Recently I received a terse (but droll) email from Hyped2Death founder Chuck Warner sayin something to the effect "I'm tired of being a bridesmaid & never the bride on Siltblog. A few mentions of the Messthetics cd's but no real overall coverage. What do I have to do, send a promo package"? But before I could say 'Dan Electro' arrive a package did, replete w/all 3 of the current incarnations. The dedication to the D.I.Y. modus weren't lost on Chuck (or myself); they come sans cases, so to get'em gussied up, I had to sit down & DO IT MYSELF. Touche Chuck, nicely played. The next round of Communion wine spritzers is on me.
All kiddin aside, Chuch Warner is w/o a doubt the owner/curator of the largest 'public' collection of DIY music what's known to exist. He's was a diehard fan of the genre long before our 1st encounters in the mid 80's & he's been floggin these set's for yrs,1st on cassette, then cdr's & now full on, new-boots'n-panties cd's. As I mentioned above there's 3 what's available in this new '100' series & each is a joy to behold. I always say if nothin else, these compilation's make drivin the car a veritable goddamn pleasure. And I have had my share of arduous drive's & traffic jams lately so take it from me-I KNOW. That business earlier this yr up on I-78? I was there. Smack dab in the middle. Let me tell ya, Funboy Five's 'Complusive Eater' track took on a whole new meanin for them 20 hrs I sat idle. I may never eat another Ding Dong as long as I live but I sure was happy to find a box of'em in the glove compartment! Anyway, like I was sayin...
For those of us what's been on board for a while, there's alot of spillover but that's to be expected. The real change here is the excellent graphics & repro's of sleeves, jackets & band photo's as well as the painstakingly great archival liner notes. Not to mention link's to website's of bands & labels what's active in the here & now. On the audio front, each volume has a couple or three previously unreleased demo's or alternate tracks that're-at the very least-interesting to hear. For instance, it was odd hearin a "crunchy' take on the Dry Rib track 'Quail Seed' after havin my ears tuned to the 7" version all these yrs & bein a Lines fan myself, it was a treat to get to checkout an unreleased track of theirs. And hadn't I been privy to this collection, it might've taken me a couple more yrs to know that Acute Records has a 3 cd Lines retrospective on the way (http://www.acuterecords.com/)! When it come's to highlights, well we's all got our favorite's. Personally there ain't none I don't appreciate, though I am prone to repeatin tracks by Auntie Pus, Dad, Different I's, Milkshake Melon, Exhibit A, MLR & Vacants. And I ain't gonna level a peep of criticism neither, 'cept to say that as catchy as the Tronics 'Shark Fucks' is, it'd sure be nice if their 'Diver' track off the 'Snoopies v/a lp might be compiled on one of these here collections someday.
Don't know what else there is to say. This is a great series that just keeps gettin better. What's more, if we all mind our pints 'n quarts -& Chuck keep's on diggin-there may even be dvd's to accompany these dudes someday. I wouldn't rule it out.
(These cd's are available direct from; http://www.hyped2death.com/)
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