WISE UP - Up 2 No Good (+ Demo)

Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Release: Self-Released, 2022

I just finished recording a podcast/radio mixing hip-hop and hardcore that will be up soon and while it doesn't happen I'm putting some UK youngbloods here that also translates that wish to connect both scenes very well, it's WISE UP!

Up 2 No Good came out last week and when I pressed play I forgot what I was hearing, nice instrumenal hip-hop intro track followed by some tight hardcore, dedicated to the 2-steps headz.

  

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PILLARS OF IVORY - Genesis/Exodus Demo

Location: New York Metropolitan Area

Release: DAZE, 2020

Age of Quarantine, day # 189 - The folks at The Essence couldn't have said it better "BABYLON IS BURNING AND THIS IS THE SOUNDTRACK"!

A side project from dudes behind Mindforce, Death Threat and Age Of Apocalypse which can quite possibly become their main thing.

Their first demo GENESIS dropped in August and it's comprised of one long track divided in 8 parts (I. Key To Success / II. D.R.E.A.M. / III. Strawberry Mac 10/ IV. Salute / V. Gotti Du$t Bluntz / VI. T.W.C.T. POI / VII. Tearz Fall / VIII. Puffin' At Tha Lantern). The same goes for the EXODUS demo which came out last week but with a different tracklist of course.

RESTOCK FOR ROLLING PAPERS

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PAGAN BABIES - Last

Location: Philadelphia, US

Release: DRP Records, 2010
Artwork: Bruce "Juice" Boyd

With releases on Positive Force and Hawker Records back in the 80's, PAGAN BABIES rocked the Philly scene until their first break up in 1989.

They were and still are a strong reference for graffiti and hip hop culture within the hardcore punk community, (in most part) thanks to the vision and dexterity of their drummer Bruce, Tippy The B-Boy Beat Master Blaster. But don't be mistaken, musically they play straight up hardcore with a good measure of melodies thrown in here and there (and occasionally fusing rap), not unlike their peers in Token Entry, In Your Face and Mucky Pup.

Last (An Anthology) is their full discography with a lot of extras -- unreleased, rehearsal and live material -- all re-mixed and re-mastered on a 29-track CD and bonus DVD featuring a documentary and live concert footage, including the reunion of 2007. Speaking of which, this post came out due to their 3rd or 4th reunion, happening this weekend with notorious Alone In A Crowd! [support Howie here]



Maybe due to this special occasion, PAGAN BABIES just put out 2 brand new songs which I already included on this download, super rad!!

DOWNLOAD [FLAC version] or DOWNLOAD [256 VBR]

from Philly yo!

AlL ThiNgS OLd SChOol 2015 Sampler

Artwork: Freak City (@instagram)

Logo: Myself

5 YEARS of All Things Old School!! I had part of the tracklist on my mind for awhile but scrapped most of it because, luckily, a good amount of bands and labels joined and made this sampler much more cool. It features premiere tracks plus a few unreleased and rare ones that I've been collecting over the years. Countries represented by bands here goes as far as: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom and USA.

Special thanks goes to these people who embraced this fun project and believe that the DIY ethics are the foundation of our (counter) culture, either it's in hardcore punk, thrash metal, hip hop or indie rock: Mathieu @ Freak City, Dan Mourtagh @ Running Thin Records, Zack Retaliate, Indy @ Cointossrecords, Alexis @ Straight & Alert Records, Danny Drug Control, Toxic Shock, Hollow Truth, Shaman Records, Jordan Cold & Distant, Jonny Control, Leeo Surra, Better Days, Street Lights, Roman Sike, Benjamin Guidance, Garcia brothers @ Dedication, O.S.M. and Dan Cantarero @ Life To Live Records.

