Main Authors
Biography
CanadianWasteland is a project that began sometime in 2021, Maya joined me in my efforts in 2023; in 2024 many friends joined us for occasional guestposts! In 2020 I (Ben) got deep into the 90s D.I.Y hardcore scene through a stack of strange and interesting punk records I had blindly bought from a local punk record store. Those first few records I picked up (Assfactor 4, Bleed, Age, Boxer Rebellion) sounded unlike anything I had heard in the hardcore scene in Calgary and came with the most intricate inserts and packaging; many containing moving and impressive words/write-ups. I quickly became obsessed with digging through used record bins and searching online for more material like this.
When I did come across the odd blogpost or mp3 file of these bands, the information was scarce and the quality was just not there. I always wished there was an easily accessible, coherent and comprehensive archive for this special kind of punk music somewhere on the internet. So I decided to start my own archive; a place where anyone interested in the genre could go and find music (properly tagged, with artwork and in the best quality possible), information and media.
I have personally transferred and scanned well over 500 records, cassettes and CDs from my personal collection. Most of these transfers have been carefully recorded and edited to reduce vinyl/tape noise; I take pride in this process and I believe I have improved the quality of many previously circulating recordings of bands in my archive.
It is important to me that this music is preserved and not lost to the ages, it is moving, impressively written and the political messaging behind a lot of these bands is still incredibly relevant today. I highly encourage reading the booklets and zines that came with these releases; they are just as much a part of the experience as the music is.
Featured On
Connective Tissue: How Punk Archivists In Calgary Preserve The Fabric Of Music From The Past
Contributions
CanadianWasteland welcomes digital contributions, guest posts, and first-hand information to help build our archive. If you have physical media that is particularly important to the project and needs digitizing, we offer free digital transfers and can cover shipping costs. Use the contact form on the sidebar to get in touch with us.
As Always
Nothing we post here or on any other platform is monetized or intended to make money. This is a passion project that we work on in our free time, with the intent to preserve and share music in a place where anyone can enjoy it. Some of the music we host here might not be intended to be free to download. We don't make posts with band permission most of the time. Contact us using the form on the sidebar if you see something that needs to be taken down; for any reason. As an extension of this, please do not upload anything hosted here to spotify, bandcamp or any other platform with monetization enabled.
Copywrite Policy
If anything here is actively copywrited and you are the rights holder, please contact us before claiming infringement. We will take down the material immediately. We try our best to avoid hosting actively copywrited material.
Issues
If you encounter any dead links or other issues with the blog, please let us know so we can fix it!
Wait so you (Ben) and Maya weren't around listening to this stuff in the 90s but discovered all of this way later? You post great stuff by the way!
ReplyDeleteYes! Thank you
DeleteWell, kudos on picking all the good stuff! We would've enjoyed having you around back then in the scene, I'm sure ;). They were great times.
ReplyDeleteHi Ben and Maya, cool project! You posted a Wounded Knee cassette on youtube to which I listened to endlessly on my walkman in the 90ies XD How on earth did you come across this band from tiny Luxembourg?
ReplyDeleteI found them on the Ebullition Illiterate Compilation!
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