The Witzard

Nate Patrin Author Photo (CREDIT: Craig VanDerSchaegen) "So, I put together a [playlist] that comprises my favorite moments of Hip-Hop & Punk intersecting, intentionally or otherwise, from the old school to the current moment. It ranges from Downtown NYC Crossover efforts to sample flips to all-out collabos, and spans a broad range of both genres—so, it's more of a historical overview, than a cohesive snapshot of a particular sound. That said, I f**k with each and every one of these songs, 100%." With The Quickness #7: Nate Patrin's Adidas In The Pit/Punk Meets Hip-Hop Playlist 01. The Clash - "This Is Radio Clash" Samples: J. Bodewalt Lampe - "Mysterioso Pizzicato" 02. ESG - "UFO" Sampled By: The Notorious B.I.G. J Dilla, Big Daddy Kane, MF DOOM, Q-Tip, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, and more 03. Liquid Liquid - "Cavern" Sampled By: Grand Master Melle Mel, Guru, Doug E. Fresh, The Notorious B.I.G. 2 Live Cr...

TBA by Manikineter Carl Kavorkian makes some of the most ferocious, experimental Noise-Rap music I've ever heard and (not) surprisingly, he's one of the nicest, most hospitable people I've ever met working in "the music industry." Case in point: my buddy Omarey and I went into South Philly one Friday night back in June for The Sh*thawks , Felipe Pupo, MANIK|NETER , Planet 88, and King Ani Mal 's show at The Pharmacy . We grabbed a pizza back in Jersey and were pretty much on time for the show, although, Felipe Pupo frontman and show organizer Erik "E." Grizzly was messaging me on the way in; Erik mentioned he thought the set times were running a bit earlier than expected and Carl Kavorkian 's MANIK|NETER was likely going on early. Now, while I was excited for all five bands on the bill, I was most excited to see MANIK|NETER and was looking forward to seeing his infamous executioner's mask-covered set! Once Omarey and I got into Sou...

Mannequin Eater by MANIK|NETER "Loud. Abrasive. Mental. Music; a four word preface into the sound of MANIK|NETER , the side-project of Carl Kavorkian . Bringing together the essence of various adrenaline-inducing genres, this Noise-Rap project is described as an evolving experiment in crushing drums, heavy sounds, manipulated vocals, and translucent streams of consciousness. Lyrically, putting less emphasis on "bars" and more concentration on stirring emotions and simply rocking the f*ck out. Live cats to the front, wall flowers to the back when MANIK|NETER hits the stage," reads a fragmented chunk of Philly -based emcee, producer, engineer, and DJ Carl Kavorkian 's recent email blast. MANIK|NETER (pronounced: "Mannequin-Eater" ) is the new Noise-Rap -leaning side-project from Kavorkian, who described his latest Mannequin Eater EP as sonically reminiscent of Sleep Beggar or Noise Lock ; "the intensity of all those artists and all the new m...

شو بتشوف؟ "What Do You See?" by HARAM " Nader Habibi is a frizzy-haired and heavily tattooed Lebanese-American from Yonkers, New York . He has a fondness for mesh tank tops, large earrings, and raging Hardcore Punk . Two days after improvised bomb attacks left New York City tense and frightened, HARAM have dropped the follow-up to their well-received 2015 DEMO ," Noisey scribe Tim Scott wrote within a September 20th-published HOLY SH*T profile. Scott's of course, referring to Arab-American Punks HARAM 's latest quick-strike Emil Bognar-Nasdor recorded EP, شو بتشوف؟ "What Do You See​?​" which is noticeably influenced by Aggro-Rap "darlings" Death Grips , Japanese Hardcore, and Toxic State Records' acclaimed Ground Zero NYC 2013 ​ comp. While I can't exactly decipher much of frontman Nadir Habibi/Haram 's blood-curdling, often bellowed Arabic lyrics (aside from English translated titles), the sentiment first echo...

Denver-bred genre-defying Echo Beds are the inagural signees to politically-charged emcee and former Anticon founder Tim "sole" Holland's latest label venture, Black Box Tapes. I would likely describe Echo Beds' rather long-winded "overdriventapehissnoisewalllandscapemetaldrumpummelpain- facevolumetherapy" sound of something strangely evocative of what an imagined missing link between late 80's-1990's Industrial Rock forefathers Nine Inch Nails and their critically-acclaimed modern day counterparts, Noise/Aggro-Rap group Death Grips; an obtuse indefinable sound, better yet, self-described by vocalist/bass player Keith Curts and beat-maker Tom Nelson as "a caterwaul of contact-mic'd oil drums, broken cymbals, battered basses, unrecognizable tape loops, and dilapidated voices with the expressed intention of volume as therapy and put it through the grinder of self-practiced D.I.Y. ethos;" with all that said, I'm proud to finally be a...

