The Witzard

In the Pines by Dan Auerbach and Robert Finley / MURDER BALLADS " THE BALLAD OF FRANKLIN BONISTEEL acts as a prequel, of sorts, to MURDER BALLADS , the highly-anticipated Rock "N" Roll noir graphic novel about the music industry and redemption. The highly-anticipated graphic novel from Z2 Comics ... will be distributed at comic book stores and bookstores nation-wide and will be available digitally, via ComiXology . It is available now for pre-order," reads a recent press release for Murder Ballads and its accompanying prequel, The Ballad of Franklin Bonisteel ; the latter was available for FREE on a first-come-first-serve basis from participating comic book shops and bookstores nation-wide this past Saturday, May 6th, 16th annual Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). The Ballad of Franklin Bonisteel was made available by Z2 Comics and Easy Eye Sound on FCBD along with an exclusive download link to a new rendition of Lead Belly -popularized 1870's Folk song ...

“We went out to LA with [Action Bronson] last month—me, him, Alchemist , and Sean [Mahon] recorded an entire EP of material under the name Jericho . Jericho may be a project that we drop, that’s really under-the-table, no one knows about that yet. Jericho may just be like a multi-genre, no label EP that may cross genres from Hip-Hop to Electro to 80's Pop . We may bridge the gap with that actually, because some of the stuff we recorded for that, one of the songs sounds like a late 80's Smokey Robinson record and sh*t. And then, there’s some Surf Rock on there that sounds like The Beach Boys and Bronson’s rhyming on it," Party Supplies multi-instrumentalist Justin Nealis revealed to HipHopDX way back in January 2014. Nealis, at the time, proclaimed that he aspired to be "like The Black Keys ; they blew up in Rock and had a few Rock records out and then, they went on and used that leverage to call up Raekwon on that BlakRoc sh*t." Party Supplies ...

"Now accepting all reasonable offers for Nick's Honda . Contact The Arcs or Eddie Huang . Oh yeah... and new Arcs video drops this Tuesday... Go get the album too!! Bump it in your new Honda ?" Dan Auerbach 's The Arcs wrote on Facebook Saturday accompanying a brief 30-second trailer advertising their then-forthcoming "Outta My Mind" music video, as well as director Nick Walker 's Honda . It would appear to be a purposely lo-fi, back seat-shot clip in which two unspecified Arcs members discuss the prospect of the brief hybrid trailer-web ad, which Walker commissioned that "might help save us;" anyone interested in buying Nick Walker 's Honda can either contact The Arcs directly or apparent Dan Auerbach affiliate and Fresh Off The Boat creator, Eddie Huang . "These are people that I either met in the studio, or was a fan of the records that they made before I even met them... Richard Swift , I met him six years ago; we made a...

"I've spent enough time thinking about [making songs for radio] with The Black Keys , not that we ever wrote songs just for radio. I just don't want to ever think about that stuff again. With The Arcs , we were just trying to make music that loves up to the kinds of standards that we love: old soul records, Captain Beefheart , newer Hip-Hop records. The songs are really experimental, but not over your head," Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach recently told Rolling Stone . Auerbach unleashed The Arcs' debut boxing-inspired single, "Stay In My Corner," back on May 2nd to coincide with Mayweather & Pacquiao 's monumental prize fight; in addition to all-female Brooklyn mariachi band Mariachi Flor de Toloache , The Arcs additionally showcases the musical talents of long-time studio buddies Leon Michels , Richard Swift, Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon , and Kenny Vaughan . Initially billed as a Dan Auerbach "solo" album, the newly-assemb...

Fresh on the heels of his critically-acclaimed, Madlib -produced Piñata and a series of album-preceding EP's, Freddie Gibbs has now teamed up with yet another unexpected collaborator: Black Keys affiliate, Hanni el Khatib . okayplayer vividly describes their just-released new track, "Satin Black" as a "classic break with gritty, fuzzed-out six strings licks lacquering the cut, all before the backdrop melts into a puddle of funky goo, subverting your inner-rocker in favor of heavy wahs, deep, gurgling organs and a muddied vocal filter on [Freddie] Gibbs' already haze-treated vox." It's vaguely reminiscent of Head In The Dirt producer Dan Auerbach 's pre-widespread-acclaim, Rap-Blues Rock -indebted BlakRoc album (2009) concocted along with his fellow Black Keys bandmate Patrick Carney , executive producer Damon Dash , and a gaggle of seasoned, Roc-A-Fella Records aligned rappers ranging from Ol' Dirty Bastard to Yasiin Bey fka Mos ...

