Reader/Vinyl Collector of The Week: Doug Brown

I am so fucking stoked that all you fine people take the time to check out this little blog I write for. Your continued support and feedback for what me and all the contributors do on OG is very greatly appreciated. So, I thought it would be neat and nifty to give me a chance to connect with some of you, and give you a chance to share our passion for grind, and physical formats of music. Kick off the series is Doug Brown. Thank you so much for the support and the enthusiastic answers. I'm pretty jealous of some of the records you got in your photos, man!

I was ten years old in 1993.  My mother gave me some cash to buy a CD to start the phasing out of cassettes (of which I had a lot). 

I came out of the record store holding David Bowie’s greatest hits and my mom said ‘No- a CD!’.  I told her it was bigger, so it was better.   That began my long journey in vinyl purchasing.

Most of my prized pieces are in my Jazz collection (72 John Coltrane, 44 Miles Davis…) and in my Death/Thrash collections (I have Canada’s largest collection of Metallica memorabilia – thousands of pieces – visit Deathbydigital.com !! ).  

I started listening to Grind when I felt underwhelmed by these ‘deathcore’ bands that were taking over.  (I hate to say ‘taking over’- but Deathcore shows sellout, and Obituary can’t HALF fill a venue in Toronto.).   I wanted something new.  Grindcore is the only genre that seems to never feel stale or old.  It’s incredibly powerful.  When a grindband slows down it feels slower than anything heard.  And when a grind band plays fast- they play fucking fast. 

Liking Grindcore requires a dedication that is not needed when choosing radio friendly music.  Simply put, metal is not easy to listen to. Death Metal and Grindcore are outright abrasive, and though that is part of the appeal, it demands a level of introspection that pop music does not require.  You need to give a lot to Grind - and like anything in life, the more you give the greater the return.

As for my Grind Vinyl, no collection is complete without Scum by Napalm Death.  Soilent Green, Rotten Sound, Brutal Truth, Cryptopsy and Noisear are some of my current favourite grind- oriented bands, but I generally listen to and buy Death Metal more frequently. Though, that is starting to change!

What you see here is about half of the LP’s in my collection.  I have around 5,000 pieces in my house- and I listen to them all. My collection is about 25 percent Jazz, 25 Percent Psych/Classic Rock, 25 percent Soul/R&B, and 25 percent Metal. Like any genre, Grindcore has a few bands that not enough people listen to.  Cattle Decapitation are troopers.  Every album outdoes the previous, and their music is always inspired.  Wormrot is another band I strongly recommend to any grind freak.  They are technically proficient, yet they don’t show off like their contemporaries.  I strongly recommend their album ‘Abuse’. 

I've only been reading Operation Grindcore for about 9 months. Many thanks for existing!  Your dedication to finding gems in the endless pool of piss-poor grind bands is most 
appreciated.

~VII