Beating Hearts Press: Music

MUSIC

JAMES BROOK: Sound of the Plover CD. $15
Self-released.
James Brook is a core member of anarcho-punk outfit Ecowar, but the fiesty slogans and power chords take a back seat throughout the bulk of his solo material. This album is largely folk and traditional tunes, pulled off with suprising delicacy. Lyrically the album is themed around the maritime history of Tasmania, with personal/political sentiments interwoven throughout. MP3s and lots more info appear on James' website: www.jamesbrook.org

CATHARSIS: Passion CD. $15
CrimethInc.
Arguably the greatest anarchist hardcore record of all time - certainly the most moving and intense. "To sow seeds in barren soil if there is no more fertile ground. To bear the fragile worlds within through the ruined one that surrounds. To lift us up, to bring empires down..."

COUNTDOWN TO PUTSCH: Interventions in Hegemony 2CD. $18
CrimethInc.
On this double CD, Countdown to Putsch push well beyond the current limits of their subculture's aesthetic, experimenting in search of a future for hardcore punk. The results range from discordant noise to free jazz to radical theatre, but all are challenging and unique, not to mention politically topical and eloquent. This is not the background music you've been socialized to stomach, but rather a provocation to sit down, think through, and draw upon. 36 songs in well over two hours, and a 44 page booklet to boot. See their excellent website for more info: www.countdowntoputsch.org

DEADPAN ROOKIE: Handshakes are for Homophobes CD. $5
NRK.
Tripped out, kickass, melodic, angry, funny, offensive, righteous, grunge folk pop noise hip hop from Kanada. No shit.

GATHER: Beyond the Ruins CD. $20
Catalyst.
Righteous straight edge hardcore. If Chokehold had stayed together, read some Derrick Jensen, listened to some metal and gotten a womyn in on vocals, they might have put out this record. It's that good.

GREYSKULL: s/t CD EP. $2
Self-released.
Raging DIY hardcore. The CD(R) is free (you just pay for postage), the lyric booklet is photocopied and full of personal/political reflections, and the recording is... shockingly great! It's not often you put a demo recording in your stereo and go "woah!", but this is one of those times. Great band.

HOMAGE TO CATALONIA: Squandered by a Jury of Piss Poor Pokerfaces CD EP. $6
Mi Amante.
Newest - and, as rumour has it, final - release from Kadd Stephens' (ex-Midvale) acoustic solo project. Two original tracks and two covers: 'Would Not Be Denied' by Buffalo Tom, and 'Atlantic City' by some guy called Bruce Springsteen. All four tracks are gut-wrenching testimonials to the power of stripped-down songs played with passion, as Kadd intones softly over warm melodies one moment, and raggedly raises his voice in defiance the next, wearing his heart on his sleeve the whole time. For anybody with the faintest interest in acoustic music, political music, "emo" music, or just plain old honest, sincere communication - you owe yourself a look at this.

INSIDE FRONT zine - various issues
CrimethInc.
See here.

LIMP WRIST: Discography CD. $15
Cheap Art / Lengua Armada.
Raging queer, straight edge, hell raising thrash attack mayhem!! This is everything they've put out up to the new 7". 41 tracks in 34 minutes. Includes the hits "Cruisin' at the Show", "What's Up With the Kids?", and "I Love Hardcore Boys".

LIMP WRIST: Want Us Dead 7". $6
Cheap Art / Lengua Armada.
Brand new 7" from the Yankee xQueercorex band you love to get naked and throw yourself around your bedroom to! Includes "Fake Fags Fuck Off".

MEAT WALLET: The Wrong Side of Capitalism CD. $4
Self-released.
Yes, they have a very silly name, which I think might actually be a legal requirement for grind bands these days, but check it out: not only are they distinctly lacking in the usual stupidity and bigotry that accompanies this style of music, they're actually totally righteous!!! No, we couldn't believe it either!! Songs about the injustice and atrocity of capitalist society, the insanity of uranium mining and nuclear testing, the death-machine military industrial complex, the joy of killing cops, and standing in solidarity with aboriginal resistance to genocide! No, really! And they're a GRIND band!! Not just any old grind band either, these guys absolutely shred! I'm no grind connoisseur, but this is some of the most insanely brutal and technically proficient stuff I have heard in a long time, Australian or otherwise. Now if they would just change their name...

