Besides Asides

Take Manhattan were a kind of indie/punk band from Bloomington that merged raucous punk rock execution with a down home rootsy songwriting. They were probably influenced by the popular folk-punk movement of the 2000s that Bloomington was swept up in but they didn't have that amateur feeling you get when you listen a lot of the Plant-It-X crowd. There is still that enthusiasm but also really solid songwriting to back it up. If I had to make some comparisons they remind me a little of Two Hand Fools and the New Pornographers having a dance if that makes sense. In their short existence they released a sole EP and went their separate ways, but I know that the drummer Greg now plays in the two piece Outdoor Velour. They have since put their EP An Audio Coloring Book up  for free on their bandcamp. So head on over and czech it out.

http://takemanhattan.bandcamp.com/

The Crush were a pop punk band from Minnesota that really really wanted to be Jawbreaker. While no Blake Schwarzenbachs they did a pretty damn good job of it. However, I guess imitation only gets you so far because they released two LPs, one 7" and made an appearance on a Jawbreaker tribute and then faded into obscurity. Today I am posting their second LP because I believe it to be the stronger of the two. It received slightly larger release on Billy Joe's Adeline Records and it saw the band developing a bit of their own identity. Jason Miller, who I believe played guitar and sang in The Crush (it may have been bass) now plays in the alt-country tinged Evening Rig so you should check them out too.

This was out there on other blogs I think (at least before the recent purges) but once again this is a high quality rip from my own collection. Enjoy!

Listen

A few years ago when I started this blog I posted up an Against Me! collection. When going over material I pulled from the blog I discovered that collection was one of them. There was a few problems with it: 1) I don't post any major releases from bands that are still in print and a good chunk of the collection was made up of demos that have since been released on the demo album Total Clarity and another chunk were released on the EP, New Wave B-Sides. 2) Against Me! are an active band still releasing music and their b-sides will continue to grow making any collection I try and make ultimately incomplete. I thought about reposting it and decided I'd do a collection roughly spanning their first decade as a band from 2000-2010 (with a few songs from 1998). I wasn't going to repost it if it was just going to be the same things either so I added a few gems that I hadn't included in the original collection to make it worthwhile for a re-download if anyone managed to get it the first time.

The first two additions on this version are alternate versions of "National Myth" and "Burning Bridges" that came out on the tape comp We're Here To Ruin Your Fun. This is a rare tape among AM! collectors but there seems to be a single rip floating around the net of these songs but there is horrible tape feedback/signal noise on it. I went in and edited out all that noise and these are likely the best versions you will find out there, really clear. Another addition is the full band acoustic version of "Miami" that for some reason didn't appear on Searching For A Former Clarity or Total Clarity. The sound quality was never great on it but I tried to clean it up a bit and do a amateur mastering job on it so hopefully it sounds better than the usual copy out there. "Mia Bella California" is a demo that Tom Gabel recorded on the road sometime in 2006 between Searching... and New Wave that never ended up being re-recorded and it makes sense as it is a bit different than the direction they went with New Wave I think. far as I can tell is pretty rare as other than hardcore collectors it isn't really out there. The last real gem on here is the full band acoustic version of "Up The Cuts" that didn't make New Wave or any of it's singles. I personally like this version a bit better, it is more reminiscent of the band's older material.

So this is a mostly complete representations of the band's b-side and rare material from their first ten years. There is a few alternate mixes of "Thrash Unreal" that only appeared on label promo singles and a few alternate versions and unreleased cuts from White Crosses that may only be in the possession of the band but I think a few collectors out there may have them. If anyone has any of these shoot me an email and please share if you like the stuff I've done on the blog. Anyways enjoy the collection!

Listen

Tracklist:

1. National Myth (Alternate Version)
2. Burning Bridges (Alternate Version)
3. Cavalier Eternal (Alternate Version)
4. You Look Like I Need A Drink (Acoustic Version)
5. Sink, Florida, Sink (Electric Version)
6. Unsubstantiated Rumors (Electric Version)
7. Wagon Wheel
8. Don't Lose Touch [Mouse on Mars Remix]
9. From Her Lips To God's Ears [Energize-O-Tron Remix]
10. Miami (Acoustic Version)
11. Joy (Alternate Demo)
12. Don't Lose Touch (Acoustic Version)
13. Bastards of Young
14. Mia Bella California
15. White People For Peace [Butch Vig Remix]
16. Stop! [Funky Face vs. The DBL Stops Mix]
17. Up The Cuts (Acoustic Version)
18. New Wave (Acoustic Version)
19. Animal (Acoustic Version)
20. Graceful Concession (Acoustic Version)
21. Here Comes A Regular
22. White Crosses (Acoustic Version)
23. Strip Mall Parking Lots (Acoustic Version)
24. Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong [Live At Harvest of Hope]

I don't think Pegboy gets the credit they deserve. I really feel like they were creating an original sound that could be called pop-punk when such a term didn't exist without default to influence from bands like Descendents, The Ramones or the Buzzcocks. Of course guitarist John Haggerty's former band was Naked Raygun who are legends in and of themselves.

