[mp3player width=460 height=120 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot17-such-sawks-such-sounds.xml]

This July 4, I decided to honor one of the most vibrant and enduring American scenes, namely that of New England. As the fireworks begin to sound, the vision begins to blur and the “USA! USA!” chants commence, I can’t think of any better way to celebrate Independence Day than sitting around listening to bands from Boston and the surrounding region. So that’s pretty much what I did.

It’s an area whose hardcore/punk rock anger grew up well, and you can still hear the deep-seated aggression in the riffs of Roadsaw and the ’70s-loving rockers of their ilk. There’s a lot of that kind of stuff in this playlist, I guess because that’s mostly what I think of when I think of the New England scene — straightforward, unpretentious heavy rock. But that’s by no means the beginning and the end of it.

What I discovered as I picked out acts to include was that there’s a vast array of styles and sounds that have come out of the Northeast over the last couple decades. Being south of it myself, the most I can say I’ve had is a tertiary experience — that is, I didn’t grow up in this scene — and though I by no means consider this audiObelisk Transmission a complete document of it, I think it’s made for a pretty good mix.

You get the ultra-hateful sludge of Grief, the organ-infused country rock of Antler, Phantom Glue‘s thrashing rhythms, the crushing despair of Warhorse and the avant weirdness of The Body. Save for Vermont, every state in New England is represented — Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine — and as a Yankee fan, I’d like it to be known that the title “Such Sawks, Such Sounds” is meant with the utmost respect and reverence for the Boston Red Sox. My alternate name for it was “The Green Monstah,” but I liked this better.

Everything but The Body was culled from a direct physical source — i.e. my rips — and the total winds up at 33 tracks, 3:21:44 runtime. If you’ve been curious what Blackwolfgoat sounds like, I put the track “Fear of Stars” in there, which is one of my favorites from Dronolith, and there’s recent selections as well from the aforementioned Roadsaw, as well as Black Thai, Curse the Son and Olde Growth.

Listening back to it, I dig the overall flow and I hope you do too. To listen, click play above, and to get the file, click the header image, click here, or follow the link in the sidebar. Complete playlist is after the jump.

0:00:04-0:03:13 Scissorfight, “Cadaver Recovery Man” from American Cloven Hoof Blues (Eccentric Man, 2002)

0:03:13-0:06:49 Roadsaw, “So Low Down” from Roadsaw (Small Stone, 2011)

0:06:49-0:12:06 Cortez, “Stone the Bastards” from Thunder in a Forgotten Town (Buzzville, 2006)

0:12:06-0:19:36 Blue Aside, “Otis’ Sun” from The Orange Tree (Hydro-Phonic, 2010)

0:19:36-0:24:03 Eldemur Krimm, “Black Fog” from Dirigo (Yogsothoth, 2003)

0:24:03-0:39:15 Sea of Bones, “Chapter V” from The Harvest (Self-released, 2009)

0:39:15-0:45:06 Isis, “Collapse and Crush” from Celestial (Escape Artist, 2000)

0:45:06-0:49:30 Cable, “Ride the Jackass Backwards” from Skyhorse Jams (This Dark Reign, 2001)

0:49:30-0:53:09 Megasus, “Megasus” from Megasus (20 Buck Spin, 2009)

0:53:09-0:56:58 Earthlord, “He Who is of the Water” from Earthmission (Self-released, 2007)

0:56:58-1:03:44 Olde Growth, “The Grand Illusion” from Olde Growth (MeteorCity, 2011)

1:03:44-1:06:57 Milligram, “Let’s Kill” from This is Class War (Small Stone, 2003)

1:06:57-1:12:52 Planet Gemini, “SuperGod” from SuperGod DevilMan (Gemini, 2003)

1:12:52-1:19:10 Grief, “Straight Edge-Closed Mind” from Miserably Ever After (Theologian, 1996)

1:19:10-1:23:27 Ichabod, “Face Down Riverbed Blues” from Let the Bad Times Roll (Root Sucker, 2003)

1:23:27-1:31:03 Black Pyramid, “The Worm Ouroboros” from Black Pyramid (MeteorCity, 2009)

1:31:03-1:35:39 Conifer, “Breathe. Hold” from Crown Fire (Important, 2008)

1:35:39-1:41:23 Blackwolfgoat, “Fear of Stars” from Dronolith (The Maple Forum, 2011)

1:41:23-1:46:30 King of Salem, “The Prophet” from Prophecy (Self-released, 2009)

1:46:30-1:52:02 Crooked Hook, “Deep End” from The Captain Will be Your Guide (Safety Meeting, 2007)

1:52:02-1:57:45 Sun Gods in Exile, “Black Magic” from Black Light White Lines (Small Stone, 2009)

1:57:45-2:01:11 Lord Fowl, “Bird of Good Omen” from Endless Dynamite (Fake Four, 2008)

2:01:11-2:04:31 Antler, “Blood on the Moon” from Antler (Tortuga, 2004)

2:04:31-2:12:03 Black Thai, “Satan’s Toolshed” from Blood From on High (Megavox, 2010)

2:12:03-2:18:42 Bloodhorse, “In Horror” from Horizoner (Translation Loss, 2009)

2:18:42-2:26:12 Elder, “Ghost Head” from Elder (MeteorCity, 2009)

2:26:12-2:31:46 Curse the Son, “Hemicrania Continua” from Klonopain (Self-released, 2011)

2:31:46-2:36:54 Hackman, “I Don’t Need This Shit, I Played Budokan” from The New Normal (Small Stone, 2007)

2:36:54-2:41:28 Phantom Glue, “Black Tar” from Phantom Glue (Teenage Disco Bloodbath, 2010)

2:41:28-2:47:20 When the Deadbolt Breaks, “The Cleansing Light” from In the Ruins, No Light Shall Shine (Spare Change, 2006)

2:47:20-3:08:20 Ocean, “First Reign” from Here Where Nothing Grows (Important, 2005)

3:08:20-3:17:13 Warhorse, “Black Acid Prophecy” from As Heaven Turns to Ash (Southern Lord, 2001)

3:17:13-3:21:44 The Body, “A Curse” from All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood (At a Loss, 2010)

Click Here to Get audiObelisk Transmission 017

Tags: audiObelisk, Boston, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire

This entry was posted on Monday, July 4th, 2011 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.