The Witzard

Purity Ring have kept a relatively low profile since releasing their major label Dream-Pop debut, Shrines , nearly two years ago; aside from a handful of Electronic -tinged remixes crafted for everyone from Soulja Boy to Lady GaGa and non-album tracks recorded with Danny Brown and Jon Hopkins . Purity Ring have reportedly been working on their as-yet-untitled second album for about a year or so no and then, all of a sudden, without any rhyme or reason, they quietly uploaded a brand new track late Wednesday night. "push pull" was crafted at the hand of in-house producer Corin Roddick and has seemingly already won over the approval of frequent collaborator, @xdannyxbrownx , who ecstatically Tweeted, "nothing short of amazing!!!!!! ... I love these guys." It really seems like the next logical natural progression for Purity Ring as a band, a little less murky and lo-fi, but still just as glitchy, jittery, and eerily beautiful as their early material; "You...

"It's our summer jam, so we figured we should put it out, cuz I am very bored of waiting to finish my album [before] releasing new music haha," Grimes (real name Claire Boucher ) said in a recent press release. Last winter, Boucher signed what some might call a mildly head-scratching management deal with Jay Z 's own Roc-Nation off-shoot company — alongside previous signees HAIM , M.I.A. Santigold , Mark Ronson, Shakira , Wale, and The Ting Tings . Grimes and her fellow Canadian comrade/frequent collaborator Blood Diamonds were reportedly commissioned by Roc-Nation to produce and original track for R&B super-star Rihanna . While it was ultimately rejected by the Roc-Nation team, Grimes & Blood Diamonds recently recorded their own version of the track, now re-titled "Go." Blood Diamonds' 2010-12 reminiscent Dubstep/Electro -leaning production work seems to have been influenced by Grimes' former Full Flex Express touring mates, ...

Following a steady stream of FREE-releases and countless Hip-Hop covers, Canadian Jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG ) are finally gearing up to release their first label-backed album, III for Innovative Leisure . I think it's pretty safe to say that Chester Hansen, Alex Sowinski & Matt Tavares have progressed leaps and bounds since their early days of covering Odd Future and Waka Flocka Flame album tracks; instead, now penning their own original tracks with a definitive Hip-Hop -like edge. BADBADNOTGOOD 's most recently released track, "CS60," seemingly pronounced "sexy," is a slightly darker 7-minute Jazz piece, which Complex vaguely confirms will indeed appear within III . Wu-Tang Clan -affiliated producer Frank Dukes and multi-instrumentalist River Tiber (cello) lent some additional recording assistance, perhaps outside of BBNG 's typical cannon of knowledge. "CS60" seems to mark a new Jazzier and dare I say, more "adult...

I wonder if when David Bowie penned "Space Oddity" nearly 45 years ago, he'd ever imagined that an astronaut would ever release a re-recorded version from outer-space!? Fast-forward to May 12, 2013: Just 2 days before ending his 5-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS), Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield uploaded a unique "Space Oddity" cover. It's the first music video filmed in outer-space and the backing track itself was arranged back on Earth by producer Joe Corcoran and pianist Emm Gryner . Hadfield has been surprisingly active on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit , etc. while working on the ISS ; Constantly posting spacey photos, video content, answering fan questions , and recording original music while "sitting in a tin can, far above the world." Chris Hadfield is currently headed back into Earth 's atmosphere and should land on solid ground sometime between May 13-14th, while "Space Oddity" has already managed ...

Canadian producer Marco Polo 's currently putting the finishing touches on Newport Authority 2 [mixtape], which 2dopeboyz describes as, ""Legendary emcees on beats by Marco Polo " series with samples that were impossible to clear." He recruited the talents of seasoned lyrical assassin, Big Daddy Kane for "Night & Day." Marco Polo somehow managed to flip a sample pulled from Al B. Sure! 's cheese-tastic New Jack Swing/R&B hit, "Nite and Day" (1988); What ensues next are 3 hard-hitting, age-appropriate verses fit for a 44-year-old rapper. I've transcribed a few of Big Daddy Kane 's sharp-tongued bars for the purposes of this here post: "You in your zone, tricking on Patron / with more shots of silver than a werewolf... Shit, baby girl, you said you don't feel appealing. Them breasts ain't looking pirky no more / Them dudes ain't acting thirsty no more." Newport Authority 2 is set to feature ...

