The same bunches of you reading this who are still scratching your heads over why this post from a couple weeks ago created any amount of anything, anywhere in anybody are the same bunches of you who’ll likely be confused when we mention how compilation records used to be fucking awesome. “How the fuck?” we hear you ask. “The entire goddamned internet is a compilation, you bald dummy. You want to check out a band? Go to their Facebook/Bandcamp/MySpace page or type in their name followed by ‘blogspot’ and voila!” Yeah well, shit wasn’t always so easy and one of the methods of discovering new bands back in the days when ponies delivered our mail and women wore petticoats and girdles while swimming was via the compilation. Sure, not all of them were great; more often than not, you got one or two amazing songs and a bunch of not-so-great songs. But I can’t tell you how many awesome bands – or at the very least, awesome songs – I discovered within the hallowed grooves of comps throughout the 80s and 90s.
Below, you can read a press release pertaining to the (hopefully) impending re-release of a classic hardcore compilation from 1997 called All About Friends. I have no particular recollection of this specific comp, but looking at that line-up and thinking back a scant 15 years ago, AAF would have been a pretty sweet listen. Hell, it’s a pretty sweet line-up by today’s standards and the updated second disc ain’t too shabby either. Check it out on the interhole.
Ms. Whitney’s goal of re-releasing All About Friends as an extensive deluxe vinyl package also brought to my attention the website Kickstarter. As I’m usually the last in the know when it comes to the latest hip on-line thing that everyone is already in the process of snarkily hating on – despite making the object of their derision part of their regular surfing routine – I’ll spare you the description as you probably know better then I. Something hit me though; I’m all for publicly funded art projects, but it’s simply crazy to think that people no longer have to beg, borrow and steal from family and friends or try and explain to those Reader’s Digest reading relatives they hardly ever see how lending them a pantload of cash is for the greater good of the art world and really nothing to worry about. Damn, shit’s so easy nowadays.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
ALL ABOUT FRIENDS KICKSTARTER LAUNCHED FOR COMPILATION RE-RELEASE WITH BONUS MATERIAL
Featuring Tracks from Trial, Coalesce, Botch, Indecision, Harvest, When Tigers Fight, Heiress, Steve Brodsky, & Many More…
Back in 1997, a girl named Carrie Whitney released a compilation, titled All About Friends, as a sub-release of her photo ‘zine, “Hardcore Maniacs”. Times were much simpler then – handmade, photocopied ‘zines circulated around the hardcore scene, DIY ethics were at their highest, and unity within the punk/hardcore community was rampant. Carrie wanted to release a comp featuring her friends and their bands – as a way to give thanks to all of them, and a way for her to make new friends in the process. All About Friends was born and featured some of hardcore’s finest bands from that time: Coalesce, Botch, Threadbare, Indecision, Trial, and more. This compilation was a highly sought-after release and was pressed on CD, distributed in North America and Europe, but eventually went out of print. Carrie had gotten busy with work, art and relationships but had kept thoughts of a re-release on the backburner, just waiting for the right time and place to come along.
Now, in 2012, Carrie is still celebrating hardcore and the relationships it can build. Hardcore Maniacs (Carrie Whitney’s Zine) in association with 1000 Knives Productions (NYC-based talent booker Rich Hall, who is responsible for some of the best hardcore shows in NYC, formerly of CBGB) are excited to announce a re-release of this once legendary compilation, now called All About Friends Forever! AAFF features the original 11 tracks from the comp’s first pressing, remastered, with two more bonus songs from Harvest and I Wish I. Also included will be a separate, new LP with some of the best current bands in the hardcore/punk scene today: When Tigers Fight, Torchbearer, Heiress, Helms Alee, Olde Ghost, The Goddamn Rattlesnake, Steve Brodsky, and many more. A full track listing can be found below, and this special double-LP is slated for a release in May of 2012.
