In college Chris Wrenn designed a photomosaic of the #CrimsonGhost for a final project. Started 20 years ago in 1997 and finished in 1998, this was pre-photoshop and was done entirely by hand. There are over 600 photographs of gravestone details from an old cemetery in Poultney, Vermont that made up this originally almost 6 foot tall image, and each one was exposed onto a tiny rectangle of photo paper and printed in a dark room. Chris affixed each print onto a backing board, one at a time. When he moved to Boston, he had a pro photo taken of it and scanned, and ordered a run of big 27"x36" posters made. They'd be rolled by hand in a plastic sleeve and sold from time to time at shows, and Tower Records let Chris set up a little display of them to sell on consignment while he worked there. Sadly, the original work of art has been lost to time but Bridge Nine has the last remaining copies from that original batch up at B9Store.com/posters
XXX FANZINE 1986 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST LAUNCHEDd
This spiffy pic of @brianbakers is your gateway to the super sounds of 1986 that spun round the turntable and inspired many a xXx Fanzine review and interview. Listen HERE!
Strike Anywhere Announce East Coast Shows
Strike Anywhere have announced a run of East Coast shows! They will be hitting Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington DC. For more info make sure to head to the band's official page.
Backtrack 'Bad To My World' Is Officially Out Now / Golden Ticket Contest Announced
Backtrack's new album, Bad To My World, is officially in stores today! You can pick it up at your local record store, any digital retailer, or rare vinyl and exclusive items at B9store.com.
Along with the album's official launch, we're excited to announce our Golden Ticket test press contest! 6 stores total located in LA, Long Island, NYC, Boston, Richmond, and Berlin respectively, will have ONE record with a Golden Ticket inside. The ticket is good for one Bad To My World test press and will have instructions on how to redeem. Best of luck!
Backtrack Post Studio Video
We've just released a studio video for the making of Backtrack's 'Bad To My World'. The video feature's raw footage shot by the B9 Crew, and the band themselves in the studio with Dean Baltulonis at The Wild Arctic and during their most recent Canadian trip. The video was edited together by Aviv Marotz. Watch the video above and pre-order 'Bad To My World' at B9store.com/backtrack
XXX Fanzine Book Release Party Announced
We're excited to be hosting the xXx Fanzine Book release party at the Bridge Nine office on November 10th! To commemorate the release of the long awaited book, Kevin Seconds will be doing an intimate live solo performance and there will be a D.I.Y. panel with Mike Gitter himself and Tony Rettman (and a few others TBA). The show will be at 7pm with a $5 entry fee. Grab a ticket here to guarantee you'll be able to get in, and also score an exclusive 12"x18" poster that is exclusively available at the event! Purchase your ticket HERE.
xXx Fanzine 1985 Spotify Playlist Launched
We've launched another xXx Fanzine Spotify playlist, once again curated by Mike Gitter. This time we focus on the year 1985. Some words from Mike Gitter...
"By 1985, Hardcore America had branched beyond its three-chord, primitive origins. As documented in xXx Fanzine 1983-88: Hardcore and Punk In The Eighties, sheer speed was being supplanted by actual songs via the likes of Husker Du, Scream and a re-activated Descendents (with Milo back from college). In Dischord D.C., "Revolution Summer" was warming up with Rites of Spring exploring punk's poetic possibilities (birthing "Emo" in the process) while bands like Raleigh's Corrosion of Conformity and So-Cal metallers, Hirax were freely cross-pollinating punk with metallic sophistication as skinheads and longhairs no longer stared each other down from opposite sides of the room. Add to that, SST (the label that Black Flag built), Homestead and Touch & Go laying the foundation for the indie rock explosion, the shock-waves of which are still being felt today. The youth weren't just getting restless. They were adding something cooler to the chaos. "
LISTEN HERE
American War Machine Join B9; New Song + Pre-Order
A project over five years in the making, we're very excited to bring you the debut of hardcore powerhouse, American War Machine. Comprised of members of Slapshot, Agnostic Front, Blood For Blood, and Intent To Injure, American War Machine brings you three unrelenting tracks of pure, no-frills hardcore punk on their upcoming EP 'Prey Drive', due out October 20th.
