Thursday, January 14, 2010

Forever Compilation: Video Redux



Few records stand out in my mind as the index of a time or a feeling or a sound as much as the Forever comp. When I want to explain to someone what hardcore punk is to me, invariably these bands come to mind. I'm dating myself now, but for years I had songs by each of them on cassettes that I literally played off the reels, driving around in my beater '81 pickup. At home, I nearly wore out the vinyl.

Each band was unique and each band was complex. Unfortunately, the mix on the comp hardly stands the test of time. "Checkmate" sounds downright hollow and "Decay" doesn't have the punch that it should. The more I think about it, I love this record for what it represents, not what it sounds like.

Anyhow, I skulked around the inter-tent and pulled together a set of videos for each band as well as a few write-ups by other enthusiasts. Enjoy.


Turning Point



Born Against
Born Against




Rorschach



Burn
Burn




Citizens Arrest


"Pressure's On" at ABC No Rio...I couldn't find anything else

7inchcrust review
Oral history of Turning Point
Daryl Kahan interviewed
Old cXa stuff (also tons of ABC No Rio history)
"Fuck Rock" from Dear Jesus by Sam McPheeters
Burn interview, mainly about the reunion
Charles Maggio interview about the reunions

Saturday, January 2, 2010

More Hardcore Punk Ephemera


CAMPAIgN, on the floor at Scripps College


Burt Hashiguchi, YWCA Berkeley

Photobucket
Poppin' Fresh in '87, suckas


Juggler/Fire-eater/Trial member at Inside Out reunion, summer 1993


Mountain Monthly (sticky dessert recipe and 'Victory for hate' commentary)


Honeywell at Scripps. Yes, that's Justin from Struggle looking at the camera.


Zack de la Rocha at Inside Out reunion, 1993






CAMPAIgN


Aaron Kenyon, MITB, at The Jabberjaw


Butch at Submission Hold House, Vancouver


Jake Hockel preparing for tour


Carrie Crawford, Former Members of Alfonsin


Henry Barnes, MITB


AFC studio


Zach Hydar (?) photo


Jos, Seein Red in Portland


Snapcase at the Glass House




Chris Smith and Dave Thurston, Brookhurst




Alex Frixione (former Members of Alfonsin) and Chuck Shakleford (Bread and Circuits) in Portland


The show that changed the complexion of punk in Santa Cruz


Elliot Smith played on an amp on this tour


A great show that never happened. Note the original name of Yaphet Kotto


Jen Thorpe, Submission Hold


You could date this photo to the minute...






Fugazi in Hamburg, Germany, summer 92


Gentry, Iceburn






Straight No Chaser Issue #1




Artwork I did for the AFC "Phoenix" 7" that was never properly released but incorporated into the "Thorny Path" LP on Vermiform

El futuro no esta escrito

Friday, January 1, 2010

Before and Beyond Year Zero: Cambodia

An apsara at Angkor Wat

When I was seven, a family of Cambodian refugees came to live with my family. A special arrangement had been made with a few key businesses that made it possible for refugees to relocate, and my parents felt a responsibility, as people of conscience and opponents of the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia, to assist in any way they could. For about a year the Chau family lived with us and did their best to adapt and adjust to life in Northern Utah.

Since that time, I've been intrigued by Khmer culture, the splendors of Angkor architecture, and the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime. Just as the Vietnam War left an indelible mark on my parents' generation, I've grown up feeling affected, confused, and moved by Cambodia. It was high time to visit.

Z and I made our way to Siem Reap after a wonderful week in Luang Prabang, Laos, and met up with her parents (both linguists) who were visiting for an academic conference. Below are some images from our time in both Siem Reap and Phnom Phen as well as some thoughts on our time there.

Buddha engulfed by a tree at Ta Prohm

Nature bats last...



Shadow puppetry retelling of an episode from the Ramayana

Dancing apsara at Angkor Wat

Scary lung cancer awareness poster

Vendor with wares outside our bus

Traditional ciclo (pedal rickshaw)

Typical transportation just miles outside Siem Reap

A woman gives birth...


as men ride to war.

Mixed Buddhist-Hindu imagery at Angkor Wat

Massive benevolent heads at Bayon

Intense sales pressure

Kompong Phluk village on the mighty Tonle Sap Lake

Leading up to our time in Cambodia I kept thinking I´d be clever and title a blog post ¨Holiday in Cambodia.¨Right up until we arrived in Phnom Phen I thought that´d be clever. Then we visited The genocide museum at Tuol Sleng and even the slightest poke at humor or punk-rock cleverness seemed offensive.

Tuol Sleng is really the high school that was turned into Pol Pot´s secret prison named ¨S-21¨, the site where tens of thousands of Cambodians were tortured and killed. It´s a haunting, fascinating, but ultimately disturbing monument to a time that must not be forgotten. One wing is a series of bare rooms with a bed and a photograph showing the violence that took place there. Another series of rooms hold meticulously documented--and beautifully shot--photographs of both victims and their torturers. T

More than once I was sickened as I recognized images from old ¨power violence¨ records, but the experience of visiting such a visceral place is important. Remembering and memorializing this time is important. Facing this history--really one group´s political, social, and economic effort to erase history and start again--needs to be done.

Art exhibit mixing archival images and the reflection of enlarged photos as well as the viewer in the same space

Eery hallways between holding cells

Young comrades who carried out the torture at Tuol Sleng

Online resources:
Timeline of the Khmer Rouge, the genocide, and information on the tribunal
Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale
Documenting ¨Year Zero¨ (POV interview)
Kaing Guek Eav, aka ¨Duch¨, on trial (from the Guardian online)

Books worth reading:
First They Killed My Father
Brother Number One
Children of the River

Contributors