MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
MRR #280
I've taken a temprorary job this summer in Chicago. I'm pretty excited to be here as the local hardcore scene is blazing with great bands. Here's a quick mini scene report. Chronic Seizure play off the hook 82 style hardcore, they have a 7" out on Fashionable Idiots and thei...
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MRR #278
I've written a lot in this space about the logistics of touring, releasing and distributing records. This month I want to talk about the continued rise in oil and gas prices and how it affects DIY hardcore.
There is a growing awareness that the world has struck a...
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MRR #262
As I've written in the past, sometimes it seems like DIY hardcore has become the victim of it’s own success. A lot of people I talk to think there are just TOO MANY records coming out and just too much lackluster, generic and boring bands. However, if you take the...
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MRR #267-record collecting
My next two columns will be about record collecting. This month I’m going to talk a little bit about general concepts the way I see them. Next month I’m going to talk about how the internet has changed record collecting.
Record collecting has been a part of the...
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MRR #266-Record Collecting
MRR column 266
This is part two of a discussion of punk record collecting the 21st century. Last column I talked about some basic principles, like value, rarity, price, and merit. This time around I’d like to talk about how the internet has affected record collecting.
Pundits...
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MRR 249
This is my sixth year as a columnist for MRR. I’m still super stoked to be a part of this magazine. I want to take this time to remind people that MRR is now distributed primarily through DIY distros so get in touch about getting bundles to sell in you...
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MRR #248
Felixmrrcolumn247
In the summer of 1991 I spent a month in Russia as a student. While there I took classes, visited museums and cultural institutions and hung out with some local punk and metal kids. One day me and some Russian punks and metallisti were sitting in a park...
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MRR #250
I’m not really going to talk about the election. I’m sure everyone is sick of hearing about it by now. Clearly if more of you had bought Rock Against Bush vol 2 CD and the “Not My President” t shirt with the Fat Records logo on the back, the vote...
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MRR 246
Most pressing issues first. Mr. Mike Thorn mentioned my moustache (make that MOSHSTACHE sucka) in the last issue. OK, I sported this moustache for all of three weeks. It was a bet with the other members of Damage Deposit. We were playing one very metal show with Martyr AD and...
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MRR #247
note this is the controversial column that led to my resignation as an MRR columnist.
I recently had the chance to see the documentary film “Afropunk” wihich is currently on tour with director James Spooner. This film is pretty masterfully done. He manages to interview and extremely broad...
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MRR #244
I think I’ve written about this before, but I’m cover this ground again. Shock value, has lost most of it’s value. There are very few taboos left to be broken or buttons left to be pushed. Far from inciting controversy stupid record cover art and “offensive” lyrical content aren’t really...
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MRR #245-tour checklist
I wrote a column a while back about selecting a tour van. I’ve also written about setting up and booking tours. This month as I get ready to head out on the road with Damage Deposit I thought it would be a good idea to share sort a pre tou...
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MRR #231-mail order and record trading
This month I would like to talk about some of the specifics involved with mail order record distribution and record trading, and of course Hardcore Music!
First off, some really good books and films about punk have been coming out. I’ve discussed in this column before about how punk...
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MRR #232
OK, here is a long serious column about the political situation in the Middle East. Bah, fuck the Middle East- that shit’s all fucked up. This column is about hardcore vinyl! It’s summertime and tons of bands are on tour; we’ve been having shows almost every night in Minneapolis. In...
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MRR #178-record distribution
It has been suggested in some quarters that I Felix Von am "stuck in the eighties." If I am stuck anywhere its in 1998. I give props to the old school at every opportunity yet I am very much a participant in todays scene. I can't turn back the hands...
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MRR #175
I was going to talk about getting thrown in jail by jackbooted government thugs this month but my case is still under review so here are some thoughts about commodification of punk.
I once thought that hardcore punk rock was so far underground and so at odds with the...
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MRR #176-record distribution
So you got your records from the pressing plant. You invite the whole mob over to fold lyric sheets and stuff records into covers. Hours later they sit neatly piled on the floor two thousand copies that are gonna take the world by storm. You've put countless hours into writing,...