Tracklist:
01. TOXIC SHOCK - The Survivalist [upcoming Split 7" w/ Iron Reagan, Reflections Records]
02. STRAIGHT RAZOR - Strong When Safe [upcoming EP, React! Records]
03. RETALIATE - Infidel [upcoming EP, Running Thin Records]
04. NEGATIVE SELF - Self Destruct... The Pain Never Ends [S/T LP, High Roller Records]
05. THE OTHERS - Rain Dance [Rain Dance EP, Shaman Records]
06. BALANCE - The Game [unreleased]
07. HARDWIRED - Talking In Circles [S/T EP, Life To Live Records]
08. BETTER DAYS - Troll Troll [Nope EP, Encapsulated Records]
09. STREET LIGHTS - Vicious Circle [Going Nowhere Fast, Mustard Rec]
10. SIKE - H.Y.G.I.R. - [Kiev 2015 7", Powertrip Records]
11. STATEMENT X - Never Take Part [upcoming 7", Street Survival Records]
12. POWER ABUSE - Pull The Trigger [XXX Demo, Assurd Records]
13. BREAKTHROUGH - Our Perspective [unreleased]
14. COLD & DISTANT - Hope Brings Destruction [S/T EP, D2C Records]
15. RZL DZL - Trouble Loves Us [Songs For Babies, LOC]
--------------------INTERMISSION BY BEASTIE BOYS--------------------
17. THE ICE - Casting Shadows [The '11 Promo Tape]
18. DRUG CONTROL - Like Brothers [upcoming S/T 7", Straight & Alert/ Cointossrecords]
19. HOLLOW TRUTH - Unchanching Misery [The War Economy 7", Powertrip Records]
20. SPIRITS - In My Way [S/T 7", Coinstossrecords]
21. WESTPOINT - Redwood [upcoming 12" EP]
22. SECOND OPINION - My Disease (Time To Operate) [unreleased]
23. SURRA - Somos Todos Culpados [Somos Todos Culpados EP, Caustic Recordings]
24. ZERO - Giving In/No More [upcoming 7", Climbin' Aboard Records]
25. CONTROL - See-Through [S/T 7", Headrush Records]
26. SWAMPS - Sea of Snakes [Single]
27. DEDICATION - It's Real [upcoming EP, Positive & Focused/ True Spirit]
28. WARDOGS - CHANCES [outtake from Outcast Behaviour session, CTW Records]
29. DCAN - Freestyle Of 3 [Single]
30. GUIDANCE - My Body, My Cage [Path Of Grace LP]

DOWNLOAD
(problems with mediafire? try here)

At the end I contacted over 60 bands/labels and listened to countless albums and demos. I almost have enough material to do another one, maybe a covers only compilation next time? dunno yet. Get updates here:

FB.COM/ALLTHINGSOLDSCHOOL

RIP MCA

RUNNING THIN RECORDS

New label in town! Actually in 3 different towns: Pittsburgh (US), Boston (US) and West Mids (UK). This brit/north-american joint released a compilation last year entitled A SHOWCASE OF TUNES TO 'FUCK WITH' SAMPLER VOLUME 1, comprised of very promising new groups under their roster. It features all sorts of styles: youth crew, 90's emo, hip hop and other variations on the good ol' hardcore punk. 

I made an interview with two of them (Daniel Murtagh & Steven Kenyon) and here's what we got:

3 FRIENDS, 3 DIFFERENT CITIES. HOW DOES IT WORK? ANY OF YOU WERE INVOLVED IN A LABEL OR BAND BEFORE?
Dan: We got me here in Boston, Steven down in Pittsburg, and Roscoe over in the UK. The whole idea for this label came from a conversation Steven and I had after Damaged City Fest last summer. He expressed an interest in starting a label, and I said I wanted to do the same thing. With a need for a logo, Steven reached out to Roscoe, and he came up with the running man design. After a few more requests for art, we just figured it would be fitting for Roscoe to come on board too. The label works very smoothly with all three of us being able to split up the work load and take some of the pressure off each other. Everyone has really showed their A game so far, and I credit that cooperation and dedication to the music for the small success we have seen so far. I haven’t been in any bands before, but Steven had fronted Instigate prior to the label, and Roscoe is in Gravity Grave, which was called Middle Child to begin with.
Steven: I've been in a band or two before nothing serious, played some shows here and there, weekend tour once. I've schemed a label a bunch of times I've just never had anyone I'd want helping me with it. Dan and Roscoe are a wonderful pair of dudes to run a label with. Us being all over the world just means we can show people in different areas the love we have for music. If you want some stickers to slap around your town hit one of us up. I love seeing our name anywhere people wanna throw it up.

