The Witzard

Jumbled watering his pumpkins (SOURCE: John Bachman) So, by now, anyone who regularly reads this site should know we are long-time, supporters, and fans of anything our beat-making friend from Baltimore, John Bachman (otherwise known as Jumbled) creates and releases to the masses. With that said, Jumbled is back with his latest seasonal EP, Project 138. Yes, this is a project primarily featuring samples from New Jersey's own Horror Punk pioneers, The Misfits, and, maybe, even some Samhain & Danzig, too. It's hard to tell, though, because Jumbled layers samples and creates his beats so well, but Glenn Danzig and company are sampled throughout; Project 138, also, incorporates audio soundbites about The Misfits and their genre-altering rise to fame like bats out of Hell. Project 138 by Jumbled Bachman describes his inspirations behind creating the ghoulish project as, "there have been a few "inspired by..." Rap projects lately, but I feel like they haven...

ALYX Ryon & Jumbled still from "Stan Kenton" music video (CREDIT: John Bachman) We're proud to share "Stan Kenton," the latest collaboration from D.C. emcee ALYX Ryon and Baltimore beat-maker Jumbled (by day, known as John Bachman) self-released today on Bandcamp. It's a raucous less than two-minute track encapsulated over a squalling drum-lade horn sample expertly executed by Jumbled himself. This new song serves as an introduction to their upcoming collaborative album slated to drop this summer. Said project has been in-the-making for a few years now following fruitful collaborations on Jumbled's Christmas album, Merry Christmess (2017,) and his Doo-wop indebted project, Jumbled's Jukebox [Doo-wop Inspired Hip-Hop], last year. ALYX Ryon is an up-and-coming rapper from the Washington, D.C. area with many singles and a few albums under his belt. He's a member of JUSTGORILLA, YungZILLA The ZillaGAHD, and TIXE, in addition to his own solo a...

It's Bandcamp Friday once more and like many of you, we woke up to about a hundred new Bandcamp Release Notification emails this morning. Honestly, there are far to many releases out today (and every Bandcamp Friday, for that matter) to spotlight here. Although, there are definitely ways to find and support music from your favorite underground artists, who will be recieving 100% of their total sales today, on Bandcamp today. We're quickly just gonna spotlight two of our personal favorite releases today, which both just go happen to be beat tapes. Run is a new 12-minute mini-beat tape from Baltimore beat-maker Jumbled. Jumbled says, "this project is a showcase of new beats loosely tied together with sound clips from videos and songs releated to The Super Mario [Bros.] This project may disappear down a Warp Pipe in the near future..." Jumbled had been noticing a lot of Super Mario references in songs he's heard recently and wanted to tie them together with som...

School is back in session across the Nation and our favorite teacher, husband, father, beat-maker, and dish-washer, John "Jumbled" Bachman has shared a new 7-track EP for your communte to and from work/school. Bachman is back with JUMBLED'S JUKEBOX, a collection of Doo-Wop inspired Hip-Hop. Jumbled describes it as "a project inspired by Tuesday night trips to the grocery store—jumping in the car and hearing the Doo-Wop radio show on 90.5 WKHS, out of Kent County, Maryland." JUMBLED'S JUKEBOX makes good use of "songs that have been long-forgotten by most, but are still cherished by some." It showcases a selection of vocalists over Jumbled's bare-bones instrumentation that harken back to simpler, times. This brief collection contains a varied assortment of beats with Jumbled choosing to not just sample Doo-Wop harmonies, but, also, include songs (samples? beats?) that maintain that vibe, as well. Jumbled's Jukebox by Jumbled Guests hear...

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...

CREDIT: Hand-cut "EAST." Art By: John Bachman (@NapalmDef) Happy New Year to all of our trusty readers out there! Let's hope this year will be better than the last! Today, for our first post of 2021, we're back with new music from Vans_Westly & Jumbled. We've previously featured Vans' 2017 QUILLS EP produced by NelWayne & Drew Scott, which was followed up by Bubble Boy (2018) with beats from Scott & Height Keech and released on Cold Rhymes Records. Vans_Westly's latest release, an EP entitled Rapscallion, fully produced by friend of The Witzard, John Bachman AKA Jumbled. Rapscallion was, actually, released on November's bandcamp Friday last year with 50% of the profits raised going towards Bail Fund and 50% towards BARCS or as Vans himself put it, "100 percent goes to good sh*t!" Rapscallion by Vans_Westly Now, as 2021 has kick-started itself into gear, Vans_Westly has returned once more with a proper music video for Rapsc...