To fund the re-release of this important compilation, a 30-day-long Kickstarter fund has been started to raise the money for a deluxe double-LP vinyl-only release of All About Friends Forever. There will be various package deals with bonus material as well as the double-LP, including but not limited to: photo prints, hand screen-printed covers, 12-page booklet inserts, t-shirts, limited edition screen-printed posters, limited colored vinyl, and so much more. Carrie Whitney commented, “We decided to do a Kickstarter because we’ve had friends who had successful campaigns in the past, and it’s service is a nice, easy to absorb, reliable method to get the word out and raise money. If we were funding this ourselves, it would take years to raise enough money to properly release the comp. It’s also a good way of showing how much others believe in you enough to put up some dough to help your ideas.” She continued, “It’s the music that brought amazing people together, it’s the friendships made that will last forever!”
Please take a moment to check out AAFF’s Kickstarter page here. With the success of this project, Hardcore Maniacs & 1000 Knives Productions are hoping to continue promoting friendship, music, and art in the future.
ALL ABOUT FRIENDS FOREVER TRACK LISTING:
Vol. 1 – Remastered original compilation:?
C.R. Compassion Revolution – Moss?
Coalesce – Cutting Away?
Botch – The Lobster Song
?Jough Dawn Baker – Five Twenty Four?
State Route 522 – Jumpin’ Someone Else’s Train?
Threadbare – Vitality
?Impel – Call It What You Will?
Indecision – Slave?
Trial – Crucified?
Nine Iron Spitfire – Dead?
Screwjack – Artifact?
Bonus brand new tracks: ?Harvest – Unnatural Disaster?
I Wish I – Telepathy
Vol. 2 – Brand new compilation:?
When Tigers Fight – When Blood Calls for Blood?
Between Earth & Sky – Here & Now?
Torchbearer – Custer’s Revenge
?The Firebird Suite – U-R-E-G?
Heiress (guest vocals by Tad) – Last Nail?
Helms Alee – Magic Man?
Olde Ghost – Ghost?
Children of God – Silent War?
Great Falls – Windwalker
?The Goddamn Rattlesnake – Christie Road ?
Steve Brodsky -The Ghost?
Regents/Ladder Devils (guest vocals by J. Robbins) -TBA?
Tiger Flowers/Meek is Murder – Japam
For more information on All About Friends, please check out:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/793468724/2082001973?token=417498c1
http://allaboutfriendsforever.tumblr.com/post/14575470317/interview-with-carrie-whitney-by-eric-weiss-rumpshaker”>http://allaboutfriendsforever.tumblr.com/post/14575470317/interview-with-carrie-whitney-by-eric-weiss-rumpshaker
Here, in visual form:
And this little jam never gets old:
In the preface to his interview with Napalm Death frontman Barney Greenway in Issue #89, J. Bennett wrote that “[t]here are few bands you can rely upon to deliver the fucking goods on their 14th album. Or to even make it that far in the first place. The number of grind outfits that have accomplished this herculean task is exactly one: Napalm Death.”
To celebrate this achievement, next week’s release of Utilitarian and the first entry in our new “Decibrity Playlist” series, we asked longtime Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury to a pick a non-ND record that related in some way to each of the fourteen full-length ND records (including a covers album) that he’s played on over the last 24+ years. Given the wide parameters—where his head was at musically, something that he remembers being really into at the time or that just represents any given period to him—we think you’ll find some of his selections quite surprising.
To help you love the smell of Napalm on this Thursday morning, we’ve compiled Shane’s picks into a convenient little Spotify playlist.
From Enslavement To Obliteration (1988)
At this point, I suppose Horrified by Repulsion—or The Stench Of Burning Death demo as it was known back then—was a major influence on me, along with Siege and S.O.B. A couple of the tracks I wrote for this album had already appeared on our first John Peel radio session in 1987 and were originally written in late 1986 when Nic Bullen first asked me join Napalm Death. The emphasis was on blasting riffs with chunky breakdowns, but without fucking around—hence the shortness of the songs.
Harmony Corruption (1990)
After the Mentally Murdered mini-album came out, I think as a band we were bringing in a lot more death metal influences, although at this point I must add that we were all into many varied forms of music due to the legend that was Radio 1 DJ John Peel. By the time we did Harmony, I was very much listening to Death from Florida and a lot of Floridian death metal, as was Mick Harris. I guess the album of choice would have been Scream Bloody Gore. Of course we traveled to Florida to record Harmony and hung out with all the bands we loved. What a great time!
