The Witzard

Danger Mouse & Black Thought (CREDIT: UNCANNY, George Muncey & Elliott Elder) Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) & Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) have been long-time friends and infrequent collaborators. Long before The Roots/The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon emcee ever issued a proper solo effort (now, we're up to Streams of Thought, Vol. 3,) there had been rumblings of a collaborative effort with Danger Mouse cleverly titled Dangerous Thoughts . By most accounts now found online, that was around 2005-06 with The Roots steadily releasing Game Theory, Rising Down, How I Got Over, undun, and ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin in the years since. They became the house band for Fallon's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2009 and transitioned along with him to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2014. Danger Mouse has been far from inactive himself since 2005-06, releasing The Mouse & The Mask & Occult Hymn EP as DANGERMDOOM with MF DOOM, St. Elsewhere ...

Early on during Nation-wide Quarantine/Lockdowns, it appears as though Ridgewood, New Jersey's own Senses Fail hunkered down and laid down a remotely recorded album chock-full of covers of classic Punk, Hardcore, and Emo-adjacent staples. "Doing a quarantine covers record. Just finished "We're Only Gonna Die" by @badreligion," a Tweet dated April 8, 2020 explained. "Gonna be DIY. I'm gonna mix it and Gavin & I are doing I remotely. Pretty fun, so far. We, also, have a Morrissey song. Thinking about Jawbreaker, maybe, early Get Up Kids," Senses Fail frontman James "Buddy" Nielson further detailed on @SensesFail's band page. Since then, no additional details concerning said covers comp. have come to the surface, but fingers crossed, it's still happening! Through Being Ghoul by Senses Fail Concurrently, Senses Fail have seemingly been working on the proper follow-up to 2018's If There Is Light, It Will Find You, e...

"#ItWas50YearsAgoToday This LP was always in my dad's collection (Dad was a vocalist who LOVED Pop . Yeah, he looked like a member of the #BlackPanthers. Ran the house like he was #JamesEvans . But his go-to zone was some of the best dentist office music ever—feed your kids equal [Barbra Streisand] #StoneyEnd & [Rufus] #Rufusized & see what happens? lol)—I ignored #SgtPeppers because I never liked the 60's @capitolrecords logo (see how everyone is going #FigitSpinner mad? My version of that was taking records out the sleeve, & spinning them on my finger watchin' the logo rotate. Seriously, I was obsessed with all spinning rotating objects—hence, my record obsession)—If the logo was dope? I'd give the record a chance. I'd love to revision a story of singing "Within You Without You" in my 2nd grade class—but the truth is, it didn't hit me 'til 22 years AFTER its release. Sgt. Pepper's was the 4th CD I ever purchased for my...

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...

The self-proclaimed "Greatest Band In Late Night," The Roots have really come a long way since busking for pocket change on South Philly street corners back in the late 1980's; now in their sixth year with Jimmy Fallon as his show changes hands from Late Night to The Tonight Show , the on-screen band has been augmented to include two horn players borrowed from The Dap-Kings . What initially started as a brief behind-the-scenes vignette, okayplayer in-house videographer Jake Remington ended up filming a 2-part mini-documentary. Part 1 effectively shadows ?uestlove , who'll soon appear as a crusty afro-corpse on Law & Order: SVU , as he goes through his pre-show rituals and morning routine before Fallon #970 ; Hashtag-savvy fans get an inside look into ?uestlove 's New York high-rise apartment, his coveted sneaker and T-shirt collection, his breakfast-scented cologne cabinet, boxing with a personal trainer, and 20 minutes of electric relaxation on the ...

"Got a new track with @BishopNehru called "You Stressin'" produced by us. Coming out on @MethodRecords ," English super-producers Disclosure Tweeted Tuesday evening along with a Soundcloud link; following a productive week full of collaborations with Q-Tip , Mary J. Blige, and an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Monday). Electro -brothers Guy & Howard Lawrence linked up with the 17-year-old New York rapper for their first recorded foray into Hip-Hop , aside from Slum Village -sampling album track "Grab Her!" BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe debuted "You Stressin'" on his web-radio show Tuesday afternoon and an untagged version was re-upped to Bishop Nehru 's Soundcloud page soon thereafter. Disclosure 's production is without a doubt indebted to the late great J Dilla and honestly, it's a pretty solid Electro-Rap effort for the rising emcee-producer team; Bishop Nehru somehow teeters the line between...

Mr. Sexyback himself, Justin Timberlake , unleashed a surprisingly Boom-Bap -ified remix to his latest 20/20 Experience 2 single, "TKO" late Black Friday evening, which is slowly becoming a FREE music-giving holiday. Timberlake somehow managed to recruit J. Cole, A$AP Rocky , and his former "Like I Love You" collaborator, Pusha T (Clipse). While it might kinda seem like part of a larger label-contrived chart-topping master-palm, Justin Timberlake is actually an avid late 1980-90's Hip-Hop aficionado; case in point, The History of Rap (Parts 1-4) with Late Nite host-buddy Jimmy Fallon . Roots band leader/drummer Questlove [Jenkins] simply Tweeted, " #TKOremix so official! @JTimberlake, @PUSHA_T, @ASAPRockyTRILL & @JColeNC (w/ that post- "Control" flow) = COTDAMNY," which almost instantly piqued my interests enough to go check it out! It's very well-produced, which is rare for an after-the-fact remix of this calibe...

