Unashamed about the T&N back catalog

As part of the effort to rip my entire CD collection, last night I tackled some old-school hardcore albums like the Helpless Amongst Friends compilation, Overcome's “Blessed Are The Persecuted”, and Unashamed's “Reflection”. Tonight I put the Unashamed album on for some nostalgia, and I must say it's quite good, if you like that kind of hardcore. Some good grooves, and vocals you can actually understand (unlike, say, Zao's vocals).

When I looked at my Last.Fm client to see what it said about Unashamed, it gave me a link to buy that track at Amazon.com. What? But this album is from 1996! Tooth and Nail was still a pretty small label back then, and I thought they'd pretty much given up on their back catalog. Well, think again: everything from Wish For Eden's “Pet The Fish” to Plank Eye's “Spark” and more are available for download in mp3 format! Of course, unless you just can't wait to hear these gems, you can always save money by buying the used copies available through Amazon.com, but at least you can check out the song samples before deciding whether you still like Focused's first album (I do), or whether it's just nostalgia trying to waste your money.

Oh, and for added fun, try reading the customer reviews. Most are from 8-10 years ago, and you get excellent reviews like The heaviness and syncopation of this albumn is awesome. It sets the standard for all Tooth and Nail releases. (about “Pet The Fish”... really...) and Oh man, this is the greatest CD in the history of Christian hard music. (about “Stone” by Sometime Sunday... I'm not making this up...). I mean, I like some of that old stuff, but those people needed to get out more and listen to some good music.

New music I actually found on the radio

I had been radio-free for several years before I started commuting to work everyday. Gone are the days of putting headphones in on the bus ride to UIUC. It helps that we have two or three good radio stations out here in Santa Clara: Channel 104.9, Live 105, and the off-and-on fabulous KSCU. The first two do a good job of mostly playing 90's hits like Nirvana, Green Day, and Social Distortion with a mix of new rock, while KSCU has a few DJs that play some awesome indie stuff.

What I particularly like about 104.9 is the selection of more obscure songs from the past – not that no one listened to these songs, but more like very few people would listen to them today. I think I've heard at least four or five songs from Social Distortion's self-titled album (which I need to get someday), as well as great songs from Dramarama and Butthole Surfers. It makes me feel old to realize that the music of my formative years is coming up on its twentieth birthday within the next few years.

My most recent discovery is a band from L.A. that reminds me so much of Rose Blossom Punch that I expected to look them up and find Aaron Sprinkle's name in the list of band members – Silversun Pickups. The radio single “well thought out twinkles” is really good, and the rest of the album didn't disappoint me at all.

Other songs that I have to admit that I like: “Empty Walls” by Serj Tankian and “Never Too Late” by Three Days Grace.