The Witzard

Just this past Friday was the first Bandcamp Friday of 2021 and to help celebrate the occasion, our favorite Baltimore-based producer, JUmbled (who describes himself as falling "somewhere between Madlib & Mike Watt") returned with a gaggle of goodies: a new project, Classic Rock Breaks, Vol. 1 and a CD-only comp. entitled Just The Singles , as well as resurfaced CD copies of his early Rap/Hip-Hop album, Keep Diggin' , Monster Jam, YOU DON'T KNOW?! with bonus cuts, and Bully Preston's The Insult, and cassettes of You Best Not Miss with Lace Berriez and his 2019 instrumental beat tape, Padre. Classic Rock Breaks vol.1 by Jumbled As stated above, Just The Singles is a Tone Lōc - Lōc-ed After Dark-inspired CD-only comp. featuring Jumbled's collaborative efforts with the likes of ALASKA, Cody Cody Jones, Dot-Com Intelligence, Dwell, salk. Drew Scott, Torito, UllNevaNo, Vans_Westly, and more. For those painfully unaware, the remainder of the aforementioned...

"Any question which starts with "Top 5..." is hard to answer. I used to ask all my friends and other musicians about their Top 5 albums. And since I asked them, they used to ask me the same. I have been with the same list for the last couple of years, which is, maybe, not really my Top 5 right now, but it's pretty OK for a Top 5 of all-time. Any of these albums I've played intensively, most of them for years straight on a daily [basis] and I can sing/rap them along or even play some of the solos. These are must-listen records for anyone because these records are my friends in the good and dark times. The Top 5 is in order of discovery because after all, there can't be just one winner. Let's start!" - Reinier Thijs (@thijsenterprise) I. Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys (1970) "When I was around 14/15-years-old, I got really into music; not only the mainstream, which was on MTV, but, also, the older stuff. I don't really know how I stumbl...

Black Gold - Spare Nuggets by Tom Caruana Mashups Not to be confused with similarly-named Davey Havok -fronted Horror Punk band, Son of Sam is a Soul/Funk -inflected Instrumental Hip-Hop band hailing from "Cinder Hill," UK . Founded by Sam Brothers John (drums) and Joe (bass & guitar) Son of Sam unleashed their 2017 debut, CINDER HILL with assistance from fellow bandmates Dutch Halligan wielding keyboard, flute & sax) and Tom Caruana helming percussion & production. Tea Sea Records -released CINDER HILL features a slew of emcees and vocalists including John Robinson , Sadat X, The Black Opera , Guilty Simpson, Organized Konfusion 's Prince Po , Denmark Vessey, Quelle Chris , Masta Ace, and Large Pro . Tom Caruana , actually, runs Tea Sea Records , which boasts Son of Sam , The Menagerie, Professor Elemental , Dr. Syntax, Klondike Kids , longusto, Boiler Room Collective , and Grand Agent amongst their eclectic roster, as well as Caruana's own or...

"'System of a Gun" is basically about government corruption; I wrote the song with my girlfriend, who's also in the band, after reading the news. The song reflects today's politics and concerns—especially for the youth of multi-culturalism," London -based African-Spanish Rock "N" Roll revivalist Gutxi Bibang wrote within an exclusive statement sent to The Witzard . He then, went on to quote his own lyrics: "Little by little / Got to get away / A leader on the search to kill today / Dystopia over-runs the ocean / The sand ain't washing up / System on the gun / Gotta serve and obey / The truth only strays / Plague of the system [dysfunction] / Cannot sway / Explain to me 'cause I don't know / Just how could you be so cold." Bibang recorded "System of a Gun," and likely an entire album's-worth of material, along with his American girlfriend Tabatha Beu on bass and fellow London -based drummer Gary Lee ; ...

"I was in my hotel room in Paris , and we were just chillin' and I just f*cked around and was like, 'We need to do the video while we're in Paris,'" G.O.O.D. Music -affiliated Grand Hustle emcee Travi$ Scott recently told Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe during a phone interview while boarding a plane Friday afternoon. "Piss On Your Grave" is anchored by a fuzzed out guitar riff lifted from Jimi Hendrix -fronted Band of Gypsys' blistering Vietnam War protest jam "Machine Gun," which feels like it could have easily been a left-over from Kanye 's 2013 Aggro-Rap magnum opus, Yeezus ; funnily enough, Scott is amongst the gaggle of greenhorn beatsmiths who collectively helped produce frantic album tracks "New Slaves," "I Am a God," and "Guilt Trip." Long-time Kanye -affiliated director and photographer Nabil Elderkin was recruited to helm "Piss On Your Grave"' s ghoulish pre- Halloween visua...

BOOTS is just about the only artist I can think of who's single-handedly worked with Beyoncé , modern day Hip-Hop heavy-weights Run The Jewels , and thinly-veiled Australian songstress Sia , yet has somehow still managed to draw comparisons to Acid-Rockers Queens of The Stone Age ; a comparison which @bootsonboots quickly refuted in a seemingly since deleted Tweet , instead likening himself to "future Hendrix/[Black] Sabbath ." Late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, BOOTS played what could quite arguably be billed as his biggest "show" to date — one broadcast to hundreds of thousands of fans scattered across the United States and Canada . Jordan Asher took the Tonight Show stage after "openers" Will Ferrell Little Debbie and Chelsea Peretti to perform a riveting rendition of his latest Motorcycle Jesus EP single, "I Run Roulette." Asher was simply flanked by two righteously pummeling drummers backed by a barrage of str...