What I have here today is a live set they did at CBGBs in summer 1991. At that point all they had out was Three-Chord Monte EP, the Strong Reaction LP and the Field Of Darkness 7". If you are like me, you thing that is their strongest material anyway. This is floating around the net elsewhere but this is a high quality rip converted from an FLAC copy of a first generation tape that you won't find anywhere else. It sounds great beyond a few imperfections Enjoy!















Listen

Tracklist:

1. Method
2. Strong Reaction
3. Not What I Want
4. My Youth
5. Field Of Darkness
6. Fade Away
7. Time Again
8. Still Uneasy
9. Walk On by
10. Locomotivelung
11. Through My Fingers

In 1995 Snoop Dogg introduced the world to his group Tha Dogg Pound (well okay they were introduced a few years earlier on The Chronic and Doggystyle but it wasn't until '95 that they had a proper release). His role in the group was much more of an executive producer/project coordinator with guest raps rather than a full on member. In an ideal world Tha Dogg Pound would have released Dogg Food in '95 and then in subsequent releases Snoop's involvement would lessen as Daz and Kurupt took more creative control. As it turned out Tha Dogg Pound didn't end up releasing another album for six years and at that point Snoop was out of the picture and they were never really able to capitalize on their association. In 1999, Snoop attempted to do the same thing he did with Tha Dogg Pound with Tha Eastsidaz with two rappers that had appeared on his solo records, Tray Deee and Goldie Loc.They released two albums with heavy Snoop involvement that were moderate successes and were part of Snoop Dogg's resurgence in acclaim and popularity in the early 2000s. However, like Tha Dogg Pound the group planned their next album to feature diminished involvement from Snoop and the album never came out. There was a number of factors including Tray Deee going away for a lengthy prison sentence and disputes between Snoop Dogg over royalties. Anyhow, the album was set for release at several points between 2003 and 2005 and songs started to leak out between then. What I have here is the album as per a tracklist given out in some promotional materials, except three of the songs has never leaked or been released so I added a few bonus tracks. A version of "Bottom Girl" called "You Could Be" was going to be used for singer Kokane's unreleased album Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Kane without Goldie Loc's verse. "Bacc On The Blocc" was a song from Snoop's Welcome To Tha Chuuuch mixtape. "Real In the Field" is an unreleased Eastsidaz and Warren G collabo that was recorded around the time of the album, but the name of teh song that was supposed to appear on it featuring Warren G was called "C'd Up", it could be the same song with multiple names. Big Boi from Outkast recorded a verse for "Hog Mog 'N Chitlins" but I didn't have that version.

 I feel this album is more laidback than their other two albums and there isn't as many bigger name rappers on this but it is a great slice of early 2000s west coast street rap. There are other copies of these songs floating around the net but mine are superior bitrate and quality. Enjoy!


















Listen

Tracklist:

1. Friday Night (feat. Bokie Loc)
- produced by Battlecat

2. Parking Lot Pimpin' (feat. Truth Hurts)
- produced by Fredwreck

3. Hard Times (feat. Kokane, Redman & Bamm)
- produced by Fredwreck

4. Blue Suede Shoes (feat. Daz Dillinger & Kokane)
- produced by Julio G

5. Somthin' For Nothin' (feat. Mamie Gunn)
- produced by Jelly Roll

6. Rug Burnz (feat. Suga Free, Kokane & Miss Pamm)
- produced by Goldie Loc

7. Hog Mog 'N Chitlins (feat. Snoop Dogg & Kokane)
- produced by Goldie Loc

8. Chemical Reaction
- produced by Battlecat

9. Eastsidin' Daily (feat. Butch Cassidy & Blaqtoven)
- produced by Battlecat

10. Gang Bang Muzic (feat. Weasel Loc)
- produced by Goldie Loc

11. In Your Eyes (feat. Kokane)
- produced by Fredwreck

12. Bacc On The Blocc (feat. Snoop Dogg)
- produced by unknown

13. Real In The Field (feat. Warren G)
- produced by Warren G

14. Let's Go (feat.Nate Dogg)
- produced by Battlecat

15. Bottom Girl (feat. Kokane & Snoop Dogg)
- produced by Battlecat

16. Succ Me Licc Me Bitch (feat. Bokie Loc, Mykestro & Conflict)
- produced by Battlecat and Goldie Loc