Post-Punk Series Slated for September!

Just so you know where I'm coming from, someone posted the above video on a GBV forum that I frequent, and it has sent me on a three week Post-Punk bender. Not kidding, I've been obsessed. I'd never heard nor even heard of Black Randy. Here I thought I had listened to all the great bands from the Post-Punk era. How Wrong I was! Seriously, there were sooooo many great bands, some of them put out a single or an album or two then, sadly, vanished. Others went on to fame and fortune in a Post-MTV world. Still others, had formidable careers, but garnered little more than cult status. Whatever, there was lots of great music to be had during those heady days just after the Sex Pistols turned the world on its head.

Long story short, I've scoured my collection for nuggets to share here at Burn and Shine. I've also tracked down a few things that I had never heard (like the spectacular reissue of the Lines early singles which came out on Acute a couple years ago: Memory Span. As per usual, the blogosphere was a tremendous help in finding stuff that I've only got on vinyl or stuff that has never seen digital reissue.

Just as in my Power Pop series, this is by no means to be taken as a definitive collection of Post-Punk. I always try to balance my compilations by using a few tracks that aren't quite as well known, and put them along side tracks that are. I mean, if you haven't got a copy of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" or "Damaged Goods" then by all means track those down and listen to them before downloading my comps. Along those lines, I heartily recommend (if you have any interest in the genre at all), picking up a copy of Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again: POSTPUNK 1978-1984 (pictured below). I've been rereading it over the last few days, and my compilation works as a nice companion (especially the first half of the book).



So what is Post-Punk? You may be asking yourself, well let me direct you to the Wikipedia definition, which is pretty good: Post-punk. It can be a bit murky, and I think everyone has their own general idea of what bands get the tag. Does R.E.M.? How 'bout Duran Duran? Nirvana? Good cases could be made for all of those, yet they didn't make my compilation. For me it's a gut feeling. You'll see soon enough who made my comps, which by the way, I've separated into five volumes: Women, Gloom, Swing, Pop, and Noise. You might be surprised to find out who I've put where, but hopefully the playlists make some sort of sonic sense.

There are Five Wednesdays in September, and I will post my comps on each of those (I promise). I may not have the energy to do track by track commentary, but I'll share some of my thoughts on each compilation. For now, I'll leave you with the cover art, which I made in about 13 minutes in true, DIY fashion:




See y'all on Wednesday!