THE BANDS ON RTR GOES FROM HIP HOP TO POP PUNK AND HARDCORE PUNK, WHICH IS VERY AMUSING BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING THIS SINCE THE EARLY STAGES OF THE LABEL. THE MAIN GOAL IS TO SUPPORT LOCAL UNDERGROUND PRODUCTIONS OR JUST MUSIC YOU’RE INTERESTED IN?
DO YOU THINK PEOPLE NOWADAYS ARE MORE OPEN TO OTHER GENRES INSTEAD OF STICKING IN HIS OWN CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE? LIKE HIP HOP KIDS LISTENING TO HEAVY STUFF AND VICE-VERSA?
Dan: With our first discussions about starting a label, I expressed my desire to NOT have this label be strictly hardcore. I didn’t want us to get lumped into any specific genre because that’s not all we listen to. Obviously we all love hardcore, but we all have our own interests, Roscoe for instance, he loves him some Oasis and Stone Roses, but he also rocks Wu, then you got Steven who pretty much is a walking hardcore dictionary, but he’ll jam hip hop, stoner metal, whatever, he just loves music so much. Then me, who you can catch playing anything from Clancy Brothers, to Miles Davis, to Tom Petty, to Lee Perry, to Bulldoze. If it sounds good to us, we will listen to it. But that kind of all over the place taste is something I personally think makes hardcore tick. You look back at a lot of the older NYHC bands, and they were doing some cross genre type shit years ago. For instance, Biohazard and Onyx, clearly Public Enemy and Anthrax. Shit, not sure how many people even remember KRS-ONE doing a shout on a SOIA album, but it happened. They also had House of Pain on a track too. Besides hip hop, you have a lot of hardcore guys doing some softer stuff, whether it be folksy type stuff or straight rock n roll, or Oi, or even metal, so this mixture of styles we are releasing just seemed fitting right out the gate.
Steven: I'm just happy to see people support music; no matter the genre. Music might be the only consistent thing I've had in my life. Honestly, I just love music. I love hardcore, I love punk, I love rap and hip hop and I love helping bands/artists music out to the world. Even knowing one person enjoys the band enough to buy a tape or a shirt from us to support the band is an incredible feeling. We started somewhat as a hardcore label but we didn't want to just hardcore or punks bands. We've released a hip hop artist so far and I do believe another hip hop group in the unseen future. We've released a pop punk band so far, that kinda just happened out of the blue when a good friend of Dan and I's came to us to release his band; he's a great kid so we were more than happy to oblige. We've got a bunch of hardcore bands with releases on the labels; most of them are actively playing shows and working on new music for sophomore releases on the label. We did have a few bands on the label break up this year. RIP Step Off. RIP True Worth.

8 RELEASES UNTIL NOW, ALL IN TAPE FORMAT (AND DIGITAL), VINYL IS INCLUDED IN LABEL’S FUTURE PLANS? WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU ARE FACING SO FAR TO RUN A LABEL IN 1 YEAR OF EXISTENCE?
Dan: All our releases so far have been tape format, not for any specific reason, it’s just what the bands wanted so far. We do have a HUGE vinyl release coming soon, one I’m particularly excited for. Oxnard’s own Retaliate!!!! The record is gonna slam man, I can’t wait to have this release come out. We also are re-releasing the Uprising AD cd very soon. Uprising AD, one of the best Tijuana bands there was. Those two releases have me pretty excited for 2015 so far. We haven’t really faced too many challenges, as all our bands are fucking great dudes and easy to work with, and the three of us communicate very well and handle our business.
Steven: There's been some hardships with getting releases out. Some production issues with the production of tapes. Dan and I both had moved at some point over the last year and settling in is always a little difficult with communication. So we did have a little and I mean little point in time where we were at a standstill.

ANY BREAKING NEWS OF UPCOMING RELEASES IN 2015?
Dan: We have some good shit coming out this year: the Retaliate and Uprising AD releases that I already mentioned, Rage – The Midwest Straight Edge tape, Different Face – Demo 2014 tape (split release with Criminal Rights Records), Clandestine AD – Demo tape, new Coolside, Reunion, and a few I’ll keep for a surprise.
Steven: Step 4 Change, Urgency, Rage, Clandestine AD, Crossface and Different Face all have demos coming on the label this year. We've got some bands doing sophomore releases on the label. Reunion's debut 7" will be out on the label sometime this year. COOLSIDE has something in the works. Hopefully we'll be doing a lot of cool releases this year. Also, the I Against I demo will be dropping very very very soon.

WHAT IS YOUR TOP 6 LIST OF WHATEVER MUISC GENRE WAS RELEASED LAST YEAR?
Dan: My top 6 for 2014 (in NO particular order)
1- Sheer Terror – Standing Up For Falling Down (just a great album from these legends)
2- Cold World – How the Gods Chill (these guys just rule, and I’ll always support bands from my birth town of Wilkes Barre)
3- Ghostface Killah – 36 Seasons (instant classic)
4- Wu Tang Clan – A Better Tomorrow (does anything really need to be said about this? It’s the Wu!!!!)
5- FM359 – Truth, Love and Liberty (it’s Mike McColgan, it’s a great album. This dude has one of the best voices there is)
6- Wisdom In Chains – We Never Sleep (they will make my Top List every year they release anything, they are just bad ass)
I also have to give an honorable mention to The Eulogy 7”, they missed 2014 by 6 days, but that 7” is by far one of the best 7”s I’ve heard in a long time.