MISERY SIGNALS: Mirrors CD. $15
Ferret Music.
One of the very best heavy albums of the last few years, Misery Signals somehow combine brute strength metalcore with soothing ambient sections, technical time and key shifts with catchy melodies that will stick in your head for weeks, and more wisdom and emotional honesty than they will ever be given credit for.

ONE MAN NATION: Requiem for a Government CD / cassette EP. $4
Self-released.
4 song DIY release from Singapore (sung in English). Impassioned acoustic political folk-punk. Think Against Me! if they'd kept it real. Please specify if you want the cassette or CD version when ordering.

POINT OF NO RETURN: Sparks CD. $20
Catalyst.
The classic debut full-length from Brazil's primary exponents of 'third world hardcore'. Pounding metallic hardcore with 3 (count em!) vocalists bellowing about earth liberation, animal liberation, and indigenous resistance. The booklet features explanations for all the songs, translations for the songs in Portuguese, and other writings besides.

POINT OF NO RETURN: Liberdade Imposta Liberdade Conquistada [Imposed Freedom Conquered Freedom] CD. $20
Catalyst.
The second, and tragically final, full-length from the Brazilian straight edge warriors. The full-colour booklet contains lyrics (in Portuguese and English) and explanations for all the songs, which on this album are lyrically more melancholic and thoughtful, but no less angry for it.

REQUIEM: Storm Heaven CD. $18
CrimethInc.
Requiem will no doubt disapprove, but I simply can't find a way to convey to you the spirit, fury and passion of this record without mentioning that two of the members of this band were key players in perhaps the greatest anarchist hardcore band of all time, Catharsis. There, I said it. Now let's move on. Firstly, this record has the most insanely beautiful packaging I have ever seen, featuring a die-cut stencil and 16-page oversize booklet packed with their fiery lyrics and poetic explanations. Then, the music. Although they've been together for quite a time, Requiem have stubbornly refused to record anything until now lest they perpetuate the commodity-oriented stupor that mires the would-be revolutionary underground in verbose inactivity. Finally, they have composed a half hour of music they feel might be able to do more to break hearts and inspire insane acts of resistance than it does to promote consumption and spectatorship - and I think they might be right. In nine tracks that range from mournful, muted beauty to operatic hardcore punk to the apocalyptic marching drums of street rioting, they pit raw fury and yearning against everything ugly in a desperate bid to rescue punk rock (not to mention music and modern life in general) from its own inertia. If music can be no more powerful than the context in which it is made, then we are lucky these full-time revolutionaries and lunatics have taken time out of their demanding regimens � not to mention stayed out of prison long enough � to fashion for us this epic of tragedy and defiance. An instant classic.

REQUIEM: Storm Heaven LP. $22
CrimethInc.
LP version of Requiem's incredible first full-length. The kick ass packaging is identical to the CD version, so the die-cut stencil cover is that much bigger and better for decorating your neighborhood with...

THE SPECTACLE: I, Fail CD. $17
CrimethInc.
Just one year after the release of their first full-length, The Spectacle have once again re-invented punk rock with their latest release I, Fail. They've taken the achievements of their previous masterpiece, Rope or Guillotine, and pushed every boundary back another mile or two (including the silly retro design, bizarrely), as their three guitars weave in and out of each other at every conceivable end of the musical spectrum - from their trademark furious, bitter hardcore to eerie acoustic-driven instrumentals, their rhythm section pounds and pulverizes like no other, and a plethora of different vocal styles shred beautifully over the dark tones of each track. Once again, the Scandinavians show us all how it's done.

THE SPECTACLE: Rope or Guillotine CD. $17
CrimethInc.
These kids from the northern tip of Norway have recorded the most beautiful, dynamic, aggressive, dark punk record of the year, hands down. They draw on the work of Undying, Zegota, Gehenna, Catharsis, His Hero Is Gone, and Godspeed! You Black Emperor, but they make themselves worthy of those comparisons by picking up where those bands left off to set a new standard in expressions of desperation, rage, and love. Their three guitarists layer melody and dischord over a rhythm section that ranges widely from punk rock fury to haunting quiet, their singer shreds his vocal cords and spits poetry in the brief breaks between assaults, and the band comes together to create something we didn't dare hope for until we heard it: a record that can keep the dream alive for us that punk rock can keep remaking itself - and us and our world in the process. Yes, we're really, really thrilled about this record!

