The Witzard

Urian Hackney for Paiste (CREDIT: Luke Awtry) Urian Hackney is a Vermont-based drummer, engineer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and skateboarder. Hackney's credits include Lake Superior, Libido Reign, Maneuvers, Caroline Rose, Western Terrestrials, and Wild Leek River. Urian Hackney has filled in for Converge drummer Ben Koller on multiple occasions and plays full-time in his own band, ROUGH FRANCIS. Consisting of three brothers and two of their close friends, ROUGH FRANCIS was originally formed in 2008 as a tribute to their father and uncles' 1970's Proto-punk band, Death. ROUGH FRANCIS are currently prepping their third full-length album, Urgent Care, for release in early May. Although, amidst the global Coronavirus/COVID-19 Pandemic, Urian Hackney has made a bit of a name for himself online as a result of his topical remixes/drum covers. Last week, we first heard about Hackney's work when Scotty "Karate" Heath from Tankcrimes (@tankcrimes) Tweeted a...

"It's a summation of everything up to now; a nice way to present it before we release the newer sound of our more recent writing," Leeds -based producer and Krrum co-vocalist Alex Carrie wrote within a recent email. Carrie started Krrum as a sparse bedroom-produced solo endeavor back in 2010, after a stint playing trumpet in various British Ska bands, "a strange tenure working in a historical cave, and a dead-end job at a local Derbyshire butchery. Krrum quietly unleashed his debut Evil Twin EP in January 2016 and slowly trickled out a string of well-received Soundcloud singles and has since expanded to include Harrison Warke on lead vocals, drummer Charlie Webb , and Thomas Trueman on keys. Krrum 's members collectively drawn influence and inspiration from fellow Pop -minded artists as far-spanning as Gorillaz , Metronomy, Justice , Hot Chip, Jai Paul , and Kanye. Although, they already released a simple cut-and-paste "Evil Twin" video ab...

"When we heard that [Run The Jewels] were fans and down to get on this beat, I was super excited... but cautiously so. I knew this was the type of beat that they could just eat for breakfast; but I was hoping that the whole thing wouldn't come off sounding too retro. I was at Emile Haynie 's house when the email with the mix came through and so, we stopped what we were doing to throw it up on the speakers," 1/3 of self-described "three-headed band with one man name" Andrew Wyatt recently wrote in an email sent to The FADER . Miike Snow is a world-renown Swedish-American Indie/Synthpop band consisting of Wyatt along with Christian Karlsson & Pontus Winnberg , who together function as songwriting and production duo Bloodshy & Avant ; they've collectively produced chart-topping hits for everyone from Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas to Britney Spears (including "Toxic" and "Piece of Me" ). Although, Hip-Hop isn't ...

While well-groomed "heart-throb" types like Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke are busy concocting smooth baby-making Future R&B , lone scantily-clad showman Sean "Har Mar Superstar" Tillman 's bringing the Ron Jeremy to old school-sounding Soul-Funk/R&B . Har Mar Superstar 's been doing his thing for the past 10-15 years now and has toured or worked with a wide variety of underground/mainstream talent: Ben Lee , Fabrizio Moretti (The Strokes), Father John Misty , Britney Spears , Neon Neon , Beth Ditto, Jennifer Lopez , and Drew Barrymore. "Lady, You Shot Me" were supposedly crooner Sam Cooke 's last words, which now effectively doubles as Bye Bye 17 's lead single, of sorts. Julian Casablancas' newly-formed Cult Records quietly unleashed the 10-track album a little while back on April 23rd. Bye Bye 17 feels like Har Mar Superstar's first honest attempt @ some tried-and-true LEGIT R&B music and while I...

