Manchurian Candidates (Repost)

Here's the first re-post of the resurrected blog... two records from Manchurian Candidates.  Collected for you here is their 7", entitled "Double Crossed", and their "Between Reality and Shadow" Lp.  Great chaotic HC that reminds me alternately of "The Word As Law" period Neurosis and the first Logical Nonsense Lp.  The 7" is a bit rough and primitive but the Lp sees their sound fully matured... a blistering whirlwind of tempo changes and crunchy riffs.  Some of my favorite stuff from the late 90s... 

Manchurian Candidates - "Double Crossed" Ep & "Between Reality and Shadow" Lp 

Karma Sutra - The Daydreams of a Production Line Worker

Next up is a record I finally picked up on vinyl a few months back after years of pining for it... Karma Sutra's one and only LP, "The Daydreams of a Production Line Worker."  Karma Sutra were a mid-80s anarcho-punk band that appeared on several classic compilation albums but released little else aside from this elusive LP.

For me, this is a quintessential anarcho-punk record, with the songs varying in style from early Crass records sounding tracks (Dirt, Flux of Pink Indians), to later, more pop and post-punk influenced numbers (a la Internal Autonomy or Indian Dream).  Accompanying the record is a 28 page lyric booklet, as to be expected in this genre.  There's quite a mix of styles and the songs often bleed into one another making for both sharp breaks in the music as well as gradual transitions... all of which make splicing the tracks for this one a bit challenging.  On the whole, "Daydreams..." has a distinctly early-Chumbawamba feel and sound and should be a must hear for fans of the first few Chumba records. 

Karma Sutra - The Daydreams of a Production Line Worker

Antischism - This is War Ep (Bootleg)

Well, after many, many months away I find myself with the time, energy and desire to attempt to resurrect this blog.  I plan on combining new posts with re-ups of previously shared records on a more accessible server, with the intent, as before, to make these obscure or hard to acquire records available for wider enjoyment and exposure to new audiences.  Requested re-ups will be handled first, otherwise I'll do re-posts of some of my favorites or records I think are most crucial.  A few records I've posted in the past have been reissued or are in the process of being re-released, so out of respect for the labels I won't re-up those releases.

To ease back into the blog, I decided to begin the new run of posts with this gem of a 7" from South Carolina's Antischism.  "This is War" is actually a bootleg Ep that came out in 1992 and features two rough mixes of studio tracks and three live versions of classic Antischism tunes.  The re-mixed versions of the studio tracks appear on the discography CD on Prank! records, the three live tracks are exclusive to this record.  Certainly not an essential piece of the Antischism discography, but still a cool collection of tunes, with the live tracks giving some hint of how the band's unique sound translated outside of the studio.

Antischism - This is War Ep