Shang-A-Lang - Waiting For The End

Shang-A-Lang hail(ed) from Las Cruces, New Mexico and purveyed the power trio punk rock that the bearded Razorcake massive eats up with a spoon. I have been known to tenure in those ranks, but Shang-A-Lang never really caught on with me.


Waiting For The End is evidently the band swan song. I though the split they released with Jonesin' was pretty ok, but I never heard the full-length or any other of the million splits they dropped. Historically, that would mean total obsession with their last release and/or having just missed them play live, but for better of worse that is not the case with Waiting For The End. Five songs, with the closing Stinky Shoes probably being the best of the lot. I like them kinda ok, but think I'll stick to the Old Neighbors. This is evidently a joint release between seven (?!) labels, so either get your Google on or investigate via the Shang-A-Lang web presence.

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Tenement - The Blind Wink

Regular readers are no doubt aware that JS-NYC likes themselves some Tenement. The Figgs meets Dinosaur Jr.-indebted rock stylings of last year's Napalm Dream found itself in heavy rotation and the prospect of a demos collection prompted much rejoicing at the HQ. It's a wise move, as the lack of a regular touring drummer makes Tenement a recording project a lot of the time. The Blind Wink gets you a dozen tracks for your indie rock dollar. Collector nerds should be aware that there is an exclusive track on the cassette version (?) that you can get here from your friends at Dead Broke Records. Those that have embraced a 21st Century technological sensibility should be aware that it comes with a download code. Of the twelve tracks, Dreaming Out Loud is reprised in alternate form, but the others are heretofore unreleased, to the best of my knowledge. I'd say Lost Love Star Lust is probably the best of the lot, but tuneful indie-pop fans will not be disappointed with any of the tracks on The Blind Wink.


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Wussy - Funeral Dress II

When I saw Dave Bierling at Christmas, he mentioned that he and his lady would be down for a Wussy show. You would think that the mention would burn through my lifestyle issues and get me to check on what was going on with Columbus' finest, but I spaced and only recently found that Team Wussy has been a wee bit more active lately than I would have thought, with a new record called Strawberry coming down the pike. While that is great news, further perusal of the Wussy web presence has brought to light that the band has re-recorded Funeral Dress in its entirety acoustically. 500 copies were pressed up for Record Store Day and sold through Shake It! I'm still working through the new record, but the acoustic Funeral Dress II is without question pretty fucking aces. No radical rearrangements, just further assertion that Funeral Dress is a great record and Wussy a great band. Find out for yourself here and look for them here in NYC on 3/3.

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Statik Selektah - Population Control

After 25 years of hip-hop fandom, I can safely say that the current scene is pretty terrible. Sure, there are some young, promising cats like Ortiz and your boy Weezy, but by and large things are shitty with a capital E. The interwebs have fostered a worldwide presence that has helped those that are old-school and metal as prodigiously as those down with the hip-hop, but at least on a local level it's not a great time if your jeans fit and you're not into rocking zircons and a face tat.

Statik Selektah has been holding it down for at least a decade, repping for the caucasian hip-hop set out of Boston. He's dropped a handful of projects like Population Control since 2008 as well as collabos with the likes of Bumpy Knuckles and Saigon, to name but a few, but arguably his biggest presence is his Shade 45 show on Sirius. I bet he DJs out a fair bit, as well. Selektah gets props, and Population Control features enough of the likes of Sean Price and Styles P to keep me mildly interested, but by and large is a lot of new school crap-ola that is definitely backpacker only from where I'm listening. Not full-on Odd Future Asbergers Rap, but definitely Adderall familiar. If that's your thing, peep it here at the double S web presence. I think I'ma stick with the Blastmaster on this one.

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Night Birds - The Other Side Of Darkness

New Jersey punks Night Birds love themselves the twangy surf punk purveyed by Agent Orange and The Adolescents, playing nasty single note lines over a pounding rhythm section that has without question incited a circle bit on more than one occasion. Equal parts Biafra sneer and Ramones whoa-oh, The Other Side Of Darkness is a go-to win for the lover of garage and beach punk in your life. Get it here from your friends at Grave Mistake.

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Nicki Minaj - Love Pink

They don't get much bigger than Nicki Minaj in this day and age. She's definitely got the female Lady Gaga thing going where she gets love from much more than just the hip-hop set. Pink Friday has moved some serious numbers and the follow-up Roman Reloaded seems poised to do the same. In the interim, we have Love Pink, comprising 20 tracks that work the same crossover angle that made its predecessor such a success. Bully for her, but there is a real club vibe to most, if not all, of the tracks that I am evidently way too old for. Mary J., Katy Perry and Willow Smith all make appearances, as do Gucci Mane, for what that's worth. The Wayne track is pretty aces, but at the end of the day, I'm going to put Love Pink firmly in the meh column, with the hope that the next mixtape is a little bit more gutter.

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KRS-One - The BDP Album

Your boy KRS has definitely made the most of the digital age in recent years, dropping digital collabo releases right, left and center with the likes of peers like Buckshot and Bumpy Knuckles, not to mention Marley Marl. Those who felt those releases should be over the moon with the news that his newest release is called The BDP Album.

As you should have rightfully surmised by the title, Kenny Parker is behind the boards making things fresh for 2012 on The BDP Album (you suckers). And yes, the pairing is straight bananas. After a quick Kenny Parker drop, the opening Tote Gunz loops a B.I.G. hook you may remember, setting things off hard and keeping it there for the duration. Not too much in the way of guest spots, although Channel Live do resurface a couple songs in. Heads with any sense would do well to sell a Drake record or two and snap The BDP Album up with the quickness.

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