"There are kids at school who dress like everybody else, because they don't know what to do, and there are musicians like that, too," Jack White recently told Rolling Stone in a particularly telling no-holds-barred interview. "I'll hear TV commercials where the music's ripping off sounds of mine, to the point I think it's me. Half the time, it's The Black Keys ," he continued. It's only the latest set of comments accumulated in an on-going public feud with Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney , which originally erupted when TMZ leaked a batch of White's private emails last year. The same Rolling Stone interview, in support of this forthcoming solo album Lazaretto , somehow managed to bash former bandmate Meg White , Lana del Rey, Adele , Duffy, Danger Mouse , and the late Amy Winehouse, which have since been retracted. Jack White seems to have been converted to the age-old school of thought that nearly all press is good press; a new-fo...

While drummer Patrick Carney recently initiated senseless cyber-beef with everyone from Justin Bieber to Bruce Jenner , The Black Keys really make an infectious brand of no-frills 2-man Rock "N" Roll . Their new album, Turn Blue was announced last Friday via Mike Tyson 's Twitter and was later vaguely described as "A: suffocation, B: sadness, C: numbness from extreme cold, D: a Cleveland late night TV host from the 1960's named Ghoulardi , E: all of the above." Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney co-produced the album's 11 tracks alongside Danger Mouse , a Hip-Hop -leaning producer who helped oversee The Black Keys' last three albums. Along with an album pre-order, ahead of it's May 13th release, our first taste of Turn Blue , "Fever" was unleashed Monday afternoon; it's a 4-minute synth-soaked Psych-Rock romp that's essentially poised for modern rock radio. Now, I wouldn't exactly call "Fever" Auerbach a...

In our web-industry, citing TMZ as a source is basically the real-world journalist equivalent of using Wikipedia as a source on a high school or college senior term paper; it's just something you're better off NOT doing, if possible because sites like these aren't generally the most reliable or accurate sources. But with that said, I think I'm about to commit blogger treason and cite TMZ within this very post (please forgive me!)... Back in late August, Pitchfork reported that Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach supposedly lost an interesting asset which court papers described as "Bob Dylan hair" amidst his bitter divorce from ex-wife Stephanie Gonis . While it was then "unclear how the hair was obtained, when it was obtained, [or] if the hair [contained] any product," an updated TMZ report uploaded Friday morning specifies that Auerbach was never actually in possession of Dylan's curly locks. Dan Auerbach himself recently told a guerrilla...

While attempting to create a polar "opposite of Rock "N" Roll "-rooted music video, French director Simon Cahn arguably created the most Hip-Hop -inspired Rock video since "Walk This Way" (1986). "Pay No Mind" is the third single pulled from Rock "N" Roll revivalists Hanni el Khatib 's most recent album, Head In The Dirt ; Recorded down in Nashville at Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach 's backyard studio, Easy Eye Sound , the album has already birthed 2 gritty singles: "Family," "Penny," and 9 additional down and dirty Garage Rock jams. The NOWNESS premiered clip starts out with the cheerleading team passionately air drumming and singing along with "Family" in what looks like a late night car ride, which then segues into the absolute romper of a simplistic music video. Now, we're talking' about 6 scantily-clad HEK cheerleaders performing a rough-edged choreographed dance ro...

Hanni el Khatib is the first natural-born American from a family of Palestinian and Filipino immigrants, who bravely heads up his own one-man band on a mission to revive 1950-60's era Rock "N" Roll , classic cars, Greaser chic, and straight razors. Khatib is a talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter/producer who's equally influenced by the stylings of Johnny Cash , Sam Cooke, Iggy & The Stooges , Black Sabbath, Johnny Burnette , etc. as well as Blues , Garage Rock, Soul , Folk, and Doo-Wop . Hanni el Khatib linked up with similarly-minded Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to record his second album, Head In The Dirt , which Innovative Leisure's putting out on April 30th. The pair recorded 11 tracks down in Nashville , soon after Khatib opted to "erase everything he'd become comfortable with and to make an album out of only raw instinct and inspiration." Head In The Dirt 's lead-off single, "Family" now has...