Utopia Banished (1992)
This was a tough one really, as Mick had left and we had so many songs that carried on the death metal feel from Harmony, but much faster and to the point again than that album. This is going to sound weird, but we were listening to a lot of Rush albums then, especially Moving Pictures. We loved the live feel of the drum sound and how the album was driven a lot by that drum tone. It all tied in since it was [drummer] Danny Herrera’s first recording with us. Besides the music, which really was a more frantic, hybrid continuation of From Enslavement to Obliteration and Harmony Corruption, I think that was an influence.
Fear, Emptiness, Despair (1994)
This was the start of a transitional period for us. A lot of what Helmet was doing with their great slow and repetitive hooks was rubbing off on me, so we started incorporating that into our sound. Strap It On was a particular favorite of mine, and I think they were influential to a lot of the bands in our scene at the time as well.
Diatribes (1996)
Musically, lots of stuff was going through my head at this point. Mitch Harris and I were becoming a little obsessed with drumbeats of a lot of the indie rock noise variety. They were very exciting to us—as exciting as the blast beat. For me, Diatribes‘s production was too clean in hindsight. But I had been listening heavily to Sonic Youth for years, with Sister being a particular favorite of mine. We were starting to really bring a lot of influences in from bands that we had been listening to since the early 90s and felt that we were finally ready to start experimenting and recording slow, atmospheric songs in the vein of early Swans.
Inside the Torn Apart (1997)
What can I say—this album was a strange one as we parted company with Barney briefly for the writing process, but he later rejoined in time to record the vocals. This record was musically a continuation from Diatribes as a lot of it is very mid-paced with only a few blasting songs. I think what we did on this record and on Diatribes was to add guitar lines to make the riffs weirder and not just as straight up as we’d done a couple of years earlier. Regardless of whether people agree or not, this stuff was exciting to us. Soundgarden was a band I’d loved for years, especially how they had subtle guitar lines in the background to their riffs, so we tried to incorporate that into our normal riffing style alongside jazzy-type rock beats. Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction were two other bands that also really excited us with their drum rhythms.
Words From The Exit Wound (1998)
This was the album where we as a band started to fire ourselves up a little bit more. I had been hanging out with a friend of mine, Nick Barker, who was staying in Birmingham where his band Cradle of Filth was recording an album. We’d play a lot of the older, classic records back at my house. We were cranking bands like Discharge and Master at three in the morning, not to mention Nick would play older Napalm albums. We’d already begun the writing process for a new album, but I remember waking up one afternoon and recording the riffs to “The Infiltraitor”, which I know for sure came from us downing some beers the night before and rocking out to Discharge. I guess I was starting to come full circle in some ways.
**Stay tuned for the second half of Shane’s playlist next week. In the meantime, pick up a copy of Utilitarian when it hits shelves on Tuesday or order it here!
**Photo: Axel Jusseit
BY: STEPHANIE STEVENS
Let this NY based band be angry let them be humble let them be happy, with any emotion there is one thing that won’t change they will bring to life music that is incredible and creative. STEMM has stayed loyal to what they want the band to be they play music from the heart and cherish everything their fans aka “friends” do for them, the gratitude is never-ending and also placed in front of anything.
The band has had their ups and downs, but has delivered with every new record something new and fresh and with each new disc the talent just lifts to a new level. On CROSSROADS, the bands newest release the more melodic side comes out and made me a instant fan, pushing themselves to create beauty in music but still giving the listener a punch in the gut from time to time.
I am patiently waiting for the guys to play in the new England area so I can see how the new music relates to stage but for now I had a chance to speak with a friend and great talent Mr. Dan Nelligan (drums) about new songs, where the anger went and what they love about the friends they have acquired through the years
CAN YOU INTRODUCE THE WORLD TO YOUR NEWEST ADDITION TO THE BAND MR. MARIO NOBILIO, YOUR BASS PLAYER AND ALSO LET US KNOW A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON HIM AND WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE BAND STEMM?