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MRR #177
I live in what is arguably the "worst" part of Minneapolis. The Phillips neighborhood of the South Side has the highest poverty rate (average income $8,000 per annum) highest crime rate, and highest percentage of minority residents. Housing is primarily rental. Local businesses tend to be poverty oriented, pawn shops,...
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MRR #179
Last month we talked about the serves to subvert or at least bypass the traditional mechanics of distribution is trading. Most bands and economic of record distribution, and two months previous the cat from Mutant Pop/ Thousand Flowers wrote a very good letter about record distribution. One area of punk...
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MRR #180
The time has come to Stop the Violence! The Minneapolis versus Chicago Hardcore Wars have gone too far. Too much blood has been shed. Lives have been ruined. Some people may never be able to walk or play guitar again due to injuries received at the last rumble. For those...
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MRR #181
I'm not going to spend my whole column eulogizing Tim, I really barely knew him. I met him once at Gilman in 1987. He took my five bucks and gave me a card to fill out. Here was a man totally dedicated to rock and roll. Whether you agreed with...
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MRR #182 Metal
I love the "Pioneers of Punk" section in MRR. I am a big fan of 70's punk rock especially the Stooges, MC5, the Heartbreakers, the Voidoids, Dead Boys, Pagans etc. I have to say that almost none of the bands that have arisen in the last 20 years to play...
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MRR #183
Perhaps I should take up writing fiction because a fair number of people actually believed my satirical article about the Minneapolis vs. Chicago "Hardcore Wars." How anyone could seriously believe that the members of Charles Bronson dressed up in Ninja Suits and took out the entire Twin Cities Hardcore Scene...
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MRR #185
I have said this before in as many words but nothing has changed and my blood still boils so I'm going to say it again. FUCK "INDIE ROCK" FUCK "POST HARDCORE" I cannot believe that the most spineless and vacant music of the last two decades is marketing itself as...
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MRR #186
A lot of people have been asking about the Code 13 13" LP "For Those Who Used to Rock". I finally obtained a copy of my own and let me warn you, this is a bootleg and should be boycotted. The worst aspects of collector nerdism, engineered scarcity and straight...
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MRR #188
It has been suggested in some quarters that MRR columnists write too often about boring topics such as politics and ideas when our real focus should be music. I feel there is definitely a place in punk music for political activity, social commentary, and intellectual discourse. Realistically punk has failed...
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MRR #189
In order to retaliate against the pop bands who keep covering entire Ramones albums several hardcore labels have gotten together to issue a series of DRI covers albums. Expect these to start hitting the shelves around January. First Capitalist Casualties will cover the Dirty Rotten Album, His Hero Is Gone...
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MRR #190
For the last few months we have been discussing the great British Punk of the early 80's. In order to put this music into context it would help to look at the social and economic backdrop of England in 1981. Sociologists like Dick Hebdige (See Subculture and The Meaning of...
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MRR #192
When this column goes to press I will be on tour with Code 13 in Europe and the Middle East. I have been playing in bands now since 84 and never got to tour abroad. This is the great adventure I've looked forward to since I picked up a bass...
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MRR #195
I spent the last two months touring Europe and Israel with Code 13. I had hoped to write on the road and e-mail my columns to Maximum but this did not work out. The internet is not quite as pervasive in Europe as it is in America. Internet cafes are...
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MRR #196
First off, it has come to my attention that a White Power band from Florida is using the name Code 13. OK, if any of you nimrods are reading, here is your cease and desist order. I won't be calling my lawyer, I won't be filing a complaint with the...
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MRR #197
One of the reasons America's economy has been expanding continuously for several years without significant inflation is because companies have consistantly increased productivity without raising their costs. Of course, what this really means is replacing experienced and skilled workers who demand a higher wage with lower skilled, lower paid workers...
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MRR #198
I've spent a few months talking about politics and such so now lets get back to what sells fanzines, music.
Before I talk about Grindcore I'd like to clear the air with some terms. To someone who doesn't listen to fast aggressive hardcore, especially the metal influenced stuff, there...
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MRR #199
"There's no place to play in this town." How many times have you said this, or heard someone say it? This month I'll talk a little bit about different places you can set up gigs in your town. Booking gigs is not an arcane science. Booking gigs is a lot...