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...

I'm not even gonna lie, while I'm a self-proclaimed Indie Rock & Hip-Hop loving, tech-savvy borderline "Hipster" blogger... first heard about Grace Potter & The Nocturnals on The Voice when Team Adam [Levine] contestant Amanda Brown covered 2 of her songs just last month. After Googling the fragmented lyrics and matching song titles, I still wasn't 100% sure that "Paris (Ooh La La)" and "Stars" were the handiwork of the same original artist. I guess you could just say that the 2 years' time in-between Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (2010) and The Lion The Beast The Beat (2012) was a period of immense personal and musical growth for the singer-songwriter; "Paris" is almost a guttural Blues Rock romper that most likely about sex, drugs, and Rock "N" Roll . But "Stars," on the other hand, is a subdued acoustic piano-driven emotional ballad. Grace Potter really makes a unique brand of...

Right before rippin' it up with [the bulk of] his Wu-Tang clansmen, RZA & Ghostface Killah played a quick game of "Bubble Soccer" in Studio 8B 's elevator hallway alongside Gerard Butler and host, Jimmy Fallon . They were really there to promote RZA 's Man with The Iron Fists film soundtarck. but it was pretty great to see the typically "hard as nails" Wu-Gambinos let their guards down and have some good-spirited fun on live TV. Wu-Tang Clan then performed a BRUTAL version of "6 Directions of Boxing" with Fallon's house band, The Roots ; Ghostface, RZA, Cappadonna, GZA , Masta Killa, U-God , and Inspectah Deck were all present for the group's first televised performance together in roughly 10 years' time. The star-studded Iron Fists soundtrack is out today (October 23rd) and it's companion Kung-Fu flick hits theatres on November 2nd. Album stand-out "The Baddest Man Alive" now has an action-packed m...

The Black Keys & RZA first linked up for 2 tracks on their wildly successful Dame Dash -helmed Blues Rock/Rap fusion album, BlakRoc (2009). It seems like RZA might've called in a few favors when assembling the soundtrack to his upcoming film debut, Man with The Iron Fists : Kanye , Flatbush Zombies, Raekwon , Freddie Gibbs, Corrine Bailey Rae , Ghostface Killah, Talib Kweli , and Pharoahe Monch. Following a steady stream of leaks, the opening track from it's soundtrack album, which is out nation-wide Oct. 23rd, "The Baddest Man Alive" was unveiled Thurs. afternoon. Seemingly co-produced by both Dan Auerbach & RZA himself, "Baddest Man" is a Blues -leaning romp, accented by boastful Hip-Hop bravado. FuseTV premiered the track and quite aptly described it as sounding a lot like "an Ennio Morricone track produced by B.B. King ." While he's been pretty heavily influenced by Kung-Fu [Shaolin] since the Wu-Tang Clan days, T...

Iggy Pop & Ginger Baker are a couple of nearly unfathomable Rock "N" Roll legends; The kinda guys that are libel to have hooked up with your mother, grandmom, and sister back in their 1960-70's heyday! Iggy Pop is quite arguably considered "The Godfather of Punk" ... having slept with David Bowie , essentially invented the stagedive, cut himself with shards of glass during a live show, and then notoriously labelled as "crazy" by none other than Alice Cooper ! Pop then then came into prominence with The Stooges , while Ginger Baker was the righteous drummer for Cream , Blind Faith , and more taste-makers. Film-maker/writer Jay Bulger attempted to capture the over-indulgent life and times of the now 73-year-old Jazz drumming madman in his documentary, "Beware of Mr. Baker" ... Bulger ultimately got to score interviews with Ginger Baker 's friends-collaborators, chronicle his assorted hobbies, and when he finally got a chance to...

