Besides Asides

In 2001, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label signed New York transplant producer/MC Focus.... Never heard of him? Well Focus... put in work on projects like The Wash soundtrack and albums by Truth Hurts and The Game but he never released so much as a single with the label and after hearing his 2011 mixtape/album Music of the Misinterpreted it is easy to see why.

If you've ever listened to Lucero (alt. country band, not the Spanish singer) chances are you've heard their cover of Jawbreaker's "Kiss The Bottle". While there is some pretty bad Jawbreaker covers out there this is one of the better ones in my opinion. However, if you looked to Lucero's music for any influence you probably wouldn't find much. Imagine if they were though? Well you don't really have to because between 1994 and 1996, Lucero front-man Ben Nichols played in the Jawbreaker influenced pop punk band Red Forty (sometimes written as Red 40).

I don't think there is enough hyperbole in the english language to get across how much I absolutely love Dag Nasty. More than The Replacements, more than Hüsker Dü, more than even Descendents. My story with the band is kind of weird in that Can I Say was one of the first pieces of vinyl I bought when I was about 17 or 18 before I was a collector. I was straight edge and wanted to listen to more straight edge bands (lol). At the time I remember spinning Can I Say, and not really digging it that much and I don't think I did too many after that for a long time. Fast-foward a few years and I was record shopping when I stumbled upon Field Day in the used bin for a few dollars at a local record shop and although I hadn't really liked Can I Say that much I had never seen it in stores before so I thought I'd pick it up. When I got home and threw it on the record player I was amazed at how different Field Day was and how much I enjoyed it. The album was still punk but it had mature exploration of pop music in ways that few bands I knew had approached. From that point on I went out and bought everything I could by the band.

Remember a few years ago when noise pop was the coolest kid on the block? I'd be extremely surprised if members of those band's didn't cut their teeth on Henry's Dress' self-titled 10". What made Henry's Dress special though is they balanced the perfect amount of melody and fuzz. You think with all the noise making and rocking going on the sweet parts might get lost in a muddy mess but not at all. I can't say the same for this recording exactly, but this is a live show if you want excellent quality pick up the studio stuff. This is pretty darn good for what is likely an audience recording. Even more so than the records you really see how the trio rocked out, playing songs mostly from the then forthcoming Bust 'em Green LP. It would be nice to have seen a bit more of an even mix of songs from the Henry's Dress in here and maybe one of the songs from the split with Rocketship but hey beggar can't be choosers. This bootleg does the job of making you wish you could have been there but also makes you wish the band had some kind of proper live album. Oh well, this will have to do. Enjoy!

Remember in the mid-90s when everyone and their grandma had a ska revival band or at least ska-punk song or two on their album? Hell even American Steel's first LP had ska elements. Well the mid-2000s were like that for midwest-style emo. A lot of of forgettable bands have since come and gone milking the style for all it was worth but there were a couple of bands right at the beginning before it became a huge trend that I still hold a candle for. One of those bands is Street Smart Cyclist, who broke broke up some time in 2007 or 2008. They only released a self-titled EP/demo on cd-r and then vinyl and an acoustic cd-r, but before they packed it in they recorded two more songs. Those two songs are what I bring you today. You used to be able to get their discography from a link they posted on their MySpace by MySpace blocks the band's link for some reason. You can still pick up the self-titled on iTunes but to me this is their best shit so peep it and then go back and listen to everything else. Enjoy!

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Columbus, Ohio's Highschool sounds like the last vestige of youth, to me anyways. Remember around the turn of the last decade when there was a group of bands playing pop punk influenced by 90's hardcore that didn't sound like the latest popcore trend? early Saves The Day, Fairweather, The Movielife etc.? That is exactly what Highschool's You Already Know sounds like. The EP came out last year and they've also released another album early this year for a minimum of 2 dollars but you can check out You Already Know for as little as zero dollars at their bandcamp page so if you like it support the band!

Today you wouldn't think that being Asian in hip-hop would be a big deal but apparently it was in the early/mid 90s as Philadelphia's Mountain Brothers experienced a lot of discrimination back then trying to break on the national scene. Luckily, their obvious talent trumped anything else as they won a contest sponsored by Sprite called Rhymes From The Mind and were soon signed by Ruffhouse Records. However, that relationship soured as they faced more racism from executives at the label. Finally in 1999, the group put out their first full-length Self: Volume 1 on their own Pimpstrut Records. Self: Volume 1 is one of the freshest hip-hop debuts I've ever heard. The production is all handled in-house by Chops who provides a funky and smooth backdrop for the fluid rhymes of the MCs laying waste to whack rappers. Mountain Brothers style will be familiar to anyone who enjoys People Under The Stairs or Jurassic 5 but these guys were doing it first. The band's follow-up in 2003, Triple Crown follows a similar style with some surprises thrown in but isn't nearly as consistent but definitely worth checking out. Unlike, Triple Crown though, Self: Volume 1 seems to be out-of-print so I'm bringing it to you but unlike all the rips I've seen floating around this is a high quality rip from my own collection. Enjoy!

You know your music is good when Leatherface decides to cover you, and Northumberland's China Drum have that distinction. For those of you that know China Drum you are already stoked hopefully. If you haven't had the pleasure of listening to them, China Drum released their debut LP, Goosefair in 1996. It remains one of my all-time favourite British punk albums with a sound that to me fit snuggly somewhere between Leatherface and Idlewild. The sad part is they seemed to kind of blow their load with that album as their follow up while still anchored by solid songwriting seemed to shift into what can only be described as "alternative". Slower tempos and longer running times doesn't always mean worse but in this case it did. Eventually they changed their name to The Drum and by their third LP they were hardly recognizable as the band who had released Goosefair.

Attack in Black are one of my favourite bands because they sound like a band that came of age with hardcore punk but went back and discovered all the great 90s Canadian indie bands like Eric's Trip, Rheostatics and Thrush Hermit and tossed all that influence into a blender with some Neil Young. Now for some reason, Canadians often seem at a loss to define themselves culturally but if someone asked me what a Canadian band sounded like I'd show them Attack in Black.

Canada, Canada, Canada. You know another great thing about Canada? CBC Radio. What I have for you today combines my love for the CBC and Attack in Black with a lovely set the band recorded for CBC Radio 3. It features a song a piece from each of the band's three LPs but the they are played with just the right amounts of intensity and restraint reminiscent of their early Widows EP, for something really special. There is also two songs that have yet to see the light of day in any official capacity which is fantastic because between other projects and ventures and a completed fourth album that seems to be sitting on the shelf the chances of hearing new AiB seems slimmer by the day. Now this set has been floating around on semi-dead torrents around the web for a few years but in a shitty rip with two of the songs missing. So here it is, complete with some nifty coverage. Enjoy!