Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Terror -- Keepers of the Faith




Its just a sticker on a sign @ Runyon Canyon. We were doing the goon trail and we ran into fame Photographer Terry Richardson. He took a few pics of us near the sticker. In other news there was also a missing insane clown posse juggalo, weird. This was posted on the trail. Another fucking miracle.....

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

IRON AGE @ ROXY HOLLYWOOD 8/15/2010 part 2

converge -- jane doe reissues



Converge -- Jane Doe Reissues on Deathwish. The most brutal record to come out in the last 10 years! I actually have witnessed Converge a few times before this record came out. My buddy Jim Siege book them with Dive in Georgetown in the mid 90's. I loved Dive and thought Converge was some ok band that would eventually break up. I picked up 2 Dive eps, a tape and Converge's Halo in a Haystack lp. Well everyone knows Dive became this legendary band and Converge went on to obscurity....j/k.
Converge became this monster when Jane Doe dropped a few years back. The reissue version is nice and it is gatefold, plus 2 remastered lps. For some reason I only ordered 2 versions, like most DW releases i though i could pick up the 3rd lp at the local record store. I had no idea there was 6 versions and now I feel like a dumbass to try to look for the rest of them. Btw homewrecker is my favorite Converge song.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Dave Browns new Blog


Check it out its awesome!

http://youthcrimes.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 13, 2010

DJ STEREO FAITH


Tonight was one of the few times I actually went to a church in the last 5 years to pray for a friend. I am not a holly roller nor am I an atheist. My friend from back home is having surgery tomorrow morning. Steve is a well known DJ on the east coast and he used to sing for a great band called Brace.


This is an article from the Benefit that was held for him last week.


On any other Wednesday night, U Street Music Hall’s dance floor would not be packed. There would be no cloud of smoke outside the club’s doors, and there certainly would be no line to get through it.

Then again, if it were any other Wednesday night, Steve McPherson’s head wouldn’t be nine days away from being sliced open.

While weaving through the dance floor last week, McPherson—a mainstay of the city’s DJ scene, whose polyglot tastes gravitate toward the 1980s—offered few signs of sickness. The clue was in the hugs: Almost every person McPherson encountered offered an embrace.

McPherson, 39, has a tumor growing inside his left auditory canal, and the crowd was there to help him foot the impending bill. “In the punk rock scene, whenever anyone’s in need, there’s a benefit show,” says McPherson, who has spent more than a decade spinning records as DJ Stereo Faith. “I never thought someone would throw one for me.”

It says something about D.C.’s punk-rock DNA that a ground-level benefit show was the DJ scene’s response to its friend’s illness. And it says something about that scene’s increased dominance over the city’s musical life that the event could come together within a week in a space owned by DJs—including two regular club-packers, Will Eastman and Jesse Tittsworth, and Eric Hilton, who as half of Thievery Corporation is one of D.C.’s most succesful electronic artists.


Last spring, McPherson noticed hearing problems in his left ear, and made a sensible assumption—that years of concerts had finally taken their toll in the form of tinnitus. He visited an audiologist to be fitted for custom earplugs. “The audiologist discovered that my right ear was perfect, but my left ear was significantly less than perfect,” McPherson says. “That doesn’t happen with tinnitus.”

His next stop was to an otolaryngologist. The doctor, who specializes in the treatment of ear, nose, and throat disorders, recommended an MRI. “She told me that 99 percent of the time, it comes back negative,” McPherson says.

Turned out McPherson is a member of the 1 percent. On a Friday afternoon in May, his doctor called with his MRI results—a tumor resting on a nerve in his ear was responsible for the hearing loss. It’s too early to know for sure, but the MRI suggests it’s benign.

McPherson researched his options. Noninvasive surgery was out, because doctors warned him the tumor could then return. Another doctor suggested a procedure that would have sacrificed his hearing; McPherson balked. McPherson eventually chose a different procedure, which offers a 60 percent chance of preserving his hearing. He’s psyched about the surgery’s date: Friday the 13th. “When I found out, I was ecstatic,” he says. “Coming from a metal and punk background, that’s a lucky number. It was a sign.”

The cost, however, is high. Even after choosing a neurosurgeon who falls under his insurance coverage—a full-time DJ and occasional paralegal, he has been paying for it out of pocket since the 1990s—McPherson could drop as much as $5,000 on the procedure. Coupled with plane tickets and lodging for him and his mother (he’s being treated at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.), the total bill could reach five figures.

Enter Tittsworth and Eastman. “It’s Stereo Faith. Of course we’ll do fucking anything to help him out,” Tittsworth says. “It’s all about a community doing something for a guy who has helped us all out for years.”

D.C. and Baltimore DJs quickly volunteered for the concert—rapper Tabi Bonney even agreed to spin his first-ever hip-hop set. The benefit, organizers say, surpassed many expectations. With almost 700 attendees cycling through the club—its official capacity is 300—U Street Music Hall was full shortly after midnight. Ed Porter, a Columbia Heights resident who attended the concert, suggested the crowd rivaled the one at U Street Music Hall’s opening night in March.

Maybe this wouldn’t have been possible before this moment—when DJs, some of them former punk rockers, frequently have bigger draws than bands. After all, the city’s alternative DJ scene crowds out most of the city’s rock clubs on weekends—even though the most popular dance nights migrated to a single venue, U Street Music Hall, when it opened.

Or maybe McPherson just has a lot of friends. “This is totally unsurprising. He knows everybody from here to NYC,” Porter says. “He’s ubiquitous. He seems to touch every scene.”