Way back in June, The Black Keys somehow managed to cram 50-60 hand-selected close friends, family members, and super-fans into notorious Nashville "speakeasy" [dive bar], Springwater Supper Club for a TOP SECRET show/music video shoot. After running through "Little Black Submarines" a few times, the night's festivities quickly transformed into an hour-long make-shift set. Having already re-enacted nearly every go-to Rock "N" Roll cliché in the book: bikini-clas hotties, animal puppet hi-jinx, brawling children, dancing salesmen, .gif short films , etc... The Black Keys opted for a FRESH approach - Live, loud & housed within one seedy-ass club! "Little Black Submarines" is one of The Black Keys' ultimate hidden treasures buried deep within their most recent album, El Camino (2011). It's a retro-style Blues Rocker that honestly, kinda reminds me of either Led Zeppelin or Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers . Local Philly ...

I guess it's kinda like that old All-American proverb [saying] says, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." But in this case, the one man, TOBACCO (Black Moth Super Rainbow) isn't exactly sure if what he has is a trash/treasure. TOBACCO took the liberty of remixing "I Got Mine" from The Black Keys' fifth album, Attack & Release (2008), but it was never officially released. And now, this lost treasure has somehow managed to find it's way onto The Internet(s) . Seemingly with The Keys' consent, TOBACCO quietly uploaded his dusty old "I Got Mine" remix to BMSR 's collective Soundcloud page late Thurs. afternoon. When it wasn't used by the band, TOBACCO ultimately ended up chopping, editing, and re-using select portions of "I Got Mine" for his own track called "Super Gum." TOBACCO's remix and both original versions are featured down below for your comparison purposes, but be w...

POWER finally came back on last night and now my fridge works, just in time to chill the Yuengling 6-pack I bought earlier! HAPPY 4th OF JULY , my friends! I'm headed into work for a short 2-6 shift... and then having some family and a few friends over for a nice little BBQ. Then if all goes well, heading down to Bridgeton high school for some fireworks later tonight. Burgers, dogs, and beer are almost as essential as "red, white, and blue" for this All-American holiday. JEFF The Brotherhood definitely have the right idea; Jake & Jamin Orrall got a bunch of friends together down by the lake for a make-shift PARTY and Elise Tyler/Michael Carter just happened to film the whole damn thing - ha. It also duals as a simple music video to go along with lead single, "Sixpack." Hypnotic Knights EP is out now, which is basically a 4-track sampler for Hypnotic Nights . Entirely produced by Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) , that'll be out on July 17th. Have a...

Nashville Rock "N" Roll revivalists JEFF The Brotherhood recently inked a record deal with Warner Bros. Hypnotic Nights (July) was co-produced along with Dan Auerbach , who's band The Black Keys also "sold out" semi-recently and have remained quite successful ever since. Jake & Jamin Orrall 's very own family-owned/operated record label, Infinity Cat will co-release the new album and it's companion [digital] EP, Hypnotic Knights . I downloaded a copy of JEFF The Brotherhood 's lead single, "Sixpack" before I skipped town for Maryland on Friday... No, "Sixpack" isn't a Black Flag (Rollins) cover; But honestly, it's damn near just as ferocious! After a quick first listen, I was instantly reminded of Weezer 's guitar-driven Pop melodies backed by CKY 's West Chester -bred Experimental "Skater Rock." JEFF The Brotherhood are currently touring across The USA along with Best Coast up until Ju...

In the midst of The Roots' latest concept-heavy 13th album (undun) , I nearly forgot about The Black Keys' most recent release; El Camino was issued on the same day as undun and now that "the smoke has cleared," I've gotten an opportunity to fully digest The Keys' latest Blues -drenched offering. By now, it's pretty widely known that Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney are a couple of pranksters... and they've chosen to align themselves with a cast of equally "zany" characters: Frank The Dinosaur , Mos Def , Danger Mouse , The Black Eyed Peas, Derrick T. Tuggle , pint-sized fighting children, ATL Twins , Dame Dash , and Tennis (Colorado). So, many long-time fans were quite surprised after initially viewing Akron, OH's finest BRAND NEW music video, "Gold on the Ceiling." Said Reid Long -directed video features a continuous stream of grainy, behind-the-scenes footage filmed while on tour. It's very reminiscent of Class...