Messthetics #101
D.I.Y. and (very) indie post-punk from London and the Home Counties, 1977-81


This is a grand tour of the U.K/London-area D.I.Y. -from some of the most famous, most obscure, and most idiosyncratic members of an extraordinary scene.
Between 1977 and '83 hundreds of U.K. bands put out their own records and tapes - usually on the cheap and utterly without apology. With "D.I.Y"., Punk and everything that came before it collided gloriously with D.I.Y.'s fresh aesthetic of making and sharing recordings outside of the established music business –with only the slightest regard for an audience. There's no common style: instead these songs are united by wit, enthusiasm, musical risk-taking (especially these London bands)...and a conspicuous lack of pose.

Price - $13.00
Rare tracks from the Scissor Fits, The Rich & Famous, Exhibit A, Different I's, Acid Drops, Grinder, Take It, the Jimmy Nipper 5, Funboy Five, Twelve Cubic Feet, Tiny Town, Existence, Collective Horizontal, Karel Fialka, and The Door and the Window... Never-released material from the Homosexuals, Blue Screaming, Rejects (the final original from their 1977 demo, pre-Homosexuals), Different Eyes, Milkshake Melon, George Harassment, Grinder, TDATW. 16-page book, pix, 22 songs (27 if you count 5 ripping MP3s of related stuff that wouldn't fit).
Special focus on the Hornsey/North London D.I.Y. scene (Take It, Blue Screaming, The Door & the Window, Collective Horizontal, Exhibit A, 12 Cubic Feet all shared members at one time or another), and unreleased treasures from the Homosexuals (their earliest-yet recording, plus Rejects [before] and Anton Hayman/George Harassment [after?])