Hello everyone! Thought I would talk about disc rot today. If you store things such as music or videos on discs (CDs, DVDs and related discs), be advised of disc rot, and be careful. What is disc rot you ask? Well, I can explain.
Disc rot is where discs become unreadable due to chemical deterioration to the disc. Typically disc rot appears in the form of pin-prick sized holes, or discoloration comparable to a coffee stain or bronzing. CD bronzing is actually another, more uncommon form of disc rot.
When a rotten disc is played, there are issues, such as video artifacts for video discs, or distorted areas for audio discs. There can even be parts that are completely unplayable for audio discs. I have watched videos on YouTube about the audio effects of rotten discs. Disc rot can even happen to video game discs, where the disc becomes unreadable and the game can’t be played.
There is an instance where a band was found due to a rotten disc that was found in a charity shop. Panchiko, a British Indie rock band was “discovered” when a disc of their music, specifically an album known as D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L was found in 2016 in a charity shop. A charity shop is a type of thrift store. The disc was from 2000, and it was a demo EP (Extended Play). In 2017, a year later, the audio was ripped from the rotten disc and was uploaded to YouTube. The audio was distorted yet still audible. After the band was found and contacted they got back together, with the exception of one member who had enlisted into the military shortly after the band initially broke up.
The band initially consisted of Owain Davies, the lead vocalist and a guitarist, Andrew “Andy” Wright, a guitarist/keyboardist, Shaun Ferreday, a bassist, and John, who was a drummer. When the band got back together in 2020, new members joined, Robert “Rob” Harris, a guitarist, and John Schofield, a drummer.
People had analyzed the cover of the disc rotten EP and noticed a bar code. This bar code led to a shop, specifically an Oxfam shop that was located in Sherwood, Nottingham. In early 2020, a FaceBook profile was found, belonging to Owain Davies and he was contacted. Owain then contacted Andrew and Shawn. None of them were aware of the ordeal that had happened with Panchiko, and they were most likely surprised about it all. The whereabouts of the original drummer John is unknown, and it is doubtful if he knows about the newfound success of Panchiko. Considering he enlisted in the military shortly after the band’s original breakup in 2001, It is possible that he is still serving in the military, or passed while serving.
Here is a YouTube video with the remaster of the D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L album, and the rotten songs, all in one video. The songs were remastered from a better quality disc that Andrew Wright’s friend had.
In February of 2020, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L was reissued as a full-length album that also included songs from Kicking Cars, an EP that was never released, along with the rotten versions from the original D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L disc. The original members worked together to revamp the band, which for some time consisted of released old works that until then, had never been released. Albums that were released were Ferric Oxide (Demos 1997-2001), which was an album of 18 demo tracks that were created between 1997-2001, and R>O>B>O>T>S>R>E>P>R>I>S>E, a rerecording of an old song known as Laputa.
There is another album I know of due to disc rot, however the rot on the disc for this one is much more severe than D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, and doesn’t have a happy ending like the Panchiko disc story. Overland – Traces of Yesterdays is the album. The album was recorded at the Dartington College of Music between 1999 and 2001. The album was released in 2001. Sadly, the only known copies of the album have severe disc rot, to the point where many tracks are entirely unplayable, and the remaining tracks have severe distortion. It’s sad, the songs are beautiful, yet were damaged and distorted by the disc rot. They are fragments of what they were intended to be. Damaged by the rotten disc that they are stored on.
This is a YouTube video of a rotten copy of the album.
This is another rotten copy, with a single playable song, specifically Sleeping, Waking, the first track in the album.
Based upon a Discogs listing of the album, there are ten tracks, however in the rotten copies in the two YouTube videos, only about half of these tracks are playable. Half of the songs in the album, we haven’t heard at all! The songs that can be heard are Sleeping, Waking, Softly, But As Bells, Hymn, Starlet, and We Scatter To The Corners. We have no idea what the tracks Lisbon, Chrysanthemums, She Walks in Fading Light, River House, and Tonight Won’t Be Like Any Other Night even sound like.
The only known information about Overland are the members first names. Alex, Dave, Jane and Joe. It is entirely unknown what each of their roles is in the band, but I can assume the feminine voice in the tracks Starlet, and We Scatter To The Corners is Jane, considering Alex is a neutral name, which doesn’t really help determine anything about that band member. It could be Alex though, we don’t know. Regardless of who it is that is singing, her voice is pretty. In Sleeping, Waking there is a feminine voice, and it sounds slightly different than the voice in Starlet, and We Scatter To The Corners. I can assume this is either Jane, or perhaps Alex, depending on who it was singing in Starlet, and We Scatter To The Corners. There is no way of telling who sings in what song, as there is no known information that clarifies this.
The Discogs listing is here. https://www.discogs.com/release/4693170-Overland-Traces-Of-Yesterdays
There is still little known about Overland – Traces of Yesterdays. I hope one day the people who were part of the band are identified and contacted, so we can get some closure about the full album.
While researching Overland – Traces of Yesterdays, I discovered that someone tried to clean up the audio and remove the disc rot caused skipping. Through their efforts, only one song sounded decent (according to themselves), that song being We Scatter To The Corners, and I’d say it’s pretty good, especially considering the rotten condition of the disc!