Mario has been a friend of Joe, Al and mine for over 20 yrs. so bringing him into the mix was a very easy transition, personality wise. His playing pretty much matches us; he is one of the most talented bass players I know. He’s been pretty busy as far as background goes in the local music scene. He’s always been playing, since I’ve known him. He definitely adds to the brotherhood we all have and have had.
CROSSROADS IS A INTERESTING NAME FOR A HARDER EDGE ROCK BAND LIKE YOURSELF..WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT THE ALBUM TITLE AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS ON THIS RECORD VERSUS BLOOD SCENT?
Honestly, this album is a crossroads for everyone in STEMM; with what we were going to do following subpar tours, a blown engine in the middle of Tennessee, our brother Steve Crowl having to leave etc. it was definitely a point where we all were like, “what do we do”. BLOOD SCENT was definitely a harder more “metal” record; we were all very pissed off in the writing of that record. Our personal lives, our professional lives, and everything in between it was just a big shit storm, that anger definitely showed its face on BLOOD SCENT. With CROSSROADS we are not angry anymore! There will always be people or situations that anger us, but it takes more out of you as a person to hold a grudge and be pissed than it does to just say “fuck you” and be done with it!
THE MELODY AND HARMONY IDEAS ON THIS RECORD SEEM TO TAKE SHAPE DIFFERENTLY THEN THE LAST RECORD WHAT CHANGES DID YOU MAKE?
Joe absolutely pushed himself on this vocally. Judah (half of our producing team) and Joe really did a great job pulling out what ended up being the final takes on these tracks.
THE ANGRY SIDE OF THE LYRICS SEEMED TO CALM DOWN ON THIS RECORD ,SINCE YOU WRITE FROM A PERSONAL MIND FRAME CAN WE SAY YOUR LIFE IS A BIT MORE “HAPPY” OR WAS THIS A MINDSET GOING INTO THE NEW ALBUM TO CHANGE THE SONGWRITING AMBIANCE?
Nope, our lives have definitely calmed down in comparison to the BLOOD SCENT time frame. No more drama, no more sickness, no more “problems”. I mean, everyday is a struggle, but when you have unnecessary tribulations being caused by ignorance, or just things that are out of our control being made worse by outside sources….it just sucks more.
MONSTER WAS AN OLDER SONG WHAT MADE YOU REKINDLE THE FLAME FOR THIS TRACK AND WHAT DID YOU GUYS CHANGE THE MOST ABOUT IT?
Well, we had been hearing people say they liked how Joe sang it. Plus we didn’t feel that song got a fair shake when it came out in 05, and mostly……because we felt like it!
TWO TRACKS THAT MADE ME STANDUP AND TAKE NOTICE ON CROSSROADS WAS SUPERNAUT AND AFTER THE TIDE. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THESE TWO, HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE OUTCOME OF THE FINISH PRODUCTS AND WHAT THE SONGS ARE ABOUT?
Well, SUPERNAUT is a cover; originally recorded by Black Sabbath. We had never played through it until we were in the studio. Mike Hatalak (other half of our producing team) helped us piece it together. He also did the same with AFTER THE TIDE. So, basically, those two tracks were pretty much written and tracked on the fly. I’m absolutely blown away how good they came out given that.
AS A BAND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST CREATIVE (STUDIO, ONSTAGE)
Definitely, the studio.
LEFT BEHIND YOU DID A VERY HILARIOUS VIDEO FOR. WHO CAME UP WITH THE CONCEPT?
Joe had the basic idea. Our director Solomon Nero ran with the rest, ideas were being thrown around the entire duration of the filming.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE FANS OF THE BAND OR JUST FANS IN GENERAL GET OUT OF THE VIDEO AND HOW DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WILL PERCEIVE THE BAND FROM THE VIDEO?
We just had fun with it; the video is all about the dumb “scene” trends. It’s all music; it’s all talent, fuck labeling shit. Oh and it was about the idiots wearing girl pants and makeup; you look like fools guys…..just saying.
ARE YOU GUYS STILL WORKING WITH THE UFC ORGANIZATION?
Yep. You can still hear our stuff on every UFC event.
DO YOU FEEL CROSSROADS IS THE MOST COMPLETE DISC YOU WROTE AND WHY??
