HIATUS / HEALTH HAZARD - "Don't Think With Your Dick…" split live tape (Belgium/UK, 1994)

Two of the most popular '90s "Euro crust" bands gathered on one tape, both recorded live in the South-West of France in 1993-94 and released by Utopia Tapes, a cassette label run by Fred a.k.a "Tony", also drummer for Enola Gay, Vomit Yourself, and Disbeer. I got the opportunity to see both bands on stage at the time and they were super solid, as those recordings can attest. The Hiatus side was recorded in Auch on August 17th 1993 and the sound quality is excellent. Soundboard recording. I really had a soft spot for this band, they always killed it live and were our own French-speaking, heavy drinking, continental answer to Doom. Talking of which, the tape ends with Hiatus' hilarious studio rendition of Doom's "Relief" taken from the split 7" shared by both bands. The Health Hazard side has a much rougher audience recording (Toulouse on February 22nd 1994) but is still totally listenable. The UK band logo was (and still is) on a lot of patches and shirts, for good reason. Blazing fast thrash/crust with raging female vocals. Ex and future members of just about every band in the UK ever, an attempt at a family tree would give even the most die-hard genealogist a headache within minutes. There's also the Not Just A Nightmare EP as bonus material to top it all off. The tape came with a really cool booklet featuring lyrics, pictures, collages… They don't make them like this anymore.

HIATUS / HEALTH HAZARD - Don't Think With Your Dick… split live tape (Belgium/UK, 1994)

DESPERDICIO - "Maqueta 2010" demo (Japan, 2010)

Japanese punks master the art of paying tribute to their favorite bands from far away lands. We've all heard bands ape the Finnish (Poikkeus, Lakaus…), Swedish (Frigorä, Ferocious X…), Italian (Tantrum, Isterismo…) and of course UK sound, singing in broken languages they don't really speak at all. And I'm in no way blaming them: many more non-anglo saxon bands are guilty of this when they sing in English, mind you. Desperdicio hail from Sendai, a city hit really badly by the 2011 tsunami, and you can tell they're trying to emulate the "ramshackle d-beat" sound of more recent Spanish bands like Destrucción, Firmeza 10, Semen… Though when I asked him, their sempai singer Tsuyoshi confirmed that he didn't speak a word of Spanish. I saw them live in Tsuyama less than two months after the March 2011 tragedy, and they had insisted on driving 15 or so hours just to play this show, even if everybody was still in shock. Only in Japan! This is a short tape, only 4 songs including a Varukers cover. They released a 7" on Overthrow Records shortly afterwards.

DESPERDICIO - Maqueta 2010 demo (Japan, 2010)

TOXIK TRASH - Promo tape (France, 1990)

Toxik Trash was a late '80s thrash/grindcore band from Brittany that released a couple of tapes and, if memory serves right, had a song on one of the later 1984 compilation LP series on New Wave Records. By the time this (third?) demo came out, it seems they were already heading for a more death metal sound, but I don't think any recording from that era exists. Nothing groundbreaking on this 12 song effort, but there were so few bands playing that style in France at the time that it deserves to be documented, I guess.

TOXIK TRASH - Promo tape (France, 1990)

"Le Retour de Crème d'Enklüme et du Yaourt Pliable" - Radio show (France, 1988)

This is a 1988 radio show by one of my earliest pen pals, Laurent of the infamous Roger Mag (who might be better known by internerds as the main man behind the Church Of Zer music blog) back when he was still living in France. The hilarious and totally absurd chit-chat is in French but non-French speakers may enjoy the excellent set list.

En français du coup, car seuls les francophones seront à même de saisir la subtilité de l'humour absurde et décalé de Laurent, animateur de cette émission radio grenobloise datant de février 1988 à l'intitulé énigmatique, Le Retour de Crème d'Enklüme et du Yaourt Pliable, dans la fidèle lignée de son zine Roger Mag, de ses groupes de l'époque Eat Yourself et Ovorof, ou de sa désormais légendaire participation au jeu télévisé Tournez Manège. Les morceaux ne sont pas toujours annoncés, j'ai reconstitué la playlist de l'émission du mieux que j'ai pu à partir de mes propres connaissances et archives… vous n'êtes donc pas à l'abri de quelques approximations, ce dont je m'excuse bien platement. Notez une sélection plutôt pointue et de très bon goût pour une émission française de cette époque ! Laurent vit depuis pas mal d'années chez les cousins Québecois, d'où il anime le blog musical Church Of Zer que je ne peux que vous recommander.

The radio show playlist:

Part 1:
Napalm Death - The Kill
Heresy - Nausea
Zyklome A - Angry Faces
Agnostic Front - Hypocrisy
Satanic Malfunctions - Mosheriphia
Sudden Death - Blackflash
B.G.K. - Pencil Pusher
Fear Of God - ?
Desecration (AZ) - Time To Grow Up
Subverse - 101%
S.O.B. - Give Me Advice
X-Creta - Destructive Outfit
Adrenalin OD - Fuck The Neighbors
Heresy - Network Of Friends

Part 2:
Corrosion Of Conformity - Indifferent (live)
Impulse Manslaughter - Sedation
Neos - Ambitious
Ludichrist - Immaculate Deception
Protes Bengt - Radioaktiv
Wehrmacht - Suck My Dick
Atavistic - Perpetual Motion
Napalm Death - Deceiver
Sons Of Ishmael - Mystery Bonus Track
Negative FX - Punch In The Face
Deathnoise - No Society
Post Mortem - Run Amok
Mutilator (FR) - Wish My Death
Negative Gain - Psychic Hours
Gang Green - Narrow Mind

Le Retour de Crème d'Enklüme et du Yaourt Pliable - Radio show (1988)