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MRR #200
This is the "gloves off" issue where we are allowed to talk shit about other columnists. Sorry to say, that since Nick Fitt left I don't really have a dis list of MRR columnists. Canning Nick Fitt was the best thing this magazine did in years. Despite the fact that...
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MRR #201
A few weeks ago MRR sent me on assignment to Scandinavia to report on two festivals. As readers may have noticed I'm pretty crazy about Swedish and Finnish punk. The primary occasion of my visit was the festival at Lepakko, a legendary spot for punk gigs. As far as I...
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MRR #202
OK lets go back to 1990 and Profane Existence Number 3 where I got to pick my top ten LP's of the previous decade. They were:
1. Discharge-Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing
2. Rudimentary Peni-Death Church
3. Napalm Death-Scum
4. Crucifix-Dehumanization
5. Proletariat-Soma Holiday
6. Subhumans-The Day the...
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MRR #204
This is MRR's family or breeding theme issue or something like that. I'm officially sterile. Sperm count zero. I had a vasectomy in 1988 at age 19. I wrote about this experience in the first issue of Profane Existence. I outlined what were then my political and environmental concerns that...
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MRR #206
I sit and write this on May 2. Yesterday May Day protests were held around the world. In a notable act of international solidarity protests were held not only in London, Berlin and New York but in Seoul and Manila. Pundits are talking about a "new culture of protest" and...
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MRR #208
Before I talk about the Code 13 Pacific tour there is one thing I'd like to bring up. As anyone in America who drives a car knows gas prices have skyrocketed lately. For the benefit of you people overseas, US gas prices have doubled in the last years. I'm not...
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MRR #210
For those who haven't noticed the zine world is looking a lot more interesting lately with the return of Profane Existence (P.O.Box 8722, Minneapolis, MN 55408) and the new Short Fast and Loud (P.O.Box 420843, San Francisco, CA 94142). Unlike Heart Attack, MRR, Hit List and Punk Planet these zines...
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MRR #211
Greetings, I think this issue will come out right before the USA holds its election. All I got to say on the subject is this. Whoever you vote for the system wins. Whichever candidate you choose the USA will still by run by and for big corporations and the rich....
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MRR #212
For many of us the first exposure to hardcore and punk outside our local scene or a mall record store was the radio. In the early 80's I was fortunate enough to live in Washington DC tuning in every Wednesday for Tom Lyle of Government Issue's radio show and every...
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MRR #213
This month we follow the continuing adventures of Code 13 on tour to Australia.
Australia was one of the most anticipated stops on our pacific tour. After a month in Asia we were pretty stoked to be back in the English speaking world. I had always been somewhat...
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MRR #214
This month we follow the continuing adventures of Code 13 in the Pacific with the final chapter, New Zealand and Los Angeles. Last month we discussed Australia. If you are flying from the US to Australia definitely look into adding New Zealand to your trip. In our case by flying...
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MRR #215
April Fools Column, 2001
My working life has taken a dramatic change over the last few months. I‚m now working more or less full time buying rare punk records. This is pretty much a dream job for me. I spend all day looking for rare records on the net...
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MRR #216
Stop jamming my mailbox with letters calling me a sell out and a traitor. Last months column about buying records for wealthy investors was of course an April Fool's joke. We have a thing in the US called SARCASM. I've detected elements of sarcasm in England, but in other parts...
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MRR #218
Don't worry, my column in the last issue was not missing because my lawyers told me to stop writing for MRR. I missed last month's Issue as I was on tour with Vitamin X. I always think I'll be able to dash off a breathless report from the front when...
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MRR #219
As promised here is the listeners guide to the Thrash/Hardcore revival.
OK, I don't want to be accused of trying to start and/or cash in on a new trend in music. You can throw around terms like Bandanna Thrash, Youth Crew or Powerviolence and they may o...
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MRR #220
Hope everyone found last months "listeners guide to the hardcore revival" useful. So many records have come out since I wrote it that it's already out of date. What can you do, hardcore is blazing forward and can't be stopped. I've been warned that there will someday be a backlash...
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MRR #221
First I want to talk about Unity. Unity is a time-honored topic in hardcore music. Youth Brigade said we should Fight to Unite. Warzone stressed that we be United As One. Scream thought we should Fight,for a United Scene. Agnostic Front want us to be United and Strong. SOD advocated...
