VA - Not Normal Presents: Welcome to 2013

Fuck. Where do I start with this comp? Ralph really outdid himself on this one. It's got nearly everybody on it: twenty-eight songs in forty minutes by seventeen bands from Chicago, the Midwest, the USA, THE WORLD. The record wastes no time, with an exciting start by Basque punks Hondartzako Hondakinak. I'd never heard of them before but I'm glad that's no longer the case. Further on in the comp the sounds run the whole spectrum, from the psycho-saturated ramonescore of Cülo to the power-pop punk of Tenement to the cosmic hardcore of NASA Space Universe to the angular UK palpitations of Good Throb to the raging Spanish-language thrash of Porkeria to the Minutemen-invoking funkiness of Big Crux ... if I don't stop here I'll just end up listing all the bands. But really, every cut is crucial. I should mention that this is Ooze's vinyl debut -- but don't worry, they haven't cleaned their sound up one bit.

Sample the tunes here, then buy a copy at Not Normal. For your own damn sake don't sleep on this one; the wax sounds great and it comes with a full-size 20-page booklet with band infos, lyrics, and some sick artwork. For what you're getting the price is a STEAL. 

VA - Busted at Oz [1981]

Okay, this was getting kind of hard to find online so post it I shall. Early document of the old Chicago punk scene, which centered around a handful of bars, such as Le Mere Vipere, Tut's, the Cubby Bear, O'Banions, and OZ, that would spin new punk and reggae records and book groups other than cover bands. Opened in 1977, OZ was the place at which many Chicagoans were introduced to the likes of the Fall, Black Flag, and Hüsker Dü (the infamous "blue paint show" was here). These songs were all recorded live over the period of March 9-11 1981. Side one opens up with the earliest recordings of Naked Raygun, back when they were a  bunch of freaks and didn't do 'woah-ohs' in their songs. Then you've got a couple tracks each by the Subverts, Strike Under, and Da, which don't appear on their records. The Silver Abuse songs include a Urinals-meets-Pere Ubu pisstake cover of Skrewdriver's "Antisocial." The two Effigies tracks are the most straightforward material on here; pretty good midtempo '80s hardcore but I prefer the weird stuff.

Anyway, I don't know if it's a matter of hometown sentimentality or what, but I return to this comp pretty often. Some people even consider it a 'classic' of sorts.

I saw a woman, gasoline, she burned herself to death

VA - Ethiopian Soul and Groove [1960s-1970s]

Just look at the cover. I shouldn't even have to try to persuade you about this comp. As was true for a huge portion of the world by the late 1960s (Cambodia, Iran, Peru, Japan, and much of West Africa stand out in my admittedly limited experience), Ethiopia had been permeated by American jazz, r'n'b, and rock music, only to spit back out their own take on the stuff. Ethiopian musicians tended to blur the lines dividing these genres in the US, and the results are pretty fantastic.

A few of the more famous guys on here include Mahmoud Ahmed, Alèmayèhu Eshèté, and  Gétatchèw Mèkurya (who fans of the Ex are probably familiar with). But the whole tracklist is stacked with funky psyched-out tunes that naturally incorporate the region's folk melodies thanks to a tendency to play traditional songs in popular styles. Musical influence from Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa via Sudan can be heard -- though what do I really know about that? Just give this one a listen:

Buy Ethiopian Soul and Groove at Dusty Groove
Yegenet Muziqa

VA - DeKalb Brawl City [2012]

This comp arrived in my mailbox some weeks ago, and finally I can share it with you. For those of you who don't live in Illinois, DeKalb is a town at the western extreme of Chicagoland, out on the Emperor Reagan Expressway. It's isolated enough from Chicago to have grown its own punk scene in the past few years, and the label Don't Panic, It's a Distro have assembled this compilation of the town's premier DIY artists. Sounds range from the thrashpunk of Sick/Tired (featuring members of MK Ultra & Weekend Nachos) to the World Inferno-infused ska stylings of Danger Boy to the blink-and-you'll-miss-it electronic glitch of Gonzo Violence to the folkpunk of Davey Dynamite ... you get the idea. For a comp with such a variety of genres, one might be tempted to write it off as being 'all over the place.' Truth is, it works together really well. Usually you can't pay me to listen to metal, but when the tracks from Minimum Wage Assassins and Baptism came on, I actually kept listening. It's possible you won't dig every track on here, but there's definitely something for everyone.

1. Hasta Lumbago - Race Car

2. Turbo Vamps - For My Boys

3. Sick/Tired - Sky High

4. "Richardson" Richardson - Beard Option / Incestuous Scene

5. Danger Boy - Dinosaur Neil

6. The Stockyards - Dead Roses

7. Minimum Wage Assassins - Chopped Up Burnt Left for Dead

8. MZRCDXVL - Pace

9. The Rales - First World Decay

10. Nobelium 102 - Unicorn Genocide

11. Davey Dynamite (& Friends) - Up and Down (Live from College Ave)

12. Gonzo Violence - Ghetto Tactics

13. Seasonal Men's Wear - Ice Climbers

14. Baptism - Ezway

15. A - DeKalb Raw Pity

16. Sleeping Under 47 - Rain Comin'

17. Jim Crowbot - DeKalb Brawl City

DeKalb Brawl City - listen/download here
Don't Panic, It's a Distro

[p.s. - 100th post! here's to the next hundred]