pollywog Stew 7", Rattus s/t LP, Neos Hassibah Gets The Martian Brain Squeeze 7"… He was also a talented artist and designer, whose most famous piece of art must be the legendary cover for the Bad Brains cassette album on ROIR! Yes, that was him/her behind the Mir* avatar too!

In 2002 Daze released this limited edition handmade CDR boxset, the recording of a show (s)he booked at CBGB back in November 1982 starring Reagan Youth, (hardcore era) Beastie Boys, and The Young And The Useless (featuring Beastie Boys' own Adam Horovitz). A raw documentation of the show, as depicted in the liner notes: "We have edited out nothing from the three sets, nor have we re-equalized, compressed, added reverb, or reprocessed these original recordings in any way. We taped the mix directly from the soundboard: the listener hears the signal exactly as it went to the CBGB PA system that afternoon." In that spirit, I ripped the CDs the way they were done: one long track for each band. I included a text file with tracklist info in the folder though.

RIP Donna/Daze/Dave.

BEASTIE BOYS • REAGAN YOUTH • THE YOUNG AND THE USELESS - CBGB Nov.20, 1982

DEATHLESS BASTARDS - Demo (France, 2012)

Straight out of Brittany and featuring former/current members of Warkorpse and Necrowretch among others, Deathless Bastards play rocking speed metal punk that has Motörhead written all over it – loud, crusty, heavy and metallic. The sick riffing on the last track reminds me of good ol' Acid (Belgium), but this should also appeal to Inepsy and Midnight fans. Really catchy stuff, looking forward to hearing more from this band! The cassette should still be available from Impious Desecration so support them and order a hard copy if you liked it.

DEATHLESS BASTARDS - Demo (France, 2012)

EXTINCTION OF MANKIND - "Without Remorse" demo (UK, 1993)

Extinction Of Mankind don't really need an introduction, do they? Anarcho metallic crust punk from the UK heavily influenced by Antisect as the lettering/artwork suggests. They must have quite a massive discography by now. Saw them live a couple of times in the mid '90s but they never appealed to me much I'm afraid… This is their first recording, a lengthy 10-track tape that reeks of cider breath and filthy black rags. I've seen a different version of this tape with an alternate cover so I'm guessing it had been reissued at some point, but I got this copy straight from the band upon its release so I guess it's as authentic as you can get.

EXTINCTION OF MANKIND - Without Remorse demo (UK, 1993)

LEBENDEN TOTEN - 8 Tracks Demo (USA, 2002)

I don't think I need to hear another single "noise punk" band at this point in my life. Call me old or jaded, but this subgenre has gotten so redundant and sterile it's probably the "screamo" of the '10s and it's only a matter of months before that shit floods second hand bins. I love noise and feedback as much as anyone, but I also need riffs, hooks, and song structures in my punk. Lebenden Toten is one of the very, very few bands of the genre I can hang with, even though they really started to shine later on in their career (I suggest checking out their 2nd LP and 8" first thing if you've never heard them.) They hadn't really found their trademark style on this demo yet – even Chanel's vocals sound pretty different from the distinctive singing style she's known for. 

LEBENDEN TOTEN - 8 Tracks Demo (USA, 2002)

HEATHEN HOOF - Promo demo (Finland, 2004)

Heathen Hoof is a Finnish retro metal band paying tribute to the NWOBHM with rough vocals bordering on oi!/punk at times, which may not work for some people. Nothing too fancy or epic musically either, this is  stripped down old fashioned rocking heavy metal that actually sounds like it could've been recorded in rural Wankceisterborough UK in 1980. The first 4 songs were recorded in February 2004, the last 3 in August 2002. They released a 12" EP on Nuclear War Now! in 2005 that shows an improvement over this tape, but I yet have to listen to their more recent full-length LP.

HEATHEN HOOF - Promo demo (Finland, 2004)