Discography

This blog hasn't seen a lot of action in a few years. I built it on Squarespace in 2019 to fill the time between classes and continued to use it as a writing outlet during Covid-19 quarantine. Then, once I was able to get back out in the world and go to shows, the posts dried up.

So, where have I been?

Well... I got a new job, bought a home, and continued gathering up material to write about on this blog. I've written some things too—most of which is in nearly finished states. It's been sitting in my drafts folder.

I've also been building out the infrastructure to make my goals for this website more attainable. I've developed a library of scripts to help in preparing files for sharing and built a brand new platform to blog to live on. Farewell Squarespace, hello Eleventy.

I'm a big proponent of loving where you publish. The old site was fine, but had its limitations and costs. Part of my inability to publish came from the shame of letting my billing cycle complete for 4 years straight while the plans for a replatforming swirled in my head. $200/y for a business page is fine. That cost cannot be justified for a music blog, not when alternatives exist.

The new site is hosted for free on GitHub pages and I've built out a bunch of custom snippets that will let me format tracklists and other media embeds how I want them. There's more metadata on each post, including mirrored or archived links where I find that old links have died. The site is also static with minimal client-side Javascript, so it's very fast! I hope you like it.

For the geeks who care: I've kept the old urls as they were, but will switch to a /YYYY/MM/title format going forward.

While I don't have search on this version of the site, I've fleshed out the tag archives to make them easier to search. I plan to build a complete archive page with article titles that will be ctrl+F'able. More plans available on the roadmap.

I've also been sharing material to YouTube. I haven't promoted it much, but this project does have a channel that I've been populating with rarities that are hard to find elsewhere. Recent uploads include:

• Bacon Ray's 1994 self-titled cassette (reupload)

• Two releases from Nate Ruess (The Format, Fun.) and Sam Means' (The Format) first band This Past Year / Nevergonnascore

• Stacy Clark's debut EP (the first time this has ever been shared online)

• Some demos from By A Thread

• A higher-resolution copy of The Panic Division's "Versus" music video

• A rare punk / ska compilation

• Some '90s Christian Hardcore from PA

• Fall Out Boy TTTYG Director's Cut Q&A clips

• Some high-def live footage from some gigs I've been to (Including The Beths, The Hotelier, and Milk Carton Kids)

In terms of written content, I have some of that too!

I got ahold of a bootleg DVD of a Copeland show in 2006 that was barred from sale by the band's label. The label's owner has since sold it to me. 🤫

I've published a long-in-progress discography of Christopher Browder (Mansions), which dates back to the very beginning of his musical career. I did this to prove out a format I intend to use for other bands and musicians. I'm working on a sessionography as well, which will document all the live session recordings the band has done and make the audio available to download.

The site's about page has been expanded with information on how to contribute (please contribute!) and there's now a blogroll-style list of other archiving endeavors that relate to what I'm doing here.

That's it for now. More to come. Thanks for reading.

On Friday, March 5th, 2003, Copeland played third of four at Ace’s basement in Greensboro, NC. Ahead of them on the bill was Mae, with supporting acts The Working Title and Slow Coming Day warming up the crowd.

In an article on the venue and its impression on the Greensboro scene which flourished from 2003 to 2005, Jordan Green writes for the Triad City Beat:

[Ace’s Basement] was in the subterranean level of a crack hotel. The Coliseum Inn, a hive of prostitution and addiction across the street from the Greensboro Coliseum, has long since been demolished, taking the briefly illustrious Ace’s Basement down with it.

Show promoter Joe Ferguson was pivotal in this scene, propping up local pop-punk acts and pulling in touring staples in the genre to headline gigs. On top of that, he recorded the shows he put on, creating a video record of the venue’s impact.

“My specialty was on-the-fly, multi-track editing,” Ferguson recalled to Green. “After the show I was able to hand a DVD to the band before they could even get the sweat off of them.”

Closely associated with the venue were bands like The Necesssary/House of Fools, Alli with an I, Kudzu Wish, Sullivan, Farewell, and Far-Less. Thanks to Ace’s Basement, many more bands would make tour stops in NC, including Lovedrug, The Format, Armor For Sleep, Hot Water Music, Codeseven, Bear vs Shark, A Static Lullaby, The Lawrence Arms, Bayside, Between The Buried And Me, Stretch Arm Strong, Underoath, Glasseater, Halifax, Silverstein, Alexisonfire, Hawthorne Heights, Emery, Demon Hunter, Haste The Day, Dead Poetic, Piebald, The Chariot, Gatsbys American Dream, Circa Survive, Alesana, and Lucero.