Tune in... on Friday, June 10 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m to hear two brand new tracks from Sacramento band Drug Apts , "Concrete Jungle" and "Mother Invention." Both tracks were produced by Zach Hill and Andy Morin of Death Grips," Pitchfork wrote Wednesday afternoon, detailing the latest installment of their London -based Pitchfork Radio . LCD Soundsystem bassist Tyler Pope will release a Drug Apts. EP fully produced by Hill and Morin this September on his newly-formed Interference Pattern Records ; "a 5-song EP by Drug Apts. will be coming soon on Interference Pattern Records . Produced by [Zach] Hill and Andy Morin (Death Grips) , stay tuned!" Pope revealed within a track description on the label's Soundcloud page roughly four days ago. Although Interference Pattern 's Soundcloud page has been established since 2012, Drug Apts. Death Grips -produced EP will be their first official release and it sounds like MLML 's "Ret...

Sacramento -based Noise-Rap band Death Grips have had a very tumultuous, to say the least, relationship with the media since their sudden 2010 inception, although the recently "disbanded" and reunited three-piece have been heralded as "the first truly important band of the 21st century;" having direct influence on The Thin White Duke's final album ★ (Blackstar) , Kanye 's Aggro-Rap masterpiece Yeezus , and even Travi$ Scott 's righteous T.I. & Kanye -assisted Rodeo . Death Grips' first post-"breakup" album, Bottomless Pit was unleashed Friday, May 6th at the stroke of midnight, amdist a weekend abuzz with new music and countless headlines from the likes of Radiohead , James Blake, Chance The Rapper , De La Soul, Homeboy Sandman , KAYTRANADA, and Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def . Bottomless Pit was preceded by eventual album tracks "Hot Head," Zane Lowe -debuted "Eh," and non-album "Interview 2016," althou...

NEW ICONS OF A VILE FAITH by Echo Beds Denver -bred genre-defying Echo Beds are the latest signees to politically-charged emcee and former Anticon founder Tim "sole" Holland 's latest label venture, Black Box Tapes . I would likely describe Echo Beds' rather long-winded "overdriventapehissnoisewall- landscapemetaldrumpummelpainfacevolumetherapy" sound of something strangely evocative of what an imagined missing link between late 80's-1990's Industrial Rock forefathers Nine Inch Nails and their critically-acclaimed modern day counterparts, Noise/Aggro-Rap group Death Grips ; an obtuse indefinable sound, better yet, self-described by vocalist/bass player Keith Curts and beat-maker Tom Nelson as "a caterwaul of contact-mic'd oil drums, broken cymbals, battered basses, unrecognizable tape loops, and dilapidated voices with the expressed intention of volume as therapy and put it through the grinder of self-practiced D.I.Y. ethos." ...

"WE ARE NOW AT OUR BEST AND SO DEATH GRIPS IS OVER. WE HAVE OFFICIALLY STOPPED. ALL CURRENTLY SCHEDULED LIVE DATES ARE [CANCELLED]. OUR UPCOMING DOUBLE ALBUM THE POWERS THAT B WILL BE DELIVERED WORLDWIDE LATER THIS YEAR VIA HARVEST/THIRDWORLD RECORDS . DEATH GRIPS WAS ALWAYS HAS BEEN A CONCEPTUAL ART EXHIBITION ANCHORED BY SOUND [AND] VISION. ABOVE AND BEYOND A "BAND." TO OUR TRUEST FANS PLEASE STAY [LEGEND]," Death Grips wrote within a seemingly haphazard napkin-scrawled band break-up note uploaded to their Facebook page back in July 2014. Although, it now seems as though said disbandment was nothing more than an elaborately planned rouse, as founding members MC Ride, Zach Hill & Flatlander are amidst a full-fledged band reunion; having already circled the world once around, booked a number of festival dates for this upcoming summer, and are currently recording a proper follow-up to their reported "last" album, The Powers That B , tentativel...