Anyone remember a period in time... oh, maybe 10-12 years ago when guys like Lil' Wayne & Fred Durst were still socially relevant and putting out 1/2 decent music? The most interesting thing that Lil' Wayne 's done in recent memory was going into a spurt of codeine-induced seizures (allegedly) and Limp Bizkit signed to his label, Cash Money around this time last year, supposedly broke up , and re-formed since. Needless to say, a Limp Bizkit/Wayne collabo would've likely sounded pretty AWESOME, had it been released between Chocolate Starfish & The Hot Dog Flavored Water and Tha Carter III (2000-08). But as rough as I've made this track sound so far, if Lil' Wayne 's still going for that whole slightly dated sleaze-soaked Rap-Rock vibe, Limp Bizkit 's probably your go-to band of knuckleheads. "Ready to Go" has been in-the-works for the larger part of a year, since initially inking a deal with Cash Money , and was finally unlea...

I just turned 25 a few months ago, but " Tumblr rappers" like kitty pryde really make me feel like a terribly out-of-touch old man! Thanks to my older cousins, I was raised on a steady diet of Wu-Tang Clan , No Doubt, Beastie Boys , Blink-182, Now #1-5 , Red Hot Chili Peppers , Biggie, Sublime , etc. The 20-year-old, freckle-faced songstress manages to shout out " CHEETAH GIRLS , HILLARY DUFF, JUSTIN BIEBER , S-CLUB 7, ATOMIC KITTEN & CLAIRE'S INC." on her Facebook Influences section; AKA a bunch of 90's-bred shit that I'd really be surprised if she was actually influenced by, cause I was about 11 in 1998 (S-Club 7) , but maybe. Bottom line, a lot of kitty 's [sarcastic] Tumblr-fied inside jokes and punchlines fly right over my head. I guess that 5-year age gap really does make a difference sometimes! Like what's up with all these weird acronyms? - D.A.I.S.Y. Rage EP and R.R.E.A.M. = Rash Rules Everything Around Me . I mean, I get the...

While I think my overall musical tastes are pretty cultured and broad-spanning/sound, I must admit that I'm not too keen on current world music. Honestly, when I hear "World Music," what first comes to mind is African Tribal drums, Middle Eastern Acid Rock, Swedish Pop , Mariachi, and South African jam bands . I'm vaguely familiar with Asian Jazz-Fusion , Grime, bagpipe-led Celtic Punk , and Finnish/Norwegian Death Metal. When I first got my learner's permit [license] back in high school, my buddy Ryan and I were driving all over New Jersey , searching for terribly assembled D.I.Y. Punk shows @ dirty VFW halls and seedy hole-in-the-wall bars/clubs. 1970-80's Hardcore Punk is generally associated with it's formative New York , California , and UK scenes... But I guess we, myself included, tend to forget that there are rebellion-fueled, aggressive, socially awkward teens all over the world! Somehow, throughout my 10-12 year relationship with Punk Roc...

Oh, Tom Breihan , you've done it again!; After reading, watching, and ultimately rejecting Redd Kross ' new music video for "Stay Away from Downtown," which was just released online late yesterday afternoon... I have somewhat hastily re-considered my initial opinion on the whole thing. Since reading Breihan's STELLAR album review of Researching The Blues [released today], I've realized that what I thought was it's biggest drawback is actually the album's greatest strength - That undeniably thick layer of Pop Rock sheen! Redd Kross are quite arguably just as Pop -driven as the music of Britney Spears , Katy Perry , or even Justin Bieber . But the fellas of Redd Kross have been earnestly practicing and improving since middle school, when the opened up for Black Flag @ a graduation party (1978). Researching The Blues is the band's first album in some 15 years and honestly, it isn't trying to represent/become anything that they aren't le...