Pre-order vinyl and merch here.
You can listen to the song "Becoming Death" here.
XXX Fanzine 1983-1988 Hardcore & Punk In The Eighties Book Up For Pre-Order Now
We have launched pre-orders for the xXx Fanzine: 1983-1988 Hardcore & Punk In The Eighties book! It's available as a stand alone book or as a deluxe package deal. For more details on the book and package, see below. Pre-order now!
xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties isn’t a mere collection of articles, reviews and photographs from one of Hardcore America’s best-known fanzines - it’s a chronicle of punk’s evolution in the 80’s; a story of music and ideologies in motion. xXX’s story picks up while the first wave of hardcore was in full swing. Major players including Minor Threat had already released landmark records and bands were loading up station wagons to play now infamous venues like The Channel, A7 or D.C. Space.
While based in Boston, xXx’s main writer and editor, Mike Gitter, not only concentrated on his own city’s burgeoning scene, spear-headed by bands like SS Decontrol and D.Y.S., but looked to other states and countries for xXx’s reportage. This hardcover, 11"x11", 288-page book documents a time when hardcore and punk were not mutually exclusive and bands and cities had a chance to develop their own diverse and strident sounds.
This creative ethos and aural zeitgeist is literally spelt out on the 19-song compilation that’s included with xXx Fanzine, with either download card or limited edition 12inch; a wide variety of current hardcore, punk and hard music luminaries including Strife, letlive., Fu Manchu and The Riverboat Gamblers contributed their interpretations to some of the most influential songs to come from xXx’s original era.
Now, in addition to reproducing (and restoring) countless interviews and pages from the ‘zine itself, xXx Fanzine re-interviews countless bands and musical prime-movers including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris and members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags to give the book a rare ‘then and now’ perspective. xXx Fanzine (1983-1988), Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties isn’t merely a look back at hardcore’s salad days, but a unique look at how punk’s music and message shook the mainstream itself.
xXx Fanzine (1983-1988) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties features:
Minor Threat, Misfits, Necros, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Husker Du, Jerry’s Kids, Black Flag, D.O.A., G.B.H, Void, Negative Approach, 7 Seconds, D.Y.S., Scream, Metallica, Corrosion of Conformity, Minutemen, The Exploited, Anthrax, Subhumans, Dead Kennedys, SSD, Henry Rollins, Descendents, Bad Brains, Youth of Today, Motorhead, Dag Nasty, Snapshot, Samhain, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Bad Religion, Fugazi, and more…
PACKAGE DEAL INFORMATION:
The MASSIVE package deal comes with a copy of the hardcover, 11"x 11", 288 page xXx Fanzine book as well as the following items that are 100% exclusive to the package:
- A 19 song compilation featuring some of today's most relevant band's in hard music covering classic and influential hardcore/punk songs from the xXx Fanzine era. This is pressed on 12" vinyl available on 3 different colors. 150 red/white/black tri-color, 300 half red/half white, and 650 red. Vinyl colors will be given out on a first come first serve basis.
- An additional 64 page book that includes all three issues of Suburban Mucus. Suburban Mucus isn’t merely a companion piece and precursor to the book xXx Fanzine (1983-88) Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties. It’s a three-issue snapshot of the shape of punk to come: turning the dial all the way to the left and discovering a new musical revolution at the dawn of the 1980’s. Co-conceived in 1982 by xXx writer and editor, Mike Gitter, Suburban Mucus was an early vehicle for its high school aged editors to connect with Boston’s burgeoning hardcore sect and stake their claim in the D.I.Y. revolution that forever shifted punk’s paradigm and still echoes loudly today.