"Hey baby, you forgot your Ray Bans And my sheets still orange from your spray tan It was more than soft porn for the K-man She remember my Sprinter, said "I was in the grape van" Uhm, well cutie, I like your bougie booty Come Erykah Badu me, well, let's make a movie... No more parties in LA Please, baby, no more parties in LA" - Kanye & Kendrick Lamar Kanye West is without a doubt one of the most charismatic, unabashedly outspoken to a fault, and arguably creative artists in all of Hip-Hop and even all of music; in my eyes, West, the self-proclaimed "No. 1 Rockstar On The Planet," could easily be likened to Classic Rock monoliths Queen , who once performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" at Glastonbury . For purposes of this very analogy I'm trying yo set up, that would in turn, make President Obama 's favorite emcee, Kendrick Lamar , David Bowie in our "Under Pressure" -referencing equation. Lamar's To Pimp a...

Bitmilltary by ayyy donkey Death Grips are a notoriously on again, off again, and currently reformed Hardcore Punk -infusing Sacramento -based "Aggro-Rap" band; if you're not familiar, just think, a hypothetical musical ménage à trois between Black Flag, Beastie Boys , and Gravediggaz – two of which are coincidentally sampled throughout their genre label-pulverizing debut mixtape, Exmilitary . Death Grips' underlying influence can, believe it or not, be heard on everything from recent father of two Kanye 's own 2013 Dancehall -leaning Aggro-Rap magnum opus, Yeezus to recently deceased incomparable Thin White Duke's final album, ★ (Blackstar) which was additionally influenced by President Obama 's favorite rapper, Kendrick Lamar . While we patiently await Bottomless Pit , the long-rumored follow-up to Death Grips' double-disc March-April 2015 "reunion" album, The Powers That B , an amateur remixer known as ayyy donkey has taken it u...

Rock "N" Roll and quite arguably, music as a whole lost one of its most charismatic, uniquely individual, and beloved figureheads when David Jones aka The Thin White Duke aka Ziggy Stardust , otherwise known as the one and only David Bowie unexpectedly passed away early Sunday morning, January 10th, amongst the company of dear family and friends following an 18-month battle with cancer. I'm not even going to attempt to write a fully fleshed-out obituary to Bowie, hands down one of my all-time favorite performers since I was about 12, but I figured I would at least assemble a few of my thoughts and feelings into an all-too-brief hand-written tribute; a proper David Bowie obituary can be viewed over at Stereogum , which was written by Tom Breihan and served as a loose structural basis for this very piece. Throughout the course of his storied and ever-developing 52-year career, Bowie released some 28 genre-blending studio albums, produced one of the most critically-ac...

"We've decided to make a new Death Grips album and it will be called Bottomless Pit ," Death Grips cryptically revealed, as per usual, on their Facebook page Wednesday evening. Founding members Stefan Burnett (better known as MC Ride ), Andy Morin , and Zach Hill have previously grabbed headlines for their frantic, nearly career-ruining antics; rubbing shoulders with Robert Pattinson & Beyoncé , appearing "in a minute" on Rachael Ray thanks to comedian Fred Armisen , releasing one album under Epic Records executive L.A. Reid 's hit-making reign, leaking a set of private emails and ultimately a d*ck-pic-boasting album cover, cancelling a string of dates in support of NIN & Soundgarden , suddenly breaking up via a note scrawled across a dinner napkin , only to "reunite" for a 2-disc album just a few months later, and if you ask me, inadvertently inspired Kanye West 's Aggro-Rap magnum opus Yeezus . Death Grips are for all intens...

Death Grips have somehow already managed to "break up" via a napkin and "reform" in a matter of months, signed an Epic Records deal and purposely leaked private emails to get dropped, posed for a mysterious backstage picture alongside Robert Pattinson & Beyoncé (above), recruited Björk to contribute vocals to Disc 1 of their "comeback" album, The Powers That B , were surprisingly name-dropped on Rachael Ray by comedian Fred Armisen , bailed on a whole string of scheduled shows Axl Rose style, and licensed "You Might Think He Loves You for You Money But I Know What He Really Loves You for and It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" for an Adidas Predator sneaker commercial... so, it would make sense that the newly-reformed Death Grips would need something of a fresh start; long-speculated Death Grips -affiliated Twitter handle @bbpoltergiest shared a cryptic zipfile link to a 9-track album called I've always been good...