If The Witzard mainstay John "Jumbled" Bachman is truly "somewhere between Madlib & Mike Watt," does that mean Eben Dennis is the James Williamson to his Mike Watt? For those unfamiliar with this head-scratching "analogy," Mike Watt & James Williamson appeared together within the 2000's reunited iteration of Iggy Pop-helmed The Stooges ; Williamson played guitar with Iggy from 1970-71, 1972-74, and 2009-13, while Watt joined between 2003-13 playing bass across Stooges "reunion" albums The Weirdness (2007) and Ready to Die (2013.) Thus, we've been familiar with Eben Dennis' musical output just as long as we've been writing about Jumbled. In fact, Dennis provided additional guitar riffs to Berko Lover-assisted "Sam Adams" from our very first introduction to Jumbled, 2016's [I wish it was longer] or WIWL. Only Devotion by Plague Saints We've since covered John Bachman & Eben Dennis' work togeth...

We've been repping Jumbled AKA John Bachman here at The Witzard ever since his 2018 release, [I wish it was longer] or simply, WIWL . Self-described as "somewhere between Madlib & Mike Watt," the teacher, husband, father, beat-maker, dish-washer has been nothing short of productive these last four years. Bachman is a huge component in both the Baltimore and East Coast Hip-Hop music scenes and has, personally, been a great ally here at The Witzard. Jumbled has released action shots ep, The Ghost of Len Bias with UllNevaNo , THE INSULT with Dwell as Bully Preston, Merry Christmess, YOU DON'T KNOW?!, You Best Not Miss with Lace Berriez , Padre, and August Heat all on his own imprint, Harford & Reckord Tapes since WIWL . His latest effort, ORSULAK , definitely doesn't disappoint either; here, Jumbled has joined forces once more with his long-time friend and collaborator, Eben Dennis , for something that's a little more Mike Watt-leaning than his t...

"CAPITOL RECORDS' BEASTIE BOYS LOOT "PAUL'S BOUTIQUE" -- NEW ALBUM IN YOUR FACE BY MID-JULY "Yo, whassup with de Beasties??!! What gives, they split to Rio or somp'un?' Yeah, yeah, everyone's favorite B (for Beastie) Boys have taken their time getting new vinyl out. But I am here to tell you that the time has c o m e t o q u i t y e r j o n e s i n ' , cause...dum dum dum.. .IT'S HERE. So this new records oughta blow away any speculations and/or misconceptions surrounding the Beastie Boys. It's called Paul's Boutique , and it's coming out on Capitol Records -- the Beastie's brand new label. The LP is named after a men's store in Brooklyn whose low-tech radio ad -- phone number and all -- is sampled right into the LP. The album should hit sometime around mid-July. The first 12", featuring the Boys' upstanding anthem "Hey Ladies," will drop June 30th. The sleeve picture for the 1...

Padre by Jumbled It's been an exciting year and a half for John Bachman AKA Baltimore -based beat-maker Jumbled and his wife, Rachel . One day, The Bachmans got a call about potentially, adopting a little girl, so they immediately drove to Upstate New York and their lives, as they knew it, instantly changed forever. Upon their return back home to Baltimore with baby Lucy (LB) just a few short weeks later, Jumbled happily moved his records and equipment from Lucy 's new bedroom and into the home's guestroom. Thus, entering his aptly-named "Green Room" phase, which chronologically, started with YOU BEST NOT MISS EP with DC emcee, Lace Berriez from late last year. Padre consists of a barrage of beats Jumbled has painstakingly created and fine-tuned within the last 12 months or so in The "Green Room." Its content were primarily recorded during the early morning hours before LB would wake up or on the rare occasion Mrs. Bachman would go out...

YOU BEST NOT MISS by Lace Berriez Lace Berriez is an emcee and producer hailing from the Northeast quadrant of Washington, DC . For musical inspiration, he readily draws from Soul , R&B, Funk , Jazz, and of course, DC -rooted Go-Go . Since 2017, Lace has self-released a staggering 5 albums and EP's, as well as countless stand-alone singles, on his own Bandcamp page. Lace Berriez 's latest 7-track EP, YOU BEST NOT MISS , was produced by Baltimore -based producer and The Witzard mainstay John Bachman AKA "DJ" Jumbled . "Growing frustrated with the slow pace of return projects, Jumbled reached out to Twitter saying he needed rappers to feed beats to; Lace Berriez Responded and the email exchanges began," reads Lace & Jumbled 's EP press release. Although, they've only met in-person once at a 2016 beat event called DATBEET #2 , Jumbled & Lace Berriez stayed in touch online and ultimately, created this Funky little Boom-Bap -leani...

Shamgod by UllNevaNo x Manhe Fresh on the heels of his marathon 4-Hour Tour this past Saturday, May 5, 2018 with The Ghost of Len Bias EP collaborator John "Jumbled" Bachman , Baltimore emcee UllNevaNo has returned with his latest slam-dunk of a release, SHAMMGOD ; a 9-track EP consisting of tracks first released during UllNevaNo & MANHE 's weekly #SHAMMGODWEDS Soundcloud series. Now, properly re-collected as simply SHAMMGOD on a special lathe-cut 7-inch and limited edition cassette tape released by MGNTK. and Illinois -based In The Lake Records (ITL Records) with a bonus MANHE instrumental entitled "Coupleofem." SHAMMGOD EP is of course, named after notorious Washington Wizards player and Dallas Mavericks assistant coach God Shammgod FKA Shammgod Wells , but this is far from UllNevaNo 's first basketball-themed release. Lest we forget, Neva 's illien rosewell -produced Confidence Is Everything II (CIE2) released during the 2015-16 S...

