Live: Zazen Boys @ Cake Shop 3.6.9

The boys are back in town. Zazen Boys that is. They've been recording their new record with Dave Fridmann in recent months and judging by the material they've been throwing down in the live shows recently, it's going to be pretty raging. 

Zazen Boys is the project that ex-Number Girl frontman Mukai Shutoku has dedicated most of his efforts towards in recent history. There's is a spastic rock, very much like a Japanese Dismemberment Plan in it's herky-jerky rhythms and frantic bass pummelling with freak-out vocals tossed on top. It's as danceable as it is indescribable. 

The band is normally frightentingly tight, and this night was no exception. It's always an eye-opener when these guys can come over and straight-up kill on borrowed gear with nary a bit of complaining. There's always a big Japanese ex-pat crowd, but while it was a pretty packed room, shockingly enough I didn't have any problem seeing. It might have been better if I didn't, as watching bassist Yoshida Ichirou always makes me want to sell off my entire stable of four-strings. It was a pretty short but mindblowing set that I'm told was comprised of most of the new Zazen Boys IV record. Gotta get my hands on that. They play tonight at The Saint in Asbury Park and tomorrow at Pianos. Check out Zazen Boys on the web here.

R

DJ Shakim - SOHH Old School Mix

Respect due to SOHH.com. They are on top of all the hip-hop goings-on, have good video stuff, and most troubling for Allhiphop.com, seemingly have more bandwidth than the average site. There's a pretty good little old-school mix there, courtesy of the Atlanta branch of the SOHH and DJ Shakim of the World Famous Super Friends. Nothing out of the ordinary, save for a Special Ed joint that isn't I'm The Magnificent. It's worth a listen if you want a little taste of the old school but don't want to mix it yourself. Snag it off the link here. 

Speaking of free good things, freeicecream.net has got a gang of free mixes over at their site. Big up to Kats! Look for a dedicated series on their stuff in the coming weeks. While you're waiting for the JS-NYC spotlight to shine it's light, check out freeicecream here. 

R

Insubordination Fest 2008 CD/DVD

Insubordination Fest was a blast last year. It was my first time, but save for the logistical snafus that had me missing The Hold Steady, being able to see Off With Their Heads, The Copyrights, Dear Landlord and a million other bands in one place over a couple days was well worth the trip down Charm City way. If you have way too much free time, try finding JS-NYC in full 'oh my frickin' God it's the Copyrights' mode on the picture to the right.

This handy CD/DVD combo documents single songs from 29 of the bands that played over those three days. If you're wondering, those bands are:

Deep Sleep -Text Book Timebomb
Dopamines - Easy Living
Dear Landlord - Don't Just Stand There
Off With Their Heads - Die Today
Parasites - Young and Stupid
The Drunken Cholos - We'd Have a Riot Doing Heroin
Kepi Ghoulie - Girlfriend
Cletus - I Don't Mind
Ann Beretta - Angry All the Time
Copyrights - 57 North
Ergs! - Bill Moon
Dateless - Taking Over Me
Backseat Virgins - Striptease
Proteens - Nothing but Trouble
Karmella's Game - The Pit
Chinese Telephones - Stay Around
Doc Hopper - Zapruder Frame 313
20 Belows - Look Out Below
Lemuria - Mechanicals
Leftovers - Dance With Me
Steinways - Today is the Day We are Getting Married
Zatopeks - Jumble Sale
Beatnik Termites - Red Haired Girl
The Crumbs - Girl You Make Me Rock and Roll
Sweet Baby - Baby x7 (I Love You)/Pretty Baby
Weston -Retarded
Sludgeworth - Someday
Sloppy Seconds - Let's Kill a Trendy
The Queers - Girl About Town

The sync is a little sketchy on some of the tracks, unless Lemuria is a band full of ventriloquists, but for $12 for a CD/DVD combo, you can't really go wrong. The lineup for this year is due in the next month or so, so pop on over to the good folk of Insubordination here and get your bookmark on. The link for the CD/DVD is here.

