Hand Held Heart Records

E-Mail: dthwshkd@aol.com
Web Site: members.aol.com/dthwshkd/hrdcor2.html

Label Discography:

ANANDA - Habeas Corpus LP (sold out)
CHROMATICS - Beach of Infants 7"
CHROMATICS - Cavecare 12"
DIE MONITR BATS/SISSY SPACEK - split 7
HAIL MARY/RED SCARE - split 5" (sold out)
HAIL MARY - Thank You... 7"
L'INVENTION DE MOREL - 7" (sold out)
LIARS - We No Longer Knew Who We Were 12"/CD
ORCHID - 1st 7" (sold out)
ORCHID/THE RED SCARE - split 7" (sold out)
PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES - By The Throat 7"
RED SCARE - Capillary Lockdown LP (sold out)
RED SCARE - Strangers Die Everyday LP (sold out)
SHAHRAZAD - 7"
SISSY SPACEK - 7"
SONG OF ZARATHUSTRA - 2 Song EP 7"
THIS MACHINE KILLS - Noise Remix with Sissy Spacek 7"
VOLUME ELEVEN - Kotadelic Cytex LP
VOLUME ELEVEN - Prole Art Threat LP (sold out)
YOUNG PEOPLE - The Single 12"

Release Discriptions:

DIE MONITR BATS/SISSY SPACEK - split 7"
From Los Angeles, John Wiese aka Sissy Spacek has made a trade in eardrum-busting, abrasive noise in the group Bastard Noise. Here Wiese looks ahead to his exit from this mortal coil with a mix of celestial anticipation. Die Monitor Batss provide a sloppy, masturbatory mess of chunky, dissonant guitars, jarring horn squelches, stutter stops, and atonal screaming and it just makes me so damned giggly. Limited to 300 copies. (Hand Held Heart #26)

YOUNG PEOPLE - The Single 12"
Young People's quiet/loud approach feels at times mournful and gospel-like, at others raging and thrashing. Their songs are mercifully short, complete with dramatic thoughts. Recordings and live shows move rapidly between worlds of exhilaration, sorrow, quietude and redemption. Vocalist Katie Eastburn, Jeff Rosenberg (ex-Pink and Brown, Tarentel), and Jarrett Silberman (ex-Uphill Gardeners, The Get Hustle) multi-task electric and bass guitars, drums, and violin, producing spacious but concise music that reflects band members' roots in Nashville, Los Angeles and Middle America. Currently on tour with the Kills in Europe. A full U.S. tour later this year. Description by Brian of Hand Held Heart. (Hand Held Heart #24)

THIS MACHINE KILLS - Noise Remix with Sissy Spacek 7"
I'm sure lots of folks think that the regular This Machine Kills releases are just god-awful noise, but here is one to make damn sure everyone thinks that! They take a couple of This Machine Kills songs and feed them through the proverbial sound shredder to make... well... noise! (Hand Held Heart #100)

LIARS - We No Longer Knew Who We Were 12"/CD
The latest of Brooklyn's music makers to create a big stir. A total of three songs recorded prior to their full length "They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top". Here the Liars gleefully mash up a number of eras, including punk, hip-hop, and new wave. Their performance is energetic, chaotic and very, very loud. With short, choppy riffs and bottle-breaking drumbeats which together create a dynamic, rhythmic snarl. That's when everything breaks; the bass jives in a fortified funk; drums kick forcefully, the vocal tone shifts from robotic drone to spastic wail. It's a dramatic, exacting chaos, chock full of the kind of political punch that has earned the group references from such acts as Gang of Four and The Pop Group. With attractive artwork available both as a special clear Fan CD, and One sided 12" with a poster included. Description by Brian Hand Held Heart. (Sound Virus #11/Hand Held Heart #17)

PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES - By The Throat 7"
Three tracks from the Seattle based Pretty Girls Make Graves who manage to arrange a rather fine collection of energetic, angular emo with turbo-charged boy/girl-vocals. As the band breaks from the power-chord doldrums of rubber-stamp punk with a mix of nervous picked noodling and tidal-surge rhythms. Singer Andrea Zollo evokes ghosts of The Adverts and Penetration while bassist Derek Fudesco and guitarist J Clark add to the vocal wail and bring the band to the boiling point. One in a series of three 7"s (the other two being available from Dim Mak and Sound Virus) with an attractive concept in the design which brings all three 7"s together as one. The future of Punk is here. (Hand Held Heart #16)