Steven: BIG TAKEOVER - BIG TAKEOVER DEMO Big Takeover's Demo was one of my top picks last year. Late 80's NYHC tribute at its finest. Breakdown 87 has been resurrected.
TRAVIS SCOTT - DAYS BEFORE RODEO Travi$ Scott's Days Before Rodeo mixtape was personally my favorite hip hop release last year. He's got a great flow and the work he's done so far has not disappointed me.
DISENGAGE - S/T 7" Disengage's new Self Titled 7" blew me anyway. It made me so proud to be straight edge, such a driving release with a lot of songs about STRAIGHT EDGE PRIDE.
SPOOKY BLACK - LEAVING EP Spooky Black released one of most calming releases I've ever heard. A major R&B/Hip Hop vibe with a very dark twist.
SELF DESTRUCT - DEMO 14 Self Destruct put out seriously one of the craziest demos I heard last year, it just makes me want to jump off things and flip tables. Definitely suggest checking it out.
SNAILS PACE - SNAILS PACE DEMO The Lockin Out supergroup featuring members of Mental, Cold World and Free Spirit. This demo was pure gold to me. Great lyrical content. Incredibly catchy riffs and a lot of skank worthy parts.

FEEL FREE TO GIVE AWAY ADVICES OF ANY KIND, THOUGHTS AND SALUTATIONS.
Dan: My advice to anyone reading this would be to just give it a shot, whatever it is that you want to try and get started, be it a band, label, clothing line, booking agency, whatever, just do it. You aren’t going to regret trying nearly as much as you’ll regret sitting on your ass and not trying.
Steven: I want to thank everyone that's ever supported any endeavor that I've loved even if they were short lived and stupid. I want to thank Dan and Sarah for helping this label more than anyone knows. Dan is seriously the older brother I never had but always wish I did. I want to thank Roscoe for everything he's done for the label. Great dude even if he is a limey. I want to thank my girlfriend Kaitlyn who's always supported me endlessly no matter how broke or down and out I've been, I love her to death. I want to thank all my friends, their bands, their labels, their pets, their mosh style and their families. I want to thank RJ Loegsky for ever getting Dan and I together. I want to thank RC Cola for being the greatest Cola ever. I want to thank Tom Brady / Bill Belichik and the 4 Super Bowl rings their wearing. I want to thank whoever numbered Rob Gronkowski 87 because the 87 demo is gospel. I want to thank every band I've ever seen or moshed to. I want to thank anyone who's ever helped me out with my Lockin Out collection. I want to thank Greg Willmott / AJ McQuire for helping me out with my collection. I want to thank my cats; Nonstop, Brady, Gandalf, Gemini and Izzy. I want to thank the man that wrote My Name Is Earl.
I want to thank THE STRAIGHT EDGE.

HOW COLD IT IS TODAY?
Dan: It’s freezing here, says 9 (Fahrenheit) but -12 with the wind chill. And more snow this weekend to add to the nearly 100”s we’ve gotten so far. And on that note, I’m gonna get outta here and go shovel a new path for my dogs. Shout out to the 836 homies back in Illinois and Colorado, my buddies in San Diego, Retaliate, Uprising AD, Take Em Out, Holistic Hip Hop, and all the bands on the label. Huge thanks to my wife, my dogs, Steven and Kate, Roscoe Rickers, and thanks Zack and Rick for the advice. And most importantly, thank you to everyone who has supported us through this first year, it means the world to us and we cannot express our appreciation and gratitude enough.

Now, for an audio experience, I selected some current and upcoming releases from the RTR family:

First, the californian in COOLSIDE offers a fresh youth cru with dat Youngblood recs sound. From the demo EP "Own The Zone" they are getting ready for a new album, the Self Help EP!

DOWNLOAD Own The Zone EP + New Single

Another cali group, the REUNION made a big step forward on their crummy sound in their latest recording: the Summer Demo '14, that will get a proper release soon on RTR.

DOWNLOAD Summer Demo '14

From Washington, STRIKEFORCE brings the heavy side to the label, 4 stomps in the vein of Expire and Cruel Hand. New demo The End almost accomplished.