THE SPITZ: One Day I Got Sick of the Bad Taste in My Mouth... CD. $12
Self-released.
The Spitz, in case you were unlucky enough to have missed them while they were around, were probably the best thing to ever happen in Sydney. A truly DIY, unbelievably talented and totally sincere group of people, they were more than a band - they were a force of nature. The music they made was frantic, fucked up, intense; and the feelings and ideas they expressed were pretty much the same. This CD has finally been pieced together from the ashes of their tragic demise, and brings together everything they recorded, as far as we're aware. 15 tracks in all. Beautiful hand-made covers, and the booklet brings together their powerful lyrics, writings and artwork, as well as a discussion between the three Spitz grrls about feminism and playing music in a male-dominated scene (that's the punk scene, people) in a male-dominated world. Truly raging.

STIC.MAN of DEAD PREZ: The Art of Emcee-ing: An Easy to Follow Step By Step Guide For the Aspiring Hip Hop Artist Book and CD. $25
Paperback book. 101 pages. ISBN 0-9770092-0-3.
We are very excited to finally have this in! Badass book about learning how to create, write and record your own hip hop. Comes with a CD with 10 beats produced by stic.man. Advice on lyrics, beats, song titles, gettin' yo' groove on when performing, as well as a glossary of basic music terms and slang for beginners. Really useful, easy to read, good advice, and it's personally signed by stic.man to boot!

"Stic.[man] is definately a scientist at Emcee-ing." - Q-Tip/Tribe Called Quest

UMLAUT: Total Disfuckingcography CD. $17
CrimethInc.
Ever since they burst into the hardcore scene on the biggest, loudest, dirtiest stolen motorcycles ever smuggled into Scandinavia, Umlaut - the most feral, furious, and above all Finnish band in the history of punk rock blast beat destruction - has represented the epitome of nihilistic, transgressive energy. This 38-song CD collects their complete works in under half an hour of music, including such hits as "Thrill of the Open Road," "Hell Bent on Destruction," and "Nuclear Annihilation." It comes in an 80-page book that gathers all their lyrics ("I want to ride a sonic boom across a land with no borders, I'll be the crash test dummy of the No World Order! Yeah!"), crazed manifestos ("We hail the highway with speedometer needles in our eyes!"), political commentary (on the subjects of occupied Palestine, militant action against homophobia, and others), interviews, and other assorted memoirs and news coverage. This is the ne plus ultra for maniacal, radical punk rock.

UMLAUT: Havoc Wreakers LP. $21
Combat Rock Industries.
Ever since they burst into the hardcore scene on the biggest, loudest, dirtiest stolen motorcycles ever smuggled into Scandinavia, Umlaut�the most feral, furious, and above all Finnish band in the history of punk rock blast beat destruction - has represented the epitome of nihilistic, transgressive energy. This is their LP on Combat Rock Industries from Finland. The discography CD on Crimethinc may include all of this plus their infamous 6�, but we all know vinyl is cooler.

VARIOUS: A Poke In the Eye With A Burnt Stick: Love and Rage Anarchist Punk Compilation CD. $12
Love and Rage.
International anarcho-punk compilation from the folks of Melbourne's Love and Rage collective. Tracks from Naked Agression, Anti-Flag, Blowback, The Oppressed, Che Chapter 127, Anarchoi, and lots more. The CD is also a CD-ROM, with anarchist texts you can access via computer. Check out the Love and Rage website for more info.

ZEGOTA: Reclaim! CD. $17
CrimethInc.
Reclaim! is Zegota's first true album, written and conceived as such, and recorded over several days in Malmo, Sweden by David Sandstrom from the Refused. On it, they live up to every bit of promise shown in their previous recordings and performances, delivering a well-crafted eight-song, forty-minute adventure constructed with the rawest of vocals, wall-like guitars, delicate piano and organ sections, drum beats like the heartbeat of an escaped hostage and an unrestrained bass sound to hold it all together. One of the most soulful, original and moving albums ever recorded.

All prices are postage paid in Australia.

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