Personally…and I think I can speak for the rest of the guys….YES. It’s everything that we want to be represented by; it’s heavy, its melodic, its well written and definitely complete.
WHAT ARE YOU GUYS STRIVING FOR THESE DAYS AND FOR YOUR FUTURE?
Just to reach as many new friends as we can and continue to write great music.
WHAT IS ONE MOTIVATION TACTIC YOUR FANS GIVE YOU FOR YOU TO KEEP GOING ON WITH THIS CAREER?
Obviously the support and everyday it seems we have new ones via Twitter, Facebook, reaching out and going out of their way to help push the name and music with us. It’s definitely an honor having friends like that.
BIGGEST OBSTACLE IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS THAT YOU GUYS FEEL YOU ARE TRYING TO GET OVER, WITH THIS RECORD OR IN YOUR CAREER ALL TOGETHER AND HAS THIS BEEN A ONGOING FIGHT FOR YOU??
There really is no music business these days. It’s pretty much just came down to not being screwed over by shitbag promoters.
WHAT IS THE TOURING PLANS FOR YOU GUYS THROUGHOUT THE REST OF 2012?
Play as many places as we can. 
SOULICIT—PARKING LOT ROCKSTAR
THERMAL ENTERTAINMENT
BY STEPHANIE STEVENS
RATING: 8/10
Production by Brett Hesla (Dark New Day, Creed, Virgos Merlot) really put the finishing touches on music that already had that radio friendly rock n roll vibe. SOULICIT sends your senses into the reality of good times, fun sing along punches and radio friendly approaches; creating a soaring ballad or a pumped up rock anthem. I personally saw some Three Days Grace and Theory of a Deadman kind of vibes throughout the record but the band also puts a flash of their own personality into the sound. Rock albums are sometimes hard to review at times cause there is not much experimenting you can hear with the sound but what I look for is a killer voice that can get in my soul, memorable songs and captivating moments that make you want to learn more about the songwriting process and the band themselves. My “like” of the record was due to the fact there were moments of intrigue like in GETTING HIGH, with its sinfully real lyrics and that soulful sound that wraps around the entire song really pushes the band onto national stardom level. HELL YEAH the bands single is just that strutty, uplifting drinking song that will get your fist pumping and the booty’s shaking. Another track was BEAUTY QUEEN because when you have sexual undertones in a song it is just that much more alluring and the song has a solid rock vibe and catchy as hell. BLOW ME AWAY is solid also but without the catchy chorus I don’t think it would of blown me away but the track STICKS AND STONES really made a impact on me as a listener, the vocals are melodic and doesn’t use a lot of different levels, the chorus is rememberable and the transition from verse to chorus was so smooth and endearing. Lyrical I love the passion and storyline and for me this song really sums up what I think SOULICIT is really all about. So take a chance on this new rock band and see if the music moves you like it moved me.`
Who came up with this? Was it a band effort or was there one lone genius amongst you?
I don’t remember how it came up, all I know is that it’s been an idea for as long as we’ve been a band.
How did you pick the videos? Were there any that you had to scrap for logistical or aesthetic reasons?
We were just trying to think of the videos that were the most memorable from the early 90s, and the most ridiculous, and then we had to weed out the stuff we didn’t think we could pull off. I almost chickened out of a couple things, but it turns out I’m totally susceptible to peer pressure.
How long did this take and what was the difficulty level, especially to recreate certain scenes?
Andrew and Akina Cox, who put the whole thing together, came up to Seattle from southern California and shot all the video spoofs in 3 or 4 days. That was mostly easy, we just got to be ridiculous as per usual. I’d guess that 95% of the work was Andrew animating and treating the footage to make it look legit. That guy is so talented, bands with money should hire him to make their videos.
What is your opinion of Kickstarter now?
I can see how it could be complicated in some situations, but our experience was all positive. It was really a bunch of buddies chipping in cause they wanted to see it. And Andrew taking it so seriously, all that was radical.
Have you considered a sequel?
For now we’re back to finishing writing the next record. Booooo!!!
This isn’t a question, but you running like Kiedis in slo-mo is the most impressive visual I’ve ever come across.
I think 2012 is going to be a Bud light year.
