J Mascis - Circle 7"

Following on from his excellent solo album released earlier this year, J Mascis has dropped this 2 song 7" upon us. The A side is a cover Edie Brickell's "Circle" which I'd heard before from the Daytrotter Sessions and absolutely loved. Such a perfect song for him to cover you would think it was one of his own. Lyrically it just suits his depressive personality to a T. On the B side is "I've Been Thinking", a track leftover from the Several Shades of Why sessions. You can get this sludgy coloured vinyl now from Sub Pop.

  J Mascis - I've Been Thinking by subpop

Deathcharge - Love Was Born To An Early Death

Deathcharge from Portland started out in the late 90s worshipping Discharge as you can tell by the name but have since developed into more of a Deathrock band. For those unfamiliar with the genre it's basically a punk/goth hybrid sound pioneered by bands like Christian Death, 45 Grave and T.S.O.L. Now apart from the aforementioned bands there are very few decent Deathrock records out there and especially not modern ones. Here's an exception! This is a seriously addictive record that seems to be melted to my turntable at the moment. Goth music you can bang to! I'm pretty sure members of Hellshock and Lebenden Toten play in this band too. Released this year by Unseen Forces on 180gram 45rpm vinyl. 1st press sold out and second press probably getting close. Available from Unseen Forces, Distort Reality and a few other distros.

Corrupted / Black Army Jacket - Split 7"

Here's one of Corrupted's earlier records from 1997. The sleeve is printed on newspaper paper and I have no idea what any of the text means as I can't read Spanish, though I am intrigued. These guys have a fuckload of vinyl out there but unfortunately their last few full lengths, including this year's "Garten Der Unbewusstheit", have not made it onto the format. This of course is mainly due to excessive song length. The restrictions of the 7" format have lead them to write some pretty crushing sludge songs like the one on this release. 

Corrupted / Cripple Bastards - Split 7"

There's a really great Corrupted track on this 7" but like most splits I could do without the Cripple Bastards side and their terrible artwork. Hopefully one day Corrupted will release a collection of all their split tracks together. This came out in 2002 on H.G. Fact Records.

Shit Weather - Demo

Here's one of the better demos to come out of Australia this year. Melbourne's Shit Weather play feedback drenched sludgy power violence. If that's your thing then I recommend giving this a listen. Get Gone Records made 100 tapes which are now sold out but it's up on their bandcamp for free download.

Amebix - Sonic Mass

Amebix are back with a new album, the first since 1987s Monolith. That's a hell of a long time between recordings so of course it doesn't sound like their earlier material but after giving it many repeat listens it's  starting to grow on me. Sounding more like an industrial rock band than their crusty past. It's getting a lot of comparisons to later era Killing Joke and I can even hear a hint of Ministry but there's still the distinctive Amebix sound intact. This change in direction will probably divide their fans but I suggest you give it a few spins to digest before deciding. 1st press is on red vinyl, available now at Easy Action Records.