Jammin’ Gerald – Factory Style (1994)

During the early 90’s, as roster artists on Dance Mania began to gain more and more local attention, a club called The Factory became a youth hotspot for the latest and greatest dance and electronic slammers to get played. In ’85, Jammin’ Gerald (Henderson) began his DJ residency there. After noticing that house flavorings in particular went over well with the crowds, he began to fiddle with his own tracks. Dance Mania founder and A&R person Willie J. Barney caught wind of his tunes and asked for a handful to release on his label. The result is this EP, containing a rework of Gerald’s most popular club hit “Get The Ho”, but the main attraction is, “Mutha Fuckin' Party Hype”, which is one of my favorite ghetto house songs. All these tracks are solid though. Cop this.

Side note: whoever ripped this copy is a poophead. I think there's a better rip on what that I'll try to grab eventually.

posse up

DJ Funk – Booty House Anthems (1999)

Seminal release from the Godfather of ghetto house (Chunk Chambers). If you’re not familiar with the genre, it’s marked by stripped-down house sounds with sexual vocals, usually samples but also sometimes supplied by the DJ’s themselves (or even more rarely by MC’s).  Tracks are fast and short, aimed towards the hyper & lusty clubby crowds of Chicago and Detroit, the former being Funk’s place of residence. In the early 90’s, while other labels were moving away from the stripped-down sound of house, Dance Mania was the one to keep it going, and Funk was at the forefront. Early on he was a mixtape guy but had a couple very successful hits in the clubs, and in 1999 released this comp; thirty cuts of the movin’-est booty-shakin’ house music that had existed up that point.

Dance Mania was a pretty big label that went through a lot of stylistic changes. A great thing about it is that there isn’t really a wrong place to start, as long as you know what era you’re dealing with. This comp is nice if you’re new to ghetto house, but so are a number of other releases. In the future I’m going to try to upload as much Dance Mania stuff as I can (although this comp wasn’t actually released on DM).

work it

Various Artists - Homework #101 U.S. "D.I.Y." and postpunk 1976-86: R&S

And here we are, the last volume for now. I may try and find whatever other Homework comps I'm missing in the future. And I'll be sure to post the rest of Messthetics here in the days to come. I hope you enjoy all of these as much as I have!

I wanna read books about sex and smut
But dad says I gotta do my homework
I wanna take the car out on Friday night
But mom says I gotta do my homework

Various Artists - Homework #102 U.S. "D.I.Y." and postpunk 1977-86: S&T

Just to add to the naming confusion. Volume #102 has totally different tracks than Volume #2 which I posted a few days ago.

Volume 102

Various Artists - Homework #103 American "D.I.Y" & post-punk '79-84: V-to-Z

Volume 103

Various Artists - Homework #104: U.S. "D.I.Y." and postpunk 1978-83: A & B

Volume 104

Various Artists - Homework #105 U.S. "D.I.Y." and postpunk 1978-83: "C"

Volume 105

Various Artists - Homework #9 US D.I.Y./punkwave/post-punk: A, B, & C LP cuts+

Really the only gripe I have with these compilations is the weird numbering scheme, I ordered the 7 volume pack and they sent me: #101, #102, #103, #104, #105, #9, and #10. And there's not really any consistency in the titles either. But the music's great at least!

Volume 9

Various Artists - Homework #10 DIY/postpunk/No Wave/experimental: ABC '79-89

Alright! I finally got the comps! I don't think they really even need any kind of introduction at this point, so here you go!

Volume 10

Various Artists - Homework #2 U.S. D.I.Y.-punk & punkwave 45s: R-to-T

Oh for the love of god this week couldn't get any better. It turns out there's a whole different series made by the same label (Hyped2Death) that basically follows the same formula as Messthetics but features American bands instead of British ones. The only problem is that, as far as my searches have turned up, very few volumes exist online (which is a real crime against humanity since these comps should be much more well known). Hopefully within the next few days I'll scrape some money together and just buy all of the volumes of Homework from their website, add them to Discog and RYM, and of course, post them here.

in the meantime, enjoy volume 2

Various Artists - Messthetics #2 UK D.I.Y./postpunk S-to-Th: 1978-82

Here's the second volume of Messthetics. This release has just as much D.I.Y. goodness as the last. The mix of delicious underground post-punk, punk, and power pop is enough to keep any sensible person glued to their headphones. Just as with volume 1, I highly recommend checking this out.

Under under under
Under a spell
Taking your chances
Doing it for thrills

Various Artists - Messthetics # 1: UK '78-81 "D.I.Y." - Bands R-to-Si

I think I did it. I found the holy grail of post-punk compilations. As the Trash Box was to garage and psychedelic rock, Messthetics is to D.I.Y. punk and post-punk. This will be the first of many posts about these fantastic comps. The first volume is a 1 hour and 15 minute long tour de force that shows you exactly whats to come in the other 17 volumes. A barrage of D.I.Y. madness that will keep you enthralled from beginning to end. If you like post-punk this is ESSENTIAL listening.

We're desperate and insane
Ambassadors of our cause
We don't care if we die
In courts of wars

Experimental Audio Research - Mesmerized (1994)

EAR was an extended solo effort by Peter Kember (Spacemen 3, Sonic Boom) who often invited collaborators such as  Kevin Martin, Kevin Shields, Eddie Prévost , Lawrence Chandler, Nick Kramer, Delia Derbyshire and Thomas Köner to explore the farthest attainable reaches of sonic cosmology. On their first recording, Mesmerized, it’s tough to say exactly whose work is showcased, but it’s fun to make assumptions: the evolving drone on “Guitar Feedback Manipulation” recalls Shields and Chandler while the looming bagpipes on “California Nocturne” recalls Martin and Prévost.

Is the acrostic on purpose? probably