Greetings, friends and fans! It's time for the second official The Witzard's Remix Challenge ; we're inviting producers and beat-makers—as well as emcees, singers, etc.—to tackle this instrumental track, "COMPANION PLAN," by New York quintet Cowboys & Frenchmen . Do your absolute best to flip this original Blues/Jazz composition into a new creation! "COMPANION PLAN" is currently available for FREE download for potential remixers and contest participants at C&F sax player Ethan Helm 's Bandcamp page. Remix submission deadline is Monday, April 30, 2018. Please send completed remixes to The Witzard at sharpcheddar856@gmail.com . For inspiration, feel free to ch-check out The Witzard 's comprehensive 2017 interview with Cowboys & Frenchmen 's baritone/alto sax players Owen Broder & Ethan Helm . Cowboys & Frenchmen 's latest album, Bluer Than You Think , is now available on Outside In Music . Happy remixing and g...

Baltimore emcee UllNevaNo has returned with his first quasi-"release" of 2018, an 8-week project unofficially titled the #SHAMMGODWEDS series produced by Norfolk, VA -based MGNTK. affiliate MANHE . Following last year's Jumbled -produced The Ghost of Len Bias EP on Harford & Reckord Tapes/MGNTK. RSRCH , #SHAMMGODWEDS will be Neva 's first proper "full-length" release of 2018. Not unlike The Ghost of Len Bias EP and Ohbliv -produced "WRK." this weeks' #SHAMMGODWEDS release, "FIGHT KLUB POOL TABLE" keeps right in line with UllNevaNo 's on-going series of basketball-themed rhymes. "On this particular record, Neva pays homage to a culture that made him who he is as [an] artist today and that's battle rap. Even though he hasn't battled since 2010, UllNevaNo still loves the sport and tuning into leagues, such as King of The Dot Ent. (KOTD) and Ultimate Rap League (URL) " UllNevaNo wrote within a r...

Merry Christmess by Jumbled Merry Christmess exudes a frantic sense of fluidity, similar in nature to that of my personal favorite Hip-Hop -minded Christmas comp. Peanut Butter Wolf Presents: BADD SANTA - A Stones Throw Records Xmas . After initially pitching a batch of holiday-themed beats to an East Coast-based crew of emcees to no avail, John "Jumbled" Bachman , unfortunately, aborted his then-untitled Christmas EP for a planned 2016 release. Now, nearly a year later, Jumbled is back with his fully-realized 15-track Merry Christmess comp. Following The Ghost of Len Bias EP with MGNTK. emcee UllNevaNo and THE INSULT with long-time friend and emcee Dwell (as Bully Preston ) Merry Christmess is Jumbled 's third proper release of 2017. While Merry Christmess is, in fact, Jumbled 's first beat-minded Christmas release, John Bachman 's Indie Rock/Power-Pop band, Soft Peaks actually issued a 2013 cover of The Kinks' raucous "Father Christma...

Let's Get Saucey Single by Bully Preston "I'm walkin' down the street mindin' my biz, just thinkin' about my wife and my kids and all the stupid sh*t I did when I was a kid. I pass this dude mean-muggin' - huh? The way he's lookin' kinda buggin' me - what? This motherf**ker tryin' to thug with me - what the f**k? Tryin' to invoke The Incredible Bully P . But I don't know, guess I'm beyond that; then again, a year ago, I was beyond Rap . But now, I'm back and it's all thanks to Jumbled Beats for makin' music for the mind. Designer. Sonic treats..." Dwell mercilessly rhymes on "Lovely Day to Bully;" the intro to THE INSULT , an album in collaboration with John Bachman as Bully Preston , quite simply billed as " Jumbled makes the beats / Dwell raps to them." Dwell & Jumbled 's Bully Preston project dates back as far as 2011 with then stand-alone single, "'llatio," ...

No Sleep 'til Baltimore was a tribute/benefit show held at The Ottobar in Baltimore back on Friday, July 7th. It was billed as a "benefit to help local musician adopt" with "local musician" being producer John Bachman (Jumbled) and his wife Rachel . Not only was No Sleep 'til Baltimore a fundraiser to help The Bachmans earn money for their adoption, it was dually billed as a tribute to the Beastie Boys' monumental Rick Rubin -produced 1986 Def Jam debut, Licensed to Ill . Berko Lover did a rendition of "Girls," GUY GRAMS performed a roaring rendition of "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" MC Bravado & S.U. The Clique covered "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn," Drew Scott & Vans_Westly did "Hold It Now, Hit It" with a little help from Jumbled himself, The Hell Hole Store covered "Brass Monkey," and much, much more. By all accounts, No Sleep 'til Baltimore was a great suc...