As everybody had better already know, Dischord Records is an independent record label based in Washington DC founded and owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson. The label began in 1980 and for years only released music by underground punk bands in the DC area. They have remained viable and independent for almost 30 years by expanding their catalog of bands without sacrificing their standard of quality and general ethics.
There is a lot that I know about this label and its music but there is also a lot that I don't know. In fact, I don't know a hell of a lot about the label beyond what happened there up through the mid-1990s.
So this thread is for all things Dischord: reviews/opinions/whatever.
Be as scholarly or anecdotal as you like. Tell me what you know and what you think.
Here, I'll start us off with a review of a recording that doesn't seem to be talked about much but deserves to be...
Egg Hunt
This was a self-titled 7" featuring the only two songs ever made by Egg Hunt. Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson play all the instruments.
"Me and You" is a foray into what would now be called post-rock. It's got a slow, steady beat and sparse melodic guitar verses are stretched all over the whole song. The mellow vibe gets small intrusions like a catchy bass-riff chorus and a couple of mini-breakdowns are thrown in. The vocals are mostly spoken and almost ambient. It picks up and crescendos towards the end. I'll bet that future members of Slint were into this.
The other side is "We All Fall Down" and this is more of what you would expect from Ian MacKaye during the Embrace period. Emo kids will definitely get a kick.
To top it off, these two songs were produced by John Loder who engineered a lot of other good music.
I love these two songs and I wish there were more Egg Hunt recordings. This gets an
A- and the minus is only there because I feel cheated.