CHROMATICS - Cavecare 12"
Six more songs from this arty Seatlle based band that features current members of Soiled Doves and The Vogue. They will be on tour this summer with The Gossip, and they will soon have records out on G.S.L. Records and K Records. This is a one sided 12". (Hand Held Heart #15)

SISSY SPACEK - 7"
Two experimental noise tracks from John Wiese of Bastard Noise. Sissy Spacek is the polar opposite if Bastard Noise; while Bastard Noise is very analogue based and evolving textual noise, Sissy Spacek has more digital fuckery and comes out as hyper-fast fgrind-esque noise bursts. Limited to 318 with hand printed covers. (Hand Held Heart #13)

SONG OF ZARATHUSTRA - 2 Song EP 7"
WARNING: Your record is NOT damaged!! Song of Zarathustra is merely attempting to damage your hearing with a vicious attack of noise and volume. Two songs here, thus the title, and a shit load of noise. They do a Social Distortion cover, though if they didn't mention it on the lyric sheet it might go unnoticed. (Sound Virus/Hand Held Heart)

CHROMATICS - Beach of Infants 7"
Featuring current members of The Vogue (Soiled Doves) and The Blood Brothers, this Seattle based trio puts together a post-punk sound that can be likened to P.I.L. or Suicide. The songs on this 7" were recorded by only one member of the band, but now that they are touring they are a three piece. Arty and rocking. (Hand Held Heart #12)

VOLUME ELEVEN - Kotadelic Cytex LP
Get ready to go to the outer limits with Volume Eleven. Buckle up, and hold on tight. It might get freaky, it might get crazed, it might go boo! in the night. And then they will get down to playing some fucking fast chaotic hardcore, just to break for another sighting of freekdom. It is orange and ready to rumble. Aye, kotadelic cytex indeed. (Hand Held Heart #10)

HAIL MARY - Thank You For Teaching Me To Hate Myself 7"
This one sided Hail Mary 7" features art and printing by Neil Burke. The three color covers are hand screened and one side of the 7" is an etching, which is also done by Neil. The music is patented Hail Mary; very Blast influenced with great singing and plenty of aggressive power. (Hand Held Heart #6)

THE RED SCARE - Strangers Die Everyday LP (sold out)
Recorded at Inner Ear by Don Zientara, Strangers Die Everyday, is The Red Scare's best release to date. The sound quality is superb, and all eight songs are chock full of noise, angst driven rock, raw energy, and a bit of melody to hang it all together. Screaming vocals and a tight delivery add to the overall rockin' quirkiness. Vinyl on Hand Held Heart, CD on Troubleman Unlimited. (Hand Held Heart #11)

ORCHID/THE RED SCARE - split 7" (sold out)
This summer Orchid and The Red Scare will be touring the US together. This split 7" serves as a warning to the unsuspecting; be afraid, be very afraid. Orchid are back with three originals which were recorded in the same session as their upcoming 10" on Ebullition. The Red Scare have one track which is a perfect follow up to their Capillary Lockdown full length. From chaos comes order. (Hand Held Heart Records #8)

THE RED SCARE - Capillary Lockdown LP (sold out)
The second pressing is finally ready to go. The Red Scare songs on the Hail Mary/Red Scare 5" were good, but this new material is much better. A crisp recording with a gritty unpolished edge is coupled with solid song writing and strong artistic design. These eight solid hardcore ongs are often verging on frantic yet they remain controlled. Trouble Man Unlimited released a CD version earlier this year. (Hand Held Heart #7)

VOLUME ELEVEN - Prole Art Threat LP (sold out)
This clear vinyl 12" comes complete with a 3D cover and 3D glasses! Six of the songs were recorded live on the radio back in 1997 (great sound quality), while the last song is a studio track recorded in 1999. Most of Volume Eleven members were once in a band called Honeywell, and while there are some similarities Volume Eleven is certainly way more on the audio freak out tip ala Sufferning Luna (for instance). (Hand Held Heart #3)

SHAHRAZAD - 7"
Shahrazad are back, well sort of... They have broken up and remain broken up, but they still have these four songs to contribute. The music is slow and calculated and yet a bit frantic and harsh. The 7"s are all numbered and nicely packaged. Shahrazad did a split 10" with Makara. Featuring x-members of My Increment. (Hand Held Heart #2)

HAIL MARY/THE RED SCARE - split 5" (sold out)
Hail Mary are back with their snotty Born Against influenced hardcore. The Red Scare have a sound that is reminiscent of Angel Hair or some derivative of that sort of sound. Hail Mary also has a new LP out on Vermiform Records this month, and Red Scare has a few releases under their belt as well. (Hand Held Heart #26)