Cro-Mags at The University of the Arts

They canceled.

Colin and I went. Cro-Mags. Snapcase. 108. H2O.

I may be wrong on Snapcase.

Canon opened. Sound and lyrics. Like Earth Crisis. It was 1994. Sold.

I didn't pick up the seven inch that day. When I got it. I realized they were from Newtown.

At some point after graduating high school and flunking out of college I took some classes at Bucks County Community College. I met Ryan. Likely through Denise. We had sold out by this point. We both ended up at Temple.

We would go out. I would pass out on his couch. We would discuss less hardcore. More Morrissey. More Dave Matthews. Yes. Dave Matthews.

I haven't seen Ryan in years. I think he ended up going to music school. At least I remember hearing that.

Canon - The Solution. I sold my copy. To Sean. He wanted it because it featured a member of Frail. He was my Frail dumping ground. Acquired the mp3s on Coregasm. I think Tim pointed me in that direction.

[Image via www.northeastroads.com]

It Wouldn't Be the First Time, Drunk at The Garden

Madison Square Garden. Exciter tour.

Nigel. Kim. Judith.

I drank too much. Prior to the show. Outside of the Garden. Way too much.

Nigel was antsy. We got in late. Showing up late to a show. Standard. I guess large concerts are a different animal.

We arrive. Me. Kim. Nigel. We'd seen them before. A first for Judith. She was excited.

I was still drunk. I barely remember the show.

I talked to Kim the whole time. Nigel was annoyed with me.

Rightfully so.

Was it midweek? Weekend?

The next day. I stated. To Judith. Maybe Nigel. "I can't believe Gore didn't do any songs."

I was informed that he sang at least two.

Depeche Mode - The Singles 81-85. Purchased for Andrew. Ripped his copy.

[Image via content.answers.com]

Day Five

Freshman year. Day five.

Ben. Mike. I met Jen.

She was a sophomore. She mentioned my Strife sweatshirt. Or some other piece of straight edge wear. I met Lane through the Strife sweatshirt. Probably confusing my memories.

Jen lived down the hall. She was from Allentown. Emmaus. She was into hardcore. Had been. You wouldn't have known. At least. What I thought a girl into hardcore should look like.

Or would look like.

She wasn't involved in the scene at school. In town. But had been involved during high school. She loved Blindside. Pinstripe. Lifetime. Turning Point. I have the Turning Point tape. A black tape.

She dated McCabe. Slept with. One or the other. Both.

I knew Sean. It made me slightly uncomfortable. Briefly.

We ended up dating. For a year. Through the summer. Visited her in Lexington. Internship.

I sold out while we dated. I'm sure it played a role. Girls often do.

Ten years later. I finally stopped.

I was kicked out of housing. At the end of the year. Not ten years later.

Ink & Dagger - The Fine Art of Original Sin. Originally picked up at Generation Records. Sold. Re-acquired during the Initial Records sale at Very Distribution.

Someone Was Shot Around the Corner

No one knows where Francisville is. Very few.

North of Fairmount Avenue. East of Fairmount. Aka. Art Museum Area. South of Girard Avenue.

I like the neighborhood.

Eating take out with the local drug dealer. His girlfriend was friendly.

Pulled over once. For armed robbery. It was around five am.

Three dollar cheese steaks.

Vodka Sparks. King Cobra. Ninety-nine cents. King Cobra.

Helmets. Christmas trees.

Making a turkey.

Screen doors. Holes in walls. Grilling. Long grass.

Take out. (City View.) Television. Afternoons. Late nights. Early mornings. Sleeping on the couch. Fully clothed. On the floor. Eagles-Patriots. Cornish hen. Air hockey. Beavis and Butthead. Cigarettes. Off-street parking. 108 video. Anderson. Gino. Mattress.

Ryan. Nick. Travis.

7 Seconds - The Crew. Borrowed and returned to Travis. Along with Lifetime. The seven inches.

[Image via www.google.com]

Cheating God

I never had a lot to say during confession.

The card was key. For my lines. When it wasn't there. I was lost.

My sins were minor. I'd use the same ones.

Cursing. Fighting with my parents. Lying.

Sometimes I would reverse the order.

Penance. I never remembered any prayers. If I had. I still wouldn't have said them.

Give myself a few minutes. Get up. Go home.

My last confession. Before my brother's Confirmation.