Did I mention the venue was only open for two years?

Short-lived as it was, the recordings live on. Some of which were produced into unauthorized DVDs. The Militia Group founder Chad Pearson brought to my attention one such DVD produced for Copeland’s set that night in March of ‘03. He said that that he was “pretty sure only a few copies exist.” The band’s singer, Aaron Marsh, recalled Pearson sending a cease and desist over it. That I have not been able to confirm.

Now that I know about Joe and Ace’s Basement, I’m hoping to track down more footage. If you have any, reach out. In the meantime, I’ve uploaded a rip of this DVD to YouTube. You can watch the set below.

The other day I found a track from a band called Never Gonna Score on a little-known compilation from Arizona. Turns out, that's the first band Nate Ruess and Sam Means (The Format, Fun.) formed together.

From what I've been able to learn thus far, the band didn't last longer than a few years. This is one of few known recordings from the short-lived punk group from Glendale, AZ. They produced one record called The Byron Sessions, an EP, and a handful of demos I've found loose around the web.

If you have more from Never Gonna Score / This Past Year, please reach out.

The Byron Sessions

Label: Moose Records
Date: 1999
Media: CD

YouTube • Download

Tracklist:

1. Tonight's The Night 03:00
2. Call Me Late 02:52
3. Bon Jovi 02:37
4. Two 03:15
5. Mailing List 02:26
6. Return To Fairfield 01:41
7. Rent-A-Guy (Pelvic Remix) 09:50

Next Red Light EP

Label: unknown
Date: 1999
Media: CD

YouTube • Download

Tracklist:

1. Intro 00:58
2. Heart To Noise 03:46
3. If All Else Fails 02:32
4. Next Red Light 04:41
5. Last Cigarette 06:41

Loose Demos

Label: unknown
Date: ~1999
Media: .mp3

Download

Tracklist:

1. The Things She Says 03:00
2. Don't Remind ME 03:21
3. Overdue 03:42
4. Tiffany Amber (snippet) 00:22
5. Demo (snippet) 00:14

Here's a track I learned about only this week. Before there was Fun., there was The Format. Before there was The Format, there was Never Gonna Score (aka Nevergonnascore / This Past Year) which included both Nate Ruess and Sam Means.

The compilation I found this track on is from Moose Records, also from Glendale which had only a handful of releases. This first one featured tracks from Less Than Jake, Rx Bandits, Riverfenix, and more. I uploaded the whole thing to YouTube here.

If you have more releases from Moose Records, please reach out.

How Many Teeth Do U Have? Vol. 1

Label: Moose Records
Date: 1998
Media: CD

YouTube • Download

Tracklist:

1. The Impossibles - Leave No Man Behind 03:08
2. Never Gonna Score - Rent A Guy 01:04
3. Gob - I Don't Know 01:35
4. Gutfiddle - For The Best 02:18
5. Shower With Goats - Just Wanted You To Know 01:42
6. The Supaflies - Ever Get That Urge 02:21
7. Never Gonna Score - Rent A Guy 01:04
8. Girl Repellent - Don't Tell Her I Was Asking 03:00
9. Mothermania - Alex Rudyard's Last Stand 02:01
10. The Iron Ons - Ted 02:18
11. Bigwig - Cheers 01:55
12. Brady Punx - Looking At You 02:42
13. Less Than Jake - My Very Own Flag 02:50
14. Jeffries Fan Club - Another Love Story 02:57
15. Tuesday - Please Come Home 03:17
16. Riverfenix - G.B.O.H 03:22
17. RX Bandits - S.A.M 03:17
18. Ann Beretta - Crash 02:53
19. Unleaded Plus - Beginning Of The End 02:37
20. The Hippos - Celebrate 02:50
21. The Chinkees - Not Your Pet 01:23
22. 30FootFALL - Still Rock And Roll To Me 02:31
23. Link 80 - Pretty Girls 01:37
24. Los Executivos - My Way 02:56
25. My Superhero - Watcha Gonna Find 03:32
26. Mailbox Bandits - I Wanna Be Zach Morris 01:27
27. Cousin Oliver - Head 02:27
28. 78 RPM's - Pawn Takes King 02:01
29. 30FootFALL - Still Rock And Roll To Me 02:31
30. The Bruce Lee Band - Standing Up For Justice 01:32
31. One In A Million - 12:01am 03:16
32. The Broadways - 25 Degrees North 02:05