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MRR #222-tour and festival booking
This month I will be brief as I'm on tour with DS 13.
This summer I set up the DS 13 tour and Thrash Fest 2. Thrash Fest two was a total moshstrosity. Onward To Mayhem, USV, Holding On, Code 13, Assembly of God, Spazm 151, Tear It Up,...
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MRR #223
Last issue lots of people addressed the terrorist attacks and by the time this issue hits the streets it will be old news. I talked a few months ago about the knee jerk tendency of leftists to jump in bed with anyone the US was bombing. So too will probably...
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MRR #224-dance of days book review
First of all everyone who is interested should check out my review of the book American Hardcore in this issue. I don't pretend to a book critic (although I did review books for Profane Existence) but I do know a few things about hardcore music and I think this book...
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MRR #225-best shows I ever missed.
If you've ever met me you know I'm the guy who won't shut up about some hardcore show I went to back in the day or my favorite record or whatever. The cats who work with me at Extreme Noise are sick of hearing these stories and told me to...
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MRR #226
People sometimes ask me what I think the next trend in hardcore will be. I have done extensive research into this subject and I have a prediction. The next big wave of hardcore will be the crossing of crusty d-beat hardcore with straight edge youth crew. What the fuck is...
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MRR #227-1970s sci fi films
"Lord of the Rings, that's totally Juvenile" I said to Michele as I waved the latest issue of the Punisher for emphasis leaning against my glass case of Star Wars toys. Here at Maximum Rock and Roll we like to mix our punk rock with deep and meaningful social and...
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MRR #228-costs of running a diy label
A few years ago I wrote two columns in Heart Attack about women in punk. I ran down what I thought were the best/most influential female and female fronted punk bands. Most American punk kids know Bikini Kill and Spitboy, and I mentioned bands like Sink, Gaia, Gash, Livin' Sacrifice,...
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MRR #230
Summer of 2002 will hopefully be remembered as one of the best periods for hardcore since the early 80's. I feel qualified to make such a bold statement after witnessing some truly epic hardcore shows in the past few weeks. As I started to relate last month I've been very...
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MRR #209
Sorry to everyone eagerly awaiting the continuation of the Code 13 Pacific tour saga. You will have to wait another month as I have just returned breathless from the frontlines here in America. Below is my report from the front after the DS 13 USA tour and Thrash Fest 2000....
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MRR #233-bootlegs and re issues
This month I will really get down to a seriously laborious examination of the political situation in the Middle East. NOT! Since the last issue, the Middle East is still fucked up. I have NO ANSWERS. But I do have some things to say about punk rock.
This...
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MRR #234-starting a distro
If you read any of the now large number of books on the early punk scene, such as We Got the Neutron Bomb, Please Kill Me, Punk 77 etc. one of the things that comes up over and over is that after a certain “heroic period” the bohemian early punk...
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MRR #235
This is the WAR issue. I’ve written about Iraq and War and the fucked up Middle East here recently. I doubt I have much to say that won’t be said elsewhere. I guess I’m in support of a regime change in Bagdad, as well as Washington DC. Will a wa...
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MRR #236
I moved out of my Mom’s house when I was 16. I lived in a bunch of wild punk houses, and later rented apartments. After I’d been on my own for five years or so I really started to think about buying a house instead of renting. When I started...
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MRR #237- Cds and CD packaging
Just a short column this month as I’m struggling to stay above water with moving and fixing up the new castle havoc.
Ok, this month I’m going to talk a little more about CDs, and specifically CD packaging. First, understand I am a vinyl purist to the end....
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MRR #238
I was truly saddened to hear about the death of Joe Strummer. I was always much more into the Clash than the Pistols, Ramones or any other early punk bands. As Mark P. once said in Sniffin’ Glue “The Clash Tells the Truth.” I don’t care what anyone says the...
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MRR #239
OK, I hope you all have been following the letter column lately wherin our friends at Plastic Bomb zine in Germany have been setting MRR straight about some dodgy nazi bands who’ve been in MRR. I’d like to throw some gas on that flame. I was around in the late...
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MRR #240-samples and copyrights
A few months ago I wrote about the issue of bands using samples on their records. Mike of Kill the Man Who Questions had written about it previously. I now have some first hand experience with this and want to shed some more light into this area.
