Misanthropy for Beginners

This is just a little mix I threw together for a friend, but I figured I'd go ahead and post it here, even though it doesn't really fit my usual format here. I didn't make a cover for it or anything. But it's a few doom metal songs and a bunch of American black metal. Enjoy.

Misanthropy for Beginners: A Doom and Black Metal Mix
1. Suma- Let The Churches Burn
2. Lurker of Chalice- Granite
3. Wolves in the Throne Room- Behold The Vastness and Sorrow
4. Thou- I Was Ignored, And Judged, And Cast Down
5. Krieg- II
6. Krallice- Timehusk
7. Skepticism- The Rising Of The Flames
8. Nachtmystium- Life Of Fire
9. Weakling- This Entire Fucking Battlefield

Misanthropy for Beginners

Not Straight Edge

Plain Wrap!
Original Music for a Generic World
1985

A lot of my early exposure to punk rock came from the GA Tech student-run radio station WREK's weekly punk show Coup de Grace. Between it and their metal show, Wrekage (mentioned a time or two already on this blog), WREK had a huge influence on the development of my musical taste. I used to tape each show weekly, and then compile the songs onto 90-minute mix tapes and listen to them over and over. I wish I still had some. I have one tape of Coup de Grace still (an all-covers show), but alas no tape player.

One of the songs that I played endlessly was Plain Wrap!'s "Not Straight Edge", though for the longest time I thought it was "Non-Straight Edge". Not that it makes much of a difference. At any rate, these guys play super-energetic, poppy, new-wave punk of the mid-80s variety. This is a fun, energetic record. Recommended.

Oh, these guys have recently reunited to play some shows, though I'm not sure they've made it outside of California. But if you seem 'em coming around, go check them out. I know I will.

Original Music for a Generic World

Wonderfully Colored Plastic War Toys

Dead Milkmen
Soul Rotation
1992

When the Dead Milkmen dropped this record, their legions of fans immediately shat the bed. This was a band that was massively popular in underground circles, with the punks and skaters, the college rock dudes, even some of the goths and metalheads all having one of the ubiquitous smiling cow t-shirts. My first exposure to them was before I was even into punk at all, when someone let me hear "Bitchin' Camaro" and "Rastabilly" and inexplicably told me it was early Anthrax. What did I know.

Anyway, Soul Rotation isn't funny. At all. That's it's biggest misstep. Even when they weren't hilarious, the Milkmen were consistently chuckle-worthy, or at the very least you could tell they were trying. On this record, the lyrics are occasionally odd, but not really in a humorous way. So there's that. Another weird thing is that Joe Jack Talcum (or Butterfly Fairweather as he went by on this record) sings more songs than Rodney Anonymous (H.P Hovercraft on this record).

But the music is really great. The simple punk sound of their early records is gone, replaced by melodic pop, funk, even a little ska. There are a coupl'a punkish songs here, but it's different. Anyway, I've always stood by it, even though the band never really recovered from the perceived quality drop (Not Richard, But Dick was a pretty good return to their earlier irreverence, but Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig) was terrible). What was side 2 (starting with the excellent "Silly Dreams") is stronger than side 1, FYI.

Soul Rotation