That was my last Mass. Outside of weddings and funeral.

Disembodied - The Confession. Acquired online. Possibly Coregasm.

[Image via www.jesus-is-savior.com]

He's Not Very Popular

No one buys his albums. Stateside. Yet. Pete Doherty gets a lot of press.

Blog press. Tabloid press.

I don't know numbers. But. I can't imagine The Libertines. Or Babyshambles move a lot of units in the United States.

Still. I read something almost every day about him. Kate Moss. Really that big to warrant this focus? It starts with that. Started.

Now. His own celebrity. Winehouse. I understand. She sells a lot of records. Here. Abroad. No one knows him here. On that level. At least.

The whole thing. Fascinating.

Maybe it's what I read. Although most people I know. Know Pete Doherty. Not necessarily his music.

Is there anyone else like that? Has there been?

Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation. Best Buy gift card. Thank you Andrew.

The Realization Had Set In, I Was Old

Everyone gets into a musical rut. Now and then.

But until a few months ago. Finding new bands. New music. Consumed an unhealthy amount of my time.

I don't know what happened. Did things pass me by? Was new music boring? Did I not understand it? Or maybe that was it. I had gotten too old. Over thirty.

I had noted the change in myself. And then I started telling people. Telling them what I had realized. I had no desire to find anything new.

My friends could post links to bands. Not interested.

A band I had heard or read about would be playing Making Time. Not interested.

Replace making time with The Khyber. The North Star. Johnny Brenda's. Not interested.

My friends would get bands for their DJ nights. Not interested.

I couldn't put forth the effort. The time. The money. To look into new bands.

My position was clear. My new position.

I would seek out old bands. Which were new to me. Soft Machine for example.

I would seek out releases by bands I used to listen to. Hardcore. Punk rock. Grunge. Industrial. Indie.

So nostalgic of me. Related to aging. I assumed.

Or. I would seek out and purchase new material from bands I already listened to. Or their members. Stereophonics. Ian Brown. Gorillaz. Oasis. Babyshambles. Erasure. Manic Street Preachers.

I got past it. Thankfully. I still follow my new position. The new parameters. But no longer do I limit myself to them. I have been seeking out new music. Again.

I was in a rut. The rut had less to do with music. And more to do with life.

The past month. Or so. Changes for the better. Including Yelle. And Neon Neon.

Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers. Purchased through Amazon. During my rut.

Body Glove Corey Glover

A lot of memories from Moorestown. New Jersey.

The house where Christian set a paper mache egg on fire. In the middle of the table. Running fingers through candles.

I also have a handful of music memories from the living room.

I think we only watched MTV. Or. Mostly MTV.

My earliest memory of AC/DC. My earliest memory of Elton John. And also my first exposure to the word gay. As explained to us by Irene. During that earliest memory of Elton John.

And my earliest memory of Living Colour.

Cult of Personality. And Body Glove wet suit.

Christian enjoyed surfing. The wet suit stood out. Less for it being ridiculous. More for it being related to surfing.

I bought the tape. Well. My mom bought the tape. Shortly after the visit.

Living Colour - Pride. I'd really like to get my hands on the separate albums as well. In compact disc form. Not cassette.

[Image via pics.summitonline.com]

More On the Subject of Creative Packages (Or Packaging)

A great example.

And. An interesting listen for fans. Informative.

The photograph does not do it justice. But then again. I was never Helen Ziegler's star pupil.

Super Furry Animals - Phantom Phorce. Packaged with Slow Life EP. Will upload if requested. Purchased from Amazon.co.uk.

We Wanna Be Free To Do What We Wanna Do

March of 1993 was my first trip overseas. Family vacation. London. Ireland.

That trip. Like most going forward. My focus would be music. Purchasing.

The Suede debut would be my favorite find. Animal Nitrate was everywhere.

I also picked up a compilation. Loaded.

Primal Scream. Lenny Kravitz. Morrissey. Dinosaur Jr. Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Faith No More. Suede. Radiohead. Eclectic mix.

This was my first exposure to Radiohead. Not Creep. But Anyone Can Play Guitar.

Soon. Creep was everywhere. Maybe it was everywhere before my trip. I didn't notice.

I gave the Loaded compilation to Kim. I hope she still enjoys it.

Radiohead - Pablo Honey. I owned this. I sold this. I bought it for my brother. I ripped it. He lost it. Only has the case. For Andrew.