R

Nick DiPaolo - Funny How?

Funny How? is album three from Nick DiPaolo, your go-to when it comes to crass truthful comedy that falls on the far side of the line of political correctness. Not a problem for this asshole, but if you have delicate sensibilities you might want to look for a Demitri Martin record or something.

Obama, Rosie O'Donnell and mall comedy are covered, along with a host of other topics best not re-discussed around the water cooler. You can get this for $10 from the good folk of Itunes or grab one from Nick at his live shows. Keep track of DiPaolo here and thank me later.

R

DJ Babu - Duck Season Volume 3

It's been out a bit, but Volume 3 of the ever-banging Babu Duck Season comp series is here and terrorizing earholes everywhere. Dilated always bring it, but it's nice to see the DJ community's Filipino Elvis get a little shine his own self. The beats are hot, as you might suspect, and the Primo-esque scratching will always get the JS-NYC hype, but it's the world-class guest shots that we're hunting for come Duck Season.

Once again, Babu fails to disappoint. If you want to start with my go-to's, I will tell you that the Sean Price track (a collabo with someone named Doom) is fucking hot, as are the Guilty Simpson and M.O.P. tracks. Old schoolers like Percee P and AG make appearances and there's even a Little Brother track that I kinda dig. Whouda thought! My East Coast bias aside, there are a gang (ha!) of West Coast heavy hitters here, too. Evidence and Rakaa Iri represent for the home team and Cali Agents and Bishop Lamont kinda bring it, too. 

It wouldn't be Duck Season without the odd Bugs Bunny sample, but they pass quickly, usually in the wake of some break ya neck head-nodding track, but the scratching and rhyming more than make up for any passing irritation this cranky bastard might find.  Pretty much every one of the 18 tracks here get props, save for the kid rapper track that closes the proceedings. Volume 3 is another must-have from Babu for the hip-hop head in your life. I'll help you out: Buy Duck Season: Volume 3 here. Keep track of the Dilated Junkie himself here.

R

The Jealous Sound - Got Friends

I'm not sure how this flew under my radar, but The Jealous Sound have a new EP out. I had seen a clip on punknews that there was a record in the pipeline, entitled Got Friends. Then back in October, the kids released an I-Tunes only EP, also called Got Friends, comprised of three tracks and two remixes of the now-ubiquitous Got Friends. Both of the remixes are of the techno variety, my apologies if there is some particular subgenre that Mssrs. Figurine and J. McGinnis belong to that I'm (blessedly) out of the loop on. They remind me a lot of Jimmy Tamborello's Dntel stuff, and lo and behold! As I googled Tamborello to get the Dntel spelling right, I see that Figurine is Tamborello, so chalk one up for the home team. Either way, it sounds like The Jealous Sound, or perhaps more accurately a Blair Shehan record, and that's a good thing. It's been a long time, almost six years, since we've heard anything from TJS, and the three songs here seem well worth the wait. Pick up Got Friends from the good folk of I-tunes and keep track of all things The Jealous Sound via this handy link.

R

O Pioneers!!! - Neon Creeps

O Pioneers hail from the Lone Star State of Texas, Houston to be exact, but damn if they don't sound like they are one of the If You Make It bands from my fair city of NYC. Think Thousandaires or Get Bent. There are some gruffer parts, like on 9am Every Day, where it gets kind of early Hot Water Music, but for the most part Neon Creeps seems indebted to the mid 90s Midwestern rock that I hold so dear. 

O Pioneers have released just under a million records since their inception. If you believe what you read on the interwebs, there have been six members in and out of the band since the last recording. The ones that stuck around sure have made one hell of a good record.  Neon Creeps is the first for Asian Man. I suspect Mr. Park will be pleased with results. I know I was. I'm even more pleased to find that they are playing at Lost & Found, provided this winter weather doesn't strand them somewhere. Buy a copy of Neon Creeps from Asian Man here, see them at Lost & Found, and keep tabs on their Texas asses here. 

R