- A huge 24"x 36" full color xXx Fanzine poster that features some of the most iconic photographs featured in the book. This includes shots of Minor Threat, SSD, Jerry's Kids, Black Flag, Dag Nasty, and more!
- An additional 12"x18" poster showcasing the art of Brian Walsby.
Backtrack Premiere New Song & Music Video; Bad To My World Pre-Orders Launched
We've partnered up with Alternative Press to premiere a brand new Backtrack song and music video, from their upcoming album Bad To My World, titled "Sanity". Watch the music video for "Sanity" HERE.
Simultaneously, we have also launched pre-orders for Bad To My World. Available is limited edition vinyl, merchandise, and more! Pre-Order Bad To My World here.
Backtrack Reveal New Album 'Bad To My World'
We are excited to announce that we will be releasing a brand new Backtrack album, Bad To My World, on November 17th. Backtrack return with Bad To My World, their first album since 2014's Lost In Life. Along with longtime producer Nick Jett (Terror), they entered the Wild Arctic studio to lay down 10 brand new songs with Dean Baltulonis (Madball, No Warning). Backtrack continue in the classic NYHC tradition of bands like Madball, Killing Time, and Outburst while still remaining fresh and injecting their own unique flavor into the timeless sound. Since 2008 Backtrack have been a force to be reckoned with. Putting out records on hardcore's most relevant labels, touring the world, and writing some of the most urgent, honest, and aggressive hardcore music in the last decade. Bad To My World showcases Backtrack in their fullest form. Click HERE to be notified when pre-orders are launched. See the full track-listing below:
1. War
2. One With You
3. Bad To My World
4. The Deep Is Calling
5. Dead At The Core
6. Cold-Blooded
7. Gutted
8. Crooks Die Slow
9. Never-Ending Web
10. Sanity
Bad To My World LP/CD/CS/Digital coming November 17th 2017
XXX Fanzine: 1984 Spotify Playlist
We have launched our second playlist in the xXx Fanzine Spotify series. This time, we cover the year 1984 with 19 songs curated by xXx's own Mike Gitter.
Gitter comments "In the year of George Orwell's dystopic classic, 1984, punk and hardcore were forging themselves into something new. The "old guard" had largely called it quits the year before, with the likes of Minor Threat, The Misfits and The Faith packing it in as scenes got bigger and a step removed from their original sense ofDIY inspiration (and desperation). What was coming into focus was a sea-change in the underground as the likes of Black Flag, Die Kreuzen and Corrosion of Conformity began to explore heavier, more intricate sounds as others, including Husker Du and Channel 3, pushed their songwriting beyond sheer speed and brazen slogans. As documented on Maximum Rock N Roll's Welcome To 1984 compilation, the worldwide scene was also changing, growing larger with bands ranging from Finland's Terveet Kadet, all the way to Italy's blistering Raw Power to the roughshod sweetness of Canada's The Nils pushing themselves to the forefront. In was the beginning of something new; the beginning of punk's season of soul searching. "
LISTEN HERE
Hardcore was coming of age.
H2O 'Don Fury Demo Session EP' available for pre-order now!
H2O 'Don Fury Demo Session EP' available for pre-order now! In December of 1994, H2O recorded six songs with Don Fury. Originally split and released as a four song demo and a two song 7 inch, this session has been re-mastered and released together for the first time on 12" vinyl via Bridge Nine. Re-mastered and now available on a one sided 12" with a beautifully illustrated B-side by @DanSmithism
Pre-orders for The Eulogy 'Last Days' are live!
Pre-orders for The Eulogy 'Last Days' are live! Head over to b9store.com/theeulogy to get limited vinyl. Head to bridge9.bandcamp.com to hear a brand new track 👊
LABOR DAY WEEKEND SALE STARTS NOW
LABOR DAY WEEKEND SALE STARTS NOW!