Easily becoming one of the music industry's most widely loved/hated aspiring young star[letts], Lizzy "Lana del Rey" Grant released a lavish, new music video for "Blue Jeans" earlier this morning. Originally unveiled with a hand-made Grant video back in Sept. 2011, "Blue Jeans" (single) will see a major label re-release this coming April. Lana del Rey 's music is essentially manufactured, sugar-coated Pop perfect for Britney Spears' angst-filled tween 20-something fans. While I have yet to hear the complete Born 2 Die album, I must admit, that of the 8-10 tracks I have heard, "Blue Jeans" still remains my personal favourite. "Blue Jeans" 's re-loaded video is an eloquent black & white affair that shows off Lana del Rey 's best assets, as well as her blooming acting/modelling chops. "Blue Jeans" was directed by Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid) and co-stars model Bradley Soileau , who both previously wo...

Sugar Tongue Slim (STS) is a criminally under-rated "Atlantadelphia" -bred rapper and honorary Roots Crew member. From what I can tell, his first recorded appearance was on The Roots' Indie Rock -tinged dark/light "concept album," How I Got Over (2010). STS additionally represents 1/5 of Money Making Jam Boys and his solo output [thusfar] includes: Demand More I-II , Sole Music EP , The Illustrious , and a gaggle of assorted Remixes & Indie Rock flips. After slowly leaking out short, weekly music videos over the course of the past few months, Sugar Tongue Slim finally unveiled his latest Starting Line-Up -produced mixtape effort earlier this morning: GOLD RUSH . It's basically a collection of 15 Top 40 flips (2009-11), which are often slightly re-appropriated with STS' unique storytelling and acute Boom-Bap flourishes. STS and his team of certified in-house gold diggers [producers] hand-selected singles from contemporary artists such as B...

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

The year was roughly 2008-09: Little did the world know that the concurrent career paths of 2 very different Pop Culture titans were about to miraculously collide. 2007 is generally regarded as the year Britney went "bonkers" - head shaving , public outbursts, rehab, spur-of-the-moment tattoos, mental instability, and other seemingly related antics. With that said, Britney Spears somehow re-gained consciousness, managing to pull her career out of this downward spiral; Blackout and Circus were released back-to-back in 2007-08, spawning acclaimed hits like "Womanizer," "Piece of Me," and title cut, "Circus." Around the same time, Marilyn Manson was going through some legal troubles of his own... All the while, recording and conceptualizing 2 of his own studio albums: Eat Me, Drink Me (2007) and The High End of Low (2009). "Heart-Shaped Glasses" proved to be a well-received commercial "single," of sorts and Phantasmag...

Affectionately [genre] classified as "House/Club/Gym," We Don't Belong In Pacha is the latest source of musical output for Londoner, Johan Hugo . Very much like the Popular rhythmic stylings of Hugo's primary effort, The Very Best (Radioclit) , Pacha is undoubtedly groove-heavy and without a doubt highly dance-able. Since forming We Don't Belong In Pacha in 2010-11, Johan Hugo has somehow already managed to assemble assorted remixes for the likes of Britney Spears, Lana del Rey , CSS, and Coldplay . The collective release(s) of "Arab Spring" and "Bad Boy †onigh†" mark Hugo's initial foray into the world of originally-composed, proper "solo" material. The latter's primary sample was lifted from "Bad Boy for Life" - The lead single from P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family 's 2001 joint-crossover album, The Saga Continues... It seems as though Johan Hugo just returned from Malawi; Where he was busy recording...

Bearing the numerical title "4," Beyoncé 's Knowles most recent album-length collection is truly an eclectic, varied affair. Attached track genre styles range from Hip-Hop/Dancehall to Pop -tinged R&B crooners. What can be assumed to be the album's next featured single ( "Love On Top" ) is a specific piece of note; Instantaneously reminiscent of classic R&B artists like Stevie Wonder , Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson , "Love On Top" is a simple, up-tempo ditty... accented by [ Retro-Soul ] finger snaps, horns, and backing harmonies. Credit for the song's early success is due in part to Terius "The-Dream" Nash (songwriter), Shea Taylor (producer-songwriter, alto sax), and Etta James - without a doubt, a pivotal source of initial inspiration for Mrs. Carter .