Dischord Records did a remarkable thing for fans of early, D.C. based hardcore. Back in July of 2007, the label, owned by Minor Threat frontman and drummer, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, reissued four, LONG out of print 7” EPs as the 12” comp, Four Old Seven Inches On A Twelve Inch.
When you consider how much these original records sell for (brace yourself, because this is crazy: Teen Idles – Minor Disturbance E.P. – $750, S.O.A. – No Policy E.P. – $450, Government Issue – Legless Bull E.P. – $208.35, and Youth Brigade – Possible E.P. – $538.40), fans of the genre, like myself, may not otherwise have heard these historic rants had a compilation such as this not been released. Totaling $1946.75 for the originals, the $12 price of the comp still doesn’t seem so bad.
Nation of Ulysses, my latest audio crush, arrived twofold yesterday in the shape of 7″ 45s (they may not have been 45s now that I think about it, but really, who’s keeping score?). The first, pictured here, was 1990’s self-titled, three tracker (Sound of Young America, Channel 1 Ulysses, and Atom Bomb), while the second was of the 1991 persuasion with The Birth of the Ulysses Aesthetic (The Synthesis of Speed and Transformation). Tracks contained therein are The Sound of Jazz to Come, N.O.U.S.P.T.D.A, and Presidents of Vice. For you hardcore-garage-art-rock-types, these are exceptional, and surprisingly inexpensive finds. Raise the flag and drop the needle. Tell ’em The Groove sent ‘ya.
The Prudent Groove 