It's kinda funny, because I just finished showing my beautiful girlfriend a few "Bonnie & Clyde" -era Serge Gainsbourg tracks just the other day, which I bookended by saying that his now-grown-up daughter Charlotte recorded a couple albums-worth of material with mid-90's Slacker-Hop kingpin Beck "Loser" Hansen ; and now, today, by sheer coincidence, here's a new Charlotte Gainsbourg & Beck track, "Hey Joe" (a sultry Hendrix cover). It's from the soundtrack to often controversial film director Lars von Trier 's hyper-sexed-up piece, Nymphomaniac . Gainsbourg seemingly stars as the leading lady in said art-film, which'll debut in two separate parts across select North American theatres, between March 21st and April 18th. Here, "Hey Joe" has gotten a breathy, semi-haunting re-work that still retains the Blues-Rock backbone of Jimi Hendrix's highly popularized 1966-67 cover. It has Beck 's signature h...

"It's one of our favourite songs ever, I think," Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker lamented before launching into a pretty spot-on cover of OutKast 's "Prototype" from André 3000 's 1/2 of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003). Guitar/keyboardist Nick "Paisley Adams" Allbrook effectively handles André 3000 's echoing double-tracked vocals, crooning: "Today must be my lucky day... Do something outta the ordinary, like catch a matinee, baby." Tame Impala's 5-piece touring band -- which also includes Jay "Gumby" Watson, Dominic Simper , and Julien Barbagallo -- really do one Hell of a job @ channeling OutKast 's psuedo-70's Soul-Funk vibe that's smoothly spread across the original. The band's spirited cover was essentially recorded, tracked, and broadcast on-the-fly during a recent stop by hometown [Australian] radio station, Triple J for their infamous Like a Version segment. Tame Impala EP ...

Aside from co-headlining Budweiser 's second annual Made In America Festival , Mrs. Carter recorded an interesting new track for what's poised to be one of Summer 2013's biggest blockbusters, The Great Gatsby . While Bryan Ferry Emile Sandé contributed a "Crazy In Love" cover, Beyoncé & André 3000 managed to conjure up their own unique re-make, "Back to Black" (2007). Needless to say, Bey & Dre have TOTALLY flipped Amy Winehouse 's breakout Neo-Soul hit; and from the sounds of this just-released 90-second snippet, "Back to Black" has been effectively turned into a modern day Electro-Funk jam. But with that said, it's pretty damn hard to judge an entire track off a brief 90-second preview! Almost every time André 3000 randomly spits a few sub-par bars like this, it just makes me want that long-rumored OutKast reunion album even more, which I'm beginning to question will ever really see the light of day. Beyo...

While Speakerboxx/The Love Below (2003) was a great album, it kinda seems more like 2 re-packaged solo albums, rather than a cohesive collection of Southern Hip-Hop . In my eyes, OutKast effectively "broke up" after the release of Idlewild [film-soundtrack] around 2006 and they've just been fucking with us all these years since, making empty promises of a long-delayed new album. That was most likely the original post- Speakerboxxx/Love Below plan: Big Boi solo album, followed by an André 3000 record, and then finally, an album full of new OutKast tunes. Now, Big Boi has whole-heartedly kept his promise unleashing Purple Ribbon All-Stars , Sir Lucious Left Foot, and Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors back-to-back since about 2005! Meanwhile, André 3000 has kept busy doing pretty much everything BUT rapping... cartoon shows, selling Gillette razors, acting roles , random left-field remixes, etc. But André 3000 was in fact featured on "Royal Flush" ...

The good people over @ VICE recently asked Das Racist to host an interview show of "rappers interviewing rappers" for their new music channel, noisey . Himanshu & Kool A.D. will reportedly alternate weeks hosting "RAP SHOW;" Episode #1 was uploaded just this past Friday [The 13th] and features Heems sitting down with Compton 's favourite rapper, Kendrick Lamar . Imagine if Eric Clapton interviewed Jimi Hendrix and they talked about... notepads, lucid dreams, black hippies, "The N word," Home Improvement , 80's babies, and essentially everything BUT music. Well, this is exactly like that. Pretty cool concept nonetheless. I just hope that Das Racist & Kendrick Lamar decide to record and release a track together! Future episode of RAP SHOW will feature Himanshu & Kool A.D. interviewing Wiley, Tyler The Creator , Bun B, Killer Mike , Mystikal , Gunplay, etc. Make sure to go pick up [download] copies of Relax , Nehru Jackets , and...

So, it seems that D'Angelo is plotting one Hell of a Soulful comeback; After a self-imposed 12-year long [creative] exile, a new/old track has finally emerged - "Black Hole Sun." D'Angelo adds his signature honey-drenched vocal flourishes to the 90's Grunge Mega-Hit. There are minor audio send-ups to Michael Archer 's own go-to influences: Herbie Hancock , Jimi Hendrix , and Stevie Wonder . D'Angelo is no stranger to recorded covers... as he laid down a handful of soundtrack-appearing covers between his first sabbatical period (1996-2000): "Girl, You Need a Change of Mind," "She Always In My Hair," "Heaven Must Be Like This," and "Feel Like Makin' Love." This 2010 Soundgarden demo comes on the heels of the Occupy Music Tour (Europe) and nearly 97% complete album "announcement." ?uestlove recently said in an interview that "James River" is essentially the Funky , black step-brot...