DOWNLOAD Substance EP

These bands are rather new therefore I never heard of REBOUND before and I gotta say, they do deliver! Their Hard Luck Demo is a full-bodied mosh and their new 2-song EP adds a notch up! Fast to mid paced hardcore with an awesome flow. 

DOWNLOAD Restraints EP + Hard Luck 

Orange County Hardcore in da house! Newest effort by I AGAINST I is pretty good and fun to listen throughout with speed and aggressiveness at the right levels! 

    DOWNLOAD Stuck At The Bottom

Please visit the label online for more releases and goods:

facebook.com/runningthinrecords

www.runningthinrecords.com

Cold World 80's Baybeez Remix

Graffiti by 7seconds

One day I saw in a Cold World's wikipage their discography and it was stated there an album called 80's Baybeez Remix which I never heard about.

After months pursuing it I came across Nick Woj's (drummer/DJ) blog where he posted his many mixtapes and still do in a new tumblr account HERE.

This mixtape in particular was uploaded around 2008 and got notoriety by the it's name, it consists of several skanky old school hip hop songs mixed into one single track following this order:

1. the singing mc breeze-discombobulator-bubulator
2. shakespeare and the last empire-my old jams still slam
3. jvc force-strong island
4. tuff crew-smooth momentum
5. mc lyte-survival of the fittest
6. spyder d-the ny butt
7. mc ez & troup-get retarded
8. the fearless four-dedication
9. cool c-juice crew dis
10. supreme force-you gotta come out hard
11. m.c. boob-do the fila
12. spike vst-gucci down
13. suprelover cee cassanova rudd-girls i got em locked
14. the uptown crew-uptown's kickin it
15. steady b-stupid fresh
16. the ghettovetts-battle call
17. three times dope-greatest man alive
18. alliance-bustin loose
19. cash money & marvellous-ugly people be quiet
20. masters of ceremony-dynamite
21. don baron-action
22. ice cream tee-can't hold back
23. awesome dre and the hardcore committee-executioner style
24. kings of pressure-nosy bodies
25. mark the 45 king ft. big daddy kane-the 900 number
26. tuff crew-my part of town remix

Pop this thang on your car and roll out with your homies yo!

DOWNLOAD

THIS ONE GOES OUT TO PAULO GONZ & ROBO BENKÖ - shake dat azz brotherz

SKAM DUST - Corona Drug Bust

Location: Queens, N.Y.

Release: CountDown Records, 2010 

Through Lord Ezec's motivation SKAM DUST (of Skarhead) started his own project, featuring D.M.S. members Freddy Crucien, Puerto Rican Myke, Lu Subzero, Ceekay Jones among other collabs like Earth Crisis and Olde York singers, they bring true thug-core straight from the Rotten Apple. This album compiles 16 tracks taken from Skam Dust EP "Son of Skarhead", Son of Skam's "Sing Of The Times" and a few brand new releases, including the off-the-chains track that entitled this release - Corona Drug Bust.

Skam Dust himself once said "My lyrics tell the stories of my youth, recalling a time when the police and the public were in a state of panic. A time when the 44 Killer, otherwise known as the Son Of Sam, was on the loose and filling the city with terror. Meanwhile, NYC was undergoing a city-wide blackout. My lyrics speak about the excitement that filled the city after the NY Yankees won the World Series and Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in one game. And they speak about the days when graffiti was on every subway train and hip-hop was making noise. My lyrics reminisce about the days spent riding shotgun with my dad, who seemed to work incessantly as a NYC cabbie"

Musically they sound something between Body Count and Biohazard. Evil Dick is on the loose once again!  

PURCHASE CD 

DOWNLOAD

*Party Time* MC COOL ROCK & MC CHASZY CHESS - Boot The Booty

Listen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGVhzq5L95w

Location: Miami, E.U.A.

Release: Vision Records, 1988

Tracklist:

Influences: BeatMaster Clay-D, 2 Live Crew

DOWNLOAD

B.B. - Super Surprise 12"

Edição comemorativa ao Record Store Day (18.04.10), campanha norte-america para apoiar lojas locais/familiares que vendem discos. Trata-se de um 12" single, uma faixa de cada lado com tiragem de 1.000 unidades.

Essa arte não faz parte do vinil, ao que parece é apenas uma daqueles capas de dj preta com um furo no meio para ler o rótulo do vinil.

DOWNLOAD

ps.: Mr. Adam Yauch está com câncer, inclusive recebi um email da Gran Royal convidando a me juntar a meditações 2 vezes por dia para visualizar o fim do câncer no mundo.