"Bound 2" is quite easily the most Kanye West -sounding track on Yeezus , an album which on-again Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor is indeed a fan (and obvious influence): " Yeezus , I really love it. I think the sound of it is cool. I can't endorse what he's saying lyrically, but I will say that in terms of the role of the dangerous entertainer in 2013, nobody is beating him at that game. It feels like he might implode. Even if it is calculated to some degree, it feels rough on the edges in a way that I can appreciate. I'm glad he's out there. Consistently he's put out ahead-of-the-curve shit. He's definitely a talented guy." The Roots drummer and de facto bandleader ?uestlove expressed his admiration for Track #10 pretty early on in 140 characters or less: "ok this #Bound2 on repeat all day is a problem. don't wanna hear anything else, but #Bound2 (including the 9 songs before it) #Yeezus." Meticulously construct...

It looks like a Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) remix is most likely the closest Justin Timberlake 's ever gonna get to Indie Rock super-stardom; Besides that time he played Bon Iver on "The Prince Show" alongside in-house SNL Beyoncé & Jay-Z impersonators. The former N'SYNC crooner seems to be focusing on music full force yet again, after a 6+ year-long absence from the music industry. Justin Timberlake hosted/performed on SNL this past Saturday (joining The 5-Timers Club ) and he's guesting on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon all week, shows airing March 11-15th. In what appears to be another act of cleverly-planned promotional, Four Tet 's label-sanctioned "Suit & Tie" remix was mysteriously leaked to The Internet late Sunday night, coincidentally followed up by a superior quality version the next day. UPDATE: It's been brought to my attention that The 20/20 Experience 's complete 70-minute tracklist is now streaming on iTunes...

Justin Timberlake makes the kind of music that's supposed to help you get laid; Let's call it "baby-making music," for lack of a better term. But JT has spent the bulk of last 6-7 years since his last album, Future Sex/Love Sounds (2006) doing damn-near everything besides writing/recording music: re-launching MySpace , sharpening his acting chops, launched a designer clothing line, recorded a few seriously good comedy tracks, and just being charming in general. During his time off, Justin Timberlake managed to record vocals for a gaggle of hits and misses for his musical friends' albums, too... 50 Cent , Jimmy Fallon, [The] Game , Ciara, The Lonely Island , T.I. Madonna , Timbaland, Duran Duran , Diddy-Dirty Money, Talib Kweli , Rihanna, and Chris Cornell ? Timberlake finally took the plunge and "wifed up" his long-time on-again-off-again girlfriend, Jessica Biel @ a private ceremony back in October 2012. Following nearly a solid week's-wor...

Let me just start out by saying that I've been a die-hard Roots fan for about 10 years now, since The Tipping Point (2004). But after seeing The Legendary Roots Crew LIVE @ House of Blues last night [Dec. 28th], while their frequently-released studio albums are great sounding, they pale in comparison to the band's FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC stage show. We're talking about a gang of Classically -trained musicians playing blazin' solos and breaks... synchronized Motown dance routines throughout and when drummer ?uestlove accidentally pummeled into the wrong beat mid-song, he and his Philly -bred buddies just laughed it off and kept going. The best damn thing about a Roots show is the sheer unexpected, versatility of the material to pull from - Nearly 14 records -worth of Hip-Hop/Deep Soul , a feat which most seasoned Rock "N" Roll bands couldn't even rival. Black Thought & ?uestlove proceeded to lead bandmates Captain Kirk, Tuba Gooding Jr., Frank...

Rock "N" Roll is an expressive art form: Whether it makes you want to passionately sing, dance, play, or even write. Blak & Blu is such a BIG, comprehensive album that'll undoubtedly get a lot of coverage. Sometimes I tend to stray away from potential "big ticket" pieces of that level. But fuck it - Blak & Blu is such a great collection that it honesty deserves every damn ounce of coverage it's getting! While a handful of critics have already started raggin' on Gary Clark Jr. for supposedly "selling out," abandoning his Austin Blues Rock roots, and making an eclectic [slightly "commercial"] album ... I feel like it's a pretty smart move right outta the gates; This way Clark won't get labelled a one-trick, guitar-playing pony. Plus, if he played grandiose guitar solos on nearly every track, people would call him a dick anyways. "Bright Lights" is a guitar feedback-soaked middle finger aimed @ Clark...

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...

And I'm back from a nice, relaxing weekend getaway to Ocean City, MD : friends, cars, chicken, girls, beer, scooters, sun rays, etc. But it's great to finally be back home in good ol' Jersey ! Upon my re-entry to The Inter-web earlier this evening, I was pleasantly surprised with 3 FRESH Cocaine 80s tracks, which were slowly unveiled over the past 3 days. "This Can't Be a Crime," "Queen to Be," and "Take My Keys" were recently recorded by Chicago mega-producer, No I.D. While Cocaine 80s' choice nom de plume might implies a certain level of excess and debauchery, their collective musical output is far from it... Cocaine 80s is a Chicago -based group of talented behind-the-scenes players, which includes the likes of James Fauntleroy , Kevin Randolph, Rob Kinelski, Steve Wyreman , and Makeba . Since quietly forming roughly 1 year ago, the loose collective has released 2 digital projects, The Pursuit EP and Ghost Lady EP . The att...

Yes, last night was in fact, the pinnacle of Halloween Weekend(s) ; In honor of the closing events séance, "Conan" 's newest episode was flavored with a moderate amount of extra [special] tricks and treats. Following an approximately 55-minute dosage of the regular hi-jinx, Jimmy Fallon -assisted laughs, and slightly awkward moments... Reggie Watts & House Band proceeded to take the Beacon Theater main stage. The musical comedian took the stage, decked out in his signature 'fro and a Prince -esque blood red velvet suit jacket/puffy shirt. In an earnest, heart-felt effort to give long-time friend Conan a proper "Welcome Home Celebration," Reggie Watts performed a re-arranged version of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town" (1976). Honoring Conan 's week-long stay @ Beacon Theater -- his first lengthy New York holiday since roughly 2009 -- Watts performed a truly unique version of the band's staple hit: Shifting back and ...