Even though they amicably disbanded back in July, experimental Noise-Rap group, Death Grips still have an as-yet-unreleased double-disc album in their back pocket; part one of the powers that b , eloquently dubbed ni**as on the moon , was released for FREE download online prior to their break-up. " Death Grips just uploaded a video," read a stock YouTube email which suddenly appeared in my Inbox late Tuesday night... " Inanimate Sensation - Disc 2 - Jenny Death from the upcoming double album "The Powers That B,'" it continued. The entirety of "Inanimate Sensation" is strewn across a fallen NBA Jumbo-tron and it was supposedly directed by Death Grips themselves. Its bonkers, unconventional Hip-Hop beat vaguely reminds me of something that could've soundtracked Saturday morning/after school cartoons like The Animaniacs or even Looney Tunes and isn't all that dissimilar from Daft Punk 's now patented brand of Future-Funk ....

Death Grips have always been a band to defy convention; whether it be signing with a major label Epic deal and ultimately getting dropped for leaking private emails, self-releasing not one, but three full-length albums (one complete with dick pic cover art), cancelling an entire 2012 tour to record without informing nay of the pre-booked venues, and working on a mysterious [probably fake] short film with Robert Pattinson & Colin Hanks . Just last night, Death Grips posted a message scrawled across a napkin on their Facebook page, which reads: "We are now at our best and so Death Grips is over. We have officially stopped. All currently scheduled live dates are canceled. Our upcoming double album "the powers that b" will still be delivered worldwide later this year via Harvest/Third Worlds Records . Death Grips was and always has been a conceptual art exhibition anchored by sound and vision. Above and beyond a "band." To our truest fans, please stay l...

"this is "n**gas on the moon," featuring björk on all 8 tracks. it is the first installment of our new double album, "the powers that b," due out later this year on Harvest/Third Worlds Records . the second disc is titled "jenny death,"' Death Grips wrote along with eight newly-released YouTube audio streams uploaded on Sunday around 12 midnight. While little else is known about n**gas on the moon , a couple days later, Björk did in fact confirm that she appears on the mini-album and that she's thrilled to be Death Grips' latest "found object," which I'd assume would basically mean that they used chopped and sampled vocal fragments. It's their third consecutive album meticulously "leaked" online in such a manner; n**gas on the moon was preceded by their November free album Government Plates and infamous Epic Records contract-infringing dick pic album, No Love Deep Web . Björk 's nearly unmistake...

The lone Soul -based track on Kanye 's recent Death Grips -inspired Aggro-Hip-Hop album Yeezus , "Bound 2" essentially made me commit record-diggin' treason and buy a bootleg LP on South Street against my better judgement, which ended up being f*#king scratched mid-way through the coveted track! After performing it on a number of late night variety shows, Kanye finally debuted the official Nick Knight -directed "Bound 2" music video on Ellen Tuesday morning. It's a semi-strange trip across America 's lush countryside, with new-found fiance Kim Kardashian awkwardly seated backwards on the front of Kanye 's BITCHIN' motorcycle; Ellen kinda forgot to Tweet -ion [mention] that Kim 's essentially topless and somehow, sans nipples, too. Knight manages to artfully inter-splice in images of wild horses, a Bald Eagle , Kanye in double flannel, and a bunch of all- American imagery that counter-echoes Kanye 's Wes Lang-designed Confe...

Although it might seem like a pretty mis-matched pairing at first, Bob Dylan & Death Grips have more in common that you or they'd really like to admit. Dylan was the first Folkie to "go electric" and Death Grips have largely forged their own ground in their Proto-Rap sub-genre; Dylan never really adhered to generally-accepted social norms and the same could be said for deathgrips ; Both artists make the kind of music that you either love or hate, there's no middle-of-the-road fans. Uploaded late Wednesday afternoon without any prior notice, Government Plates is Death Grips' fourth overall album (counting Ex-military ) and the second self-released in such a guerrilla manner. Death Grips simultaneously uploaded 11 motion picture/music videos to YouTube , one for each album track, which may be part of drummer Zach Hill 's long-rumored short film. "You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for, it's you...

" Zach Hill is currently wrapping up a short film he directed with an [original soundtrack] by DEATH GRIPS . The film is entitled Misoneism , is shot entirely in monochrome film, and follows the exploits of a young man forced into the underground prostitution business in Brazil . Starring Robert Pattinson and Colin Hanks , the film hopes to shed light on the matter in a shocking and abrasive way," reads a fragmented chunk of an interesting Pigeons & Planes post uploaded late Thursday afternoon. While a Pitchfork counter-post claims that "there is no short film directed by Zach Hill and starring Robert Pattinson ," let's not forget... we're talkin' about a righteous Proto-Rap band here that's capable of leaking their own album along with private emails, generating countless self-shot music videos, staging elaborate pseudo-shows , and cancelling more tour dates than Axl Rose . Colin Hanks reportedly told Consequence of Sound Thursday ...