It's already been about 2 weeks since The Grammys aired, by the festive beef/drama is surely still going on. Early last week, a TMZ reporter asked Patrick Carney , whose band The Black Keys nabbed 4 Grammy awards, why he thought the academy didn't nominate Justin Bieber for an awards... to which Carney replied, "He's rich, right? I mean, I don't know. Grammys are like, for music, not for money and he's making a lot of money. I don't know - he should be happy, I guess." That's a pretty tame, politically correct response, but Bieber soon Tweeted " the black keys drummer should be slapped around haha." Patrick Carney quickly retaliated by changing his Twitter handle to "Justin Bieber" last weekend [Feb. 15-17th]. Tweeting @ terribly mis-led fans, harboring harsh responses, and ultimately Rick-Rolling unsuspecting Bieber fans with a NEW WORLD PREMIER, which actually ended up being "Recombo DNA" (1977). When...

Since it's largely being totted as an [all] "GiRL pUnK bAnD," I'm mildly curious as to what sort of role rising Vancouver producer Blood Diamonds (Mike Tucker) really played in the creation of "DON'T SMOKE MY BLUNT BITCH." Supposedly recorded in 10 minutes and filmed in under an hour over the weekend, the track was produced by Grimes and it's trippy-ass music video was directed by Tragik . L$D 's third and final member, KREAYSHAWN looks really hot and raps well too, as usual! President Obama said that " L$D r a fresh breath of air after months of depressing goth pop " and New York Times has already championed them as "the hypest band in l.a." No word just yet on an L$D album/mixtape, but I'd almost expect one sooner than later since they keep referring to "DON'T SMOKE MY BLUNT BITCH" as their first single. KREAYSHAWN 's long-rumored Interscope debut, Somethin' Bout Kreay is slated for an...

Claire Boucher seems to be flirting with the idea of becoming a "Hip-Hop producer," as of late. The Montreal -based Experimental artist who's alternatively known as "Grimes" is currently on a promotional jaunt for her third full-length and major label debut, Visions . It was liberated across North America just yesterday [Feb. 21st], self-recorded @ Claire Boucher 's apartment over a 3 week period, and then skillfully mixed/mastered along with her manager, Sebastian Cowan . Following a minor water-borne run in with the law (2009), Boucher's "street cred" was slightly boosted. Grimes' initial exploration into the world of Hip-Hop was released in conjunction with Visions : Cadence Weapon - "88." The 2 Canadian -bred artists struck up an Internet -based friendship a few months back and Claire Boucher willingly handed over a bare-bones beat version of "Eight." Cadence Weapon then morphed it into a tender ode to H...

When Matthew Arnold penned "The Buried Life" (98-line poem) way back in 1852, I'm sure he never imagined that his compiled works words would still be inspiring young people some 160 years later, in 2012. The present-day incarnation of "The Buried Life" is made up of 4 Canadian -bred friends [brothers]: Ben, Jonnie , Duncan & Dave . Armed with nothing more than a rudimentary cam-corder, a purple bus named "Penelope," and a grandiose vision - The guys set forth on a mission to help the hard-working people of the nation. The crux of Ben, Jonnie, Duncan & Dave's companion MTV series, which originally ran for the length of two 2010 seasons... was to assemble a lengthy bucketlist of "100 things to do before you die." This would, of course, warrant the assistance of many good-hearted, helpful people along the way. For every item crossed off "The Buried Life" crew's list, they promised to assist a newly-befriended st...