First...
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MRR #241
OK, somehow my column last month got garbled. I was talking about how Plastic Bomb had called out some US and European labels for releasing dodgy right wing and neo nazi stuff and adding some clarification on the dodgy status of two bands in particular Youth Defense League and Best...
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MRR #243
OK, I want everyone to go back in time to about 1984-85. As I’ve discussed in this space before, I feel that 1984 was about the high point for hardcore and this form of music was partially destroyed by it’s own success in a very short time. As others have...
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MRR# 247
In the summer of 1991 I spent a month in Russia as a student. While there I took classes, visited museums and cultural institutions and hung out with some local punk and metal kids. One day me and some Russian punks and metallisti were sitting in a park on Vasilevsky...
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MRR #245-tour checklist
Felix MRR column 245
I wrote a column a while back about selecting a tour van. I’ve also written about setting up and booking tours. This month as I get ready to head out on the road with Damage Deposit I thought it would be a good idea to...
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MRR #278-fanzine advertising
This month I'd like to talk about the less than glamorous subject of
fanzine advertising. In the early days of punk there was little coverage
from the music press. Fans soon started publications of their own to focus
on the new media. Some of the early zines such as Sniffin'...
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MRR #275-DC Hardcore
If you ever take a writing class, the teacher usually says “write what you know” one thing I know is DC Hardcore. So lets get right to it.
This month I’d like to talk about a band that made a big impression on me as a youth, Government...
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MRR #271-DC Hardcore
A few years ago I wrote in this column about how I felt some lackluster bands from the 80’s who were from major music scenes like LA and NYC had been elevated to the status of legend, while great bands from lesser known scenes languished in obscurity. I think I...
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MRR #269-reprint Bob Suren's classic "turd bands go home"
This month I want to revist two column penned by Bob Suren just over ten years ago. Bob is one of the most stand up guys in DIY hardcore, he's been running Sound Idea Record store in Florida for over ten years and doing a label and shows for longe...
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MRR #262-Record reviews
As I’ve written in the past, sometimes it seems like DIY hardcore has become the victim of it’s own success. A lot of people I talk to think there are just TOO MANY records coming out and just too much lackluster, generic and boring bands. However, if you take the...
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MRR # 261-foreign band tour booking
I’m currently in the process of booking a tour for Finland’s hardcore greats Riistetyt. Since I brought DS 13 over in 2001 it seems like the gates have opened for bands touring the USA from Europe down from like 1 or 2 a year in the 90’s to one o...
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MRR #272-DC Hardcore
I missed a column or two because I was on tour across the USA and Europe first with Kylesa then with Regulations. Every time I go on the road I plan to do some writing, but it almost never happens. Thanks a lot to everyone who came out to see...
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MRR #277-record distribution
Felix MRR column 277
I got to have my say in the feature section of the last issue on the business of punk. Frequent readers of my column will note that it’s often like a “Wall St. Journal of Punk” as I cover business issues and behind the scenes...
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MRR #259 touring
I’m not really going to talk about the election. I’m sure everyone is sick of hearing about it by now. Clearly if more of you had bought Rock Against Bush vol 2 CD and the “Not My President” t shirt with the Fat Records logo on the back, the vote...
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MRR #264-record collecting
My next two columns will be about record collecting. This month I’m going to talk a little bit about general concepts the way I see them. Next month I’m going to talk about how the internet has changed record collecting.
Record collecting has been a part of the...
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MRR #278 DC Hardcore
Continuing our discussion of DC hardcore vinyl from the early 80's. Last month we talked at length about the Bad Brains ROIR cassette, which I consider to be a genre defining record for US hardcore.
This month the stellar output of Dischord records in the crucial year of...
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MRR #266 Record Collecting
This is part two of a discussion of punk record collecting the 21st century. Last column I talked about some basic principles, like value, rarity, price, and merit. This time around I’d like to talk about how the internet has affected record collecting.
Pundits like to say that...
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MRR #274-decline of independent record stores
This month I want to take a break from hardcore to address something that has been at the forefront of my mind lately: The decline of independent record stores in America.
I spent over two months on tour in the usa this year, and as usual I visited...
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HAVOC RECORDS AND DISTRIBUTION
