Here it is people. The long-awaited-cause-its very-much delayed T4 CD Sampler. We hope you enjoy this one. Here's the liner notes from the 'physical' copy of this CD:
"Welcome to the first ever sampler from the good (?) people at Take-4 Collective. After almost a decade of fucking shit up, we thought it was time to give something back to all the people who had been supporting T4 and the people involved with the Collective throughout this entire time. This sampler is meant to give you some kind of retrospective and at the same time a sneak peek on what’s coming from T4. We would like to sincerely thank every individual who has been apart of T4C and to those who continually support/talk shit about us. This is for you. Enjoy your trip down memory lane! – MIC
THE TAKE-4 HISTORY
THIS IS THE START…(T401-03)
This was supposed to be the title of the first FEUD demo which was consequently the maiden release of Take-4 as a label. But before we get to that, let me share you the story of how these blokes came about and decided they wanted to take over our local hardcore punk community.
I guess it started some time around the latter part of 1997 or 1998 that I started hanging out with the guys who was then running GET IN TOUCH zine, who for your info were the now infamous Regala brothers. I was living in Cavite that time and spending most of my time forming this new straightedge band called FEUD and making copies of my zine called STEP FORWARD. Inevitably, our paths crossed and knew then that we all wanted the same things to happen, and so the need for a merger of these two zines followed suit, hence: THE GET IN TOUCH – STEP FORWARD CONSPIRACY, or The Conspiracy, for brevity. We managed to release a couple of issues which was then considered essential reading for any hardcore punk kid. We’re so proud of those issues and it’s a shame that we have stopped doing those zines in place of the more convenient Myspace/Blogging shit we have these days.
As for the label, the first release of T4 is of course T4:01 FEUD: NEVER SURRENDER TO THE ENEMY demo tape which was recorded live at some studio in Singalong, Manila with the Quiricada Youth Crew providing the back-up vocals. A friend from Malaysia (Rain City Fanzine) helped us release that demo tape. It contains covers of Vitamin X and Youth of Today and was a sign of things to come for our local scene.
The next two tape releases of T4 were reissues of bands that we all love at that time: T4:02 CATHARSIS ‘Passion’ and T4:03 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? ‘Collection’ tape. Both these bands were interviewed by The Conspiracy and were definitely a big influence on us and the rest of the local scene at that time…
CD-R – The New Breed (at that time…)
The following years (around 2001-2005), T4 released a bunch of crucial stuff in CD-R format. We still didn’t have enough money at that time to make a ‘professional’ CD release and cassette tape pressing plants were all closing down at that time, so CD-Rs were the format of choice and by necessity. The local hardcore punk scene was booming again and T4 was at the center of it all.
T4:04 FEUD ‘For the Sake of Unity?!’ 3” CD-R – For our first CD-R release, we decided to be creative and release our new recording on a 3” CD-R. These songs were recorded with the help of Seb (We’re Gonna Fight, France) and some of these songs were released as part of the TAKE NO HEROES, International Compilation (see T4;15) and contains ten (10) tracks of new and older stuff from FEUD. The quality is very good, youth crew style and was recorded at Sound Creation Studios in Quezon City. A lot of bands followed suit and recorded at the same studio. Go!
T4:05 RICHARD COLLIER ‘Bid Time Return’ CD-R – Heavily inspired by the movie ‘Somewhere In Time’, this melodic punk rock band from Cavite released this CD around the same time that FEUD released the ‘For the Sake…” CD-R. Recorded at Sound Creation, this CD contains the classic RICHARD COLLIER stuff such as ‘Somewhere In Time’ and ‘Through the Years’. We all love this band and I know, you do to.
T4:06 BACKFIST ‘The Boys from Golden Harvest’ CD-R - Can you say powerviolence? Heavily influenced by Spazz and bands and of course, kung-fu movies, BACKFIST was way ahead of the local scene at that time. Fastcore at its finest: fast, hard and raw! Don’t forget the cheesy samplers. Kick high and dance hard!
T4:07 FORGIVENESS DENIED ‘Welcome to the Harsh Reality’ CD-R I still remember going down to Batangas City with Pao (FEUD) to witness the recording of this masterpiece and of course participating in the ‘gang’ vocals! Heavily influenced by the H8000 bands such as Congress and Liar, FORGIVENESS DENIED set the standard for metalcore when everyone seems to be playing only NYHC and crust punk to the hilt. Now, Forgiveness will be Denied!!!
T4:08 08 MINDRAPE ‘Through the Transitions’ CD-R First off, this was not intended to be a T4 release but I got to talk to Ronald of possibly distributing their newly-recorded CD, he was really cool with it, gave me some covers and we adapted this release as T4’s own. Great, DC (Revolution Summer) influenced hardcore with well-thought out lyrics. Oh yeah, this was Ronald’s pre-THE BEAUTY OF DOUBT’s band if you still don’t know.
T4:09 RICHARD COLLIER ‘Too Much Spring’ CD- R – This release was the first of acoustic releases from RICHARDCOLLIER. Bad lay-out covers but great songs, nonetheless plus a nice cover of ‘Butterfly’ from Weezer.
T4:10 FEUD ‘Battling Bastards of Freedom’ CD – The first ‘professional’ release of T4. Co-released with a bunch of international DIY hardcore punk labels such as 625 and Boisleve. The definitive hardcore punk record of T4. Totally fast straightedge hardcore with great personal/political lyrics.