While McPherson hasn’t quite touched every scene, he’s come close, and can easily slip between punk, indie-dance, and hip-hop crowds. He spent his childhood at D.C. punk and hardcore concerts during the ’80s, and returned here in 1996 and split his time between DJ sets and Brace, his punk band. He spins almost every night as Stereo Faith, and hasn’t stopped post-diagnosis. And his friends can be awfully generous: the U Street Music Hall benefit raised almost $7,000 last week.

McPherson will have to avoid the club scene for six months to a year after the surgery—doctor’s orders. Once he’s healthy, he plans to produce music. As for those customized earplugs? “They’ll definitely be my first purchase,” McPherson says. “I can’t wait to buy them. When I do, that’ll mean that I’ll be back to doing my job.”

Photo by Matt Dunn.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New eps and one lp






Jesus Christ I need to get a job and I need one quick. The positive side is that I have paid off all of my debt aka credit cards.
I picked up the Acrid lp @ Amoeba. Powerviolence on No Idea Records.
Fire and Ice has members of Iron Boots and DTN and Bracewar. Triple B is the label this year and I like the fact they are putting out excellent hardcore.
Integrity ep is on magic bullet records. Grey vinyl /300 and if you dont own it it is probably sold out by now. I love magic bullet records. They are the best label to come out of VA ever. Bret's packaging is always top notch.
Give ep on react records. I for got to add this to the sound and fury thread. Limited cover and a great record!

powerhouse s/t ep -- death of a sales man


powerhouse s/t ep -- death of a sales man. Powerhouse is one of the best bands that you never heard of. I picked this record up at Amoeba for 17 bucks. Im a sucker but I wanted this to complete my collection. This is a second press with a limited to 50 cover. When ever I ask any of friends from Florida about this band, it seems to fall on deaf ears. Now If I mention Hot Water Music its a different story. Anybody got a T shirt they want to trade me?

Friday, August 6, 2010

Reason To Believe -- The Next Door




Reason To Believe -- The Next Door. This is Nemesis records number 2. This band became Sensefield. One of the records is numbered out of 50. Reason To Believe's full length was going to be rereleased on Revelation a few years back. 2 of my friends who worked there told me this. Apparently Cargo (nemesis Distributor) had tons of leftover covers, so they drove down to San Diego and picked up like 15 boxes full of LP covers that were left overs from Nemesis. Rev was just going to repress the vinyl and used the left over sleeves. This also explains why anytime I ordered records from Revelation in the 90's, they were always packed between RTB covers.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

some more eps that were purchased @ sound and fury 2010









A few things that were sold out instantly were the Trapped Under Ice eps and the Strife my fire burns on silk screen cover eps.
These were silk screened by famous graffiti artist Eye One. These literally sold out in 3 minutes. They look really nice and are stamped and numbered.
Patrick Kitzel gave me a copy of the new Terror single. They are a 1000 on blue vinyl. 2 new songs and a sub zero cover of Boxed In. I already had the Sub Zero cover of boxed in a while back.
Triple BBB had limited editions of Downpresser and The Rival Mob. I bought both, I didnt see the Bane eps.
Ok my favorite table was the New Age table, I picked up the Lifetime and mouthpiece promo ep. I know im gonna get some shit for this but this is actually my favorite Lifetime release. Seriously....I do not like the lps on Jade Tree I dunno why but gone is my favorite Lifetime song besides the song Pieces off of background. So good!
i dont buy cd's but I got this for free, i have never seen this its a promo version of Mouthpiece's final ep.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

New blog! on tumbler!

http://merchanddestroy.tumblr.com/

some more purchases from sound and fury









Ok I got some lps at Sound and Fury I will post the rest of my purchases later this week. I picked up the new Alpha and Omega lp on 6131 Records. This is probably one of the loudest records I have ever heard. Paul Miner really outdid himself on this recording and the layout and packaging is top notch. Next is the repress of Tigers Jaw first lp on Run For Cover. I think this was the same label that originally helped out with the Suicide File / RNR pre order disastor. Not to bad of an lp. I hung out with Kitzel from Reaper and finally picked up a copy of The Damned and the Shamed from Terror. For a 4th album its pretty awesome. Their new record will be up for preorder this week on Reaper.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

better than you attitude

I'll never understand that if you listen to other forms of music or into different things that your "friends" are not into, you somehow get criticized. Then again maybe its not worth caring about.
I wonder how this guy below handled it.


some recent buys



I got my order from Deathwish Inc and one of the records I picked up was the latest Leatherface lp entitled "the stormy petral". I first saw Leatherface perform 10 years ago in College Park, MD @ St Andrews. Leatherface is a great band kindve like what if Ian Stuart sang for a non racist political band. This new lp isnt bad and it comes with a download code.




The Black Keys latest album Brothers is fucking awesome. Kurtis from Time Flies recomended this to me a few months back and I cannot stop listening to this.



This is a remix of Cold Caves single Life magazine. Just one song with 4 different remixes, this is more of a DJ single to be played in the clubs.

Monday, August 2, 2010

INTEGRITY VINYL FROM THE SHOW @ CHAIN REACTION ANAHEIM CA 7.17.2010







INTEGRITY played the Chain Reaction in July and it was pretty awesome. I picked up the 2 latest records from the band and Dwid signed both copies. He wrote all over both records with some cryptic writing. Keep in mind I didnt ask him to do this. Also for the show there was a ep limited to 300 copies with a screened cover that has the bands that played it on there. Integrity still killed it that night and it was also my first time seeing Gehenna and Vegas. Both were pretty good
I taped all of Integrity's set and it is on you tube enjoy!