T4:11 VA ‘This Is CAVITE Not LxAx’ CD-R – A compilation which served to document the then existing hard/thrash/fastcore scene in Cavite. Great bands such as FEUD, YxFxCx, AxOxDx, BACKFIST, TAKE ACTION and FRIENDSHIP 7 contributed to this ‘Boston Not L.A.’ rip-off. Play Fast or Die!!!
T4:12 RICHARD COLLIER ‘Back To Hell Where You Came From’ CD-R – The second acoustic release from this Cavite seminal punk rockers. Clearly influenced by Alkaline Trio, the lyrics are much darker and the music much slower in this CD. Features a bonus track from FEW MINUTE SMILE.
T4:13 HALF THE BATTLE - s/t demo CD-R The concept for this demo was done by their main man, Easy. Contained in an envelope with great artwork, this s/t demo CD-R contains six songs of American Nightmare influenced youth crew hardcore. Also features a cover from Umea’s Final Exit. One of the best bands to have graced our local scene. Rumor has it that they will soon be making their long-awaited comeback (Hint!).
THE END OF THE CD-R. THE ERA OF THE SPLITS…
After the HTB demo, the people at T4 finally decided to forego the CD-R format. Maybe we became too rich to finally release the CDs in a ‘professional’ way. Hehe. But our cheapskate asses were always out thereto maximize the costs of CD reproduction so most of the CD releases were splits. Anyway, whatever it is, check out the following releases:
T4:14 VA - BYSTORM/SAUNA split CD Two new and raging bands are featured on this CD. BYSTORM from Manila plays mid-90s metallic influenced hardcore with a lot of mosh parts thrown therein. Clear Integrity influence is present. Batangas’ SAUNA is the Philippines answer to Boston’s Converge. Aggressive metallic hardcore music with heartfelt lyrics which does not let down for a second.
T4:15 V/A - TAKE NO HEROES CD - An international compilation of positive hardcore bands all over the globe including FEUD, THE MUTINY,POINTING FINGER, RAZLOG ZA, NO VIOLENCE, ONLY WAY OUT, CRICKBAT, SINCERITY, CITA ATTIEKSME and SECOND COMBAT; Co-released with the best labels in the world: W.G.F, Boisleve, Heart on Fire, El Trasgo, Refuse, Kid For Life and In My Heart Empire. Crucial record for the international hardcore scene!
T4:16 VITAMIN X ‘Philippine Tour: Collection’ CD This CD coincided with the Vitamin X tour here in the Philippines. Co-released with Delusion of Terror, this CD features 36 songs from different VX releases all over the globe. Great introduction to a legendary hardcore punk band from the Netherlands.
T4:17 V/A IT’S ALL IN OUR HANDS FEUD/PLAY/HALF THE BATTLE 3-WAY SPLIT CD - Quite possibly, one of the greatest releases in our local hardcore punk history. This split gathers together three of the best hardcore bands that existed in the Philippines: PLAY, a then upcoming thrash/hardcore band from Bulacan with great positive lyrics and lots of sing-alongs, HALF THE BATTLE, fresh off their demo release,fast American Nightmare-styled hardcore and FEUD featuring their new songs after their ‘Battling Bastards…’ CD. All with excellent and well thought out lyrics.
T4:18 URBANOS/CHOKECOCOI split CD - Part of the split series from T4, all female hardcore punk rippers from Quezon, Chokecoci teams up with Argentina's URBANOS - and they both destroy on this CD. Co-released with Delusion of Terror.
T4:19 V/A ‘NEW NAMES FOR OLD DESIRES’ 4 WAY SPLIT: NUCLEAR PUNISHMENT; ISVARAH; PRAYER OF ENDURANCE; FORGIVENESS DENIED – Co-released with Major Malfunction and Delusion of Terror, this four-way split features the best new bands of our hardcore punk community. Four bands hailing from Baguio, Cavite, Batangas and Manila strut their wares and their own take of hardcore punk! Great lay-out with raging bands!!!
T4:20 BYSTORM/PULLING TEETH split CD – Bridging the oceans has always been a major goal of T4, as shown in this split CD between Baltimore heavyweights’ PULLING TEETH and Manila’s Mosh Machine: BYSTORM. Eleven tracks from BYSTORM (including a cover of ‘Money’ by Earthmover) while the PULLING TEETH side features their entire sessions with the FRIGHTENES split and a full live set from WERS Radio! Yeah!!
T4:20 SAUNA – DEEPER IT GOES CD – Quite arguably, the most anticipated release of last year has been finally released. These new songs show the evolution of Sauna from their early days to the monster they have grown today. The Converge comparison cannot be denied but Sauna is Sauna. Check it out.
Thanks for reading and watch out for these shit very soon!!!
T4:21 RICHARD COLLIER – FOR THE LOVE OF DEATH CD
T4:22 V/A – PILIPINAS THRASH DETONATION CD
T4:23 V/A FOUR-WAY DANCE – ESKAPO; ISTUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND; LA GRITA; KILL RATIO
T4:24 V/A BIOFEEDBACK TRIBUTE 2xCD
You've read about it, now download this shit: http://www.sendspace.com/file/83np7r
Share this one to everyone you know, make copies, hell, you can even ask us for covers if you want to! Thanks for the support through all these years!
Good Stuff: Chokehold - Final Show 3-23-96, Ignite - Our Darkest Day, Underoath - Discography
Bad Stuff: Boston Celtics - Atlanta Hawks, 2-2 while Los Angeles Lakers - Denver Nuggets 4-0, what the?!
NOISE CONSPIRACY PROJECT
JUDGEMENT
SAUNA
