The Witzard

"Hi there, my name is Steven Curtis . I'm a musician based in Seattle, Washington with a decent local following going. I recently released a video that reached over 200,000 views on Facebook . I performed with a loop pedal at Robert Lang Studios , which have worked with Nirvana , Foo Fighters, Macklemore , Train, Linkin Park , Kenny G, and more," read a recent email from self-described Seattle "singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, looper, performer," and Alex Hager affiliate Steven Curtis . "With just a microphone, loop pedal, and a guitar, Steven takes the stage and blows the crowd away... in the summer of 2015, Steven did over 100 shows. 2-3 shows a night just to get his name around Washington ; now, he's starting to trend everywhere, [recently] reaching over 1,200,000 views on Facebook doing a cover of "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent . Steven 's hard work and dedication has given him a steady following and supportive fan base,"...

Let's just say, for argument's sake, that Kanye 's recent Aggro-Hip-Hop meltdown of an album Yeezus is a 10 on a scale of mid-career re-defining albums, which would then put Asher Roth 's long-delayed and well-matured second album, RetroHash at a solid five. It's technically a "Hip-Hop" album at it's beat-centric core, but Blended Babies' genre-blending production work ultimately helps Roth effortlessly bob and weave throughout a gaggle of assorted musical styles; "It's a classy little nugget — very unique — a little Prince , little Jazz , all Asher. You should be proud regardless of what happens commercially. You've created something distinctly you. Almost a concept album. Really good," as Asher Roth 's father David wrote in a praise-filled April 22nd text message. It's been a fairly long tumultuous road for RetroHash , which has been about 3-5 years in-the-making and was tentatively titled both The Spaghetti Tree ...

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...

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...

James Franco , a true "Renaissance Man" has now added Doo Wop musician to his long list of credentials, which also includes: method actor, college student, performance artist, "soap star," director, award show host, author-poet, etc. On top of all that, Franco recently somehow managed to find time to form Daddy with his old college buddy, Tim O'Keefe while on the Oz: The Great & Powerful set. Daddy 's Motown -inspired debut effort, MotorCity EP was released online roughly 2 weeks ago on Sept. 25th; There's been no specific record label mentioned for it's release/promotion, but I guess, who really needs label backing when you're James Franco ha. Franco's scantily-clad co-stars from his upcoming Indie film Spring Breakers , including Selena Gomez & Vanessa Hudgens , are strewn across MotorCity EP 's Instagrammed album cover... "If it was four unknowns on that cover, maybe it'd just be purely this sexual thing. But w...

Oh, Tom Breihan , you've done it again!; After reading, watching, and ultimately rejecting Redd Kross ' new music video for "Stay Away from Downtown," which was just released online late yesterday afternoon... I have somewhat hastily re-considered my initial opinion on the whole thing. Since reading Breihan's STELLAR album review of Researching The Blues [released today], I've realized that what I thought was it's biggest drawback is actually the album's greatest strength - That undeniably thick layer of Pop Rock sheen! Redd Kross are quite arguably just as Pop -driven as the music of Britney Spears , Katy Perry , or even Justin Bieber . But the fellas of Redd Kross have been earnestly practicing and improving since middle school, when the opened up for Black Flag @ a graduation party (1978). Researching The Blues is the band's first album in some 15 years and honestly, it isn't trying to represent/become anything that they aren't le...

A$AP Rocky was almost destined to one day produce Hip-Hop greatness, ever since his my named him "Rakim." Being a music blogger, I hear about a lot of different rookie emcees the average week/month/year and "Goldie" is hands down one of the fucking greatest things I've ever heard! Built around a simplistic, yet hard-hitting beat created by the same dude who brought you "Niggas In Paris" (Hit-Boy) , Rocky effortlessly coasts over the MIDI keyboard beat, ghostly vocal chants, 1-2 drum pattern, etc. The companion music video to go along with "Goldie" was self-directed by A$AP Rocky , along with fashion designer Alexander Wang , on location across Paris, France . In all reality, Hit-Boy 's nearly-flawless "Goldie" beat is essentially worth nearly $3 million, since it might as well be A$AP Rocky 's first major release since signing with Polo Music Group way back in Fall 2011. I don't know what I really even specifica...

Ancient Egypt was quite the area of interest for this guy right here was back in grade school... pyramids, King Tut , mummies, scarabs, The Nile, Spinx , etc. Frank Ocean really seems to share the same mutual admiration for Egypt , as his new 10-minute opus is affectionately titled "Pyramids." Friday [June 9th] was a BIG day for Mr. Ocean! It was later revealed that a mysterious trailer which was leaked in the early morning hours in fact contained both a new track and proper album release date; channel ORANGE , Frank Ocean 's long-awaited debut LP, is finally slated to be unveiled on Def Jam July 17th. John Mayer supposedly managed to string together a guitar solo for "Pyramids'" mid-song tempo/stylistic shift. Fresh off the heels of some Coldplay support dates, Frank Ocean announced his first full-fledged solo tour: Seattle-Chicago , running from July-early August. I guess it's pretty safe to assume that "Thinking About You" will re-...

The Roots, Carly Rae Jepsen , and Jimmy Fallon managed to orchestrate a pretty unique/endearing take on "Call Me Maybe." Shot backstage @ Studio 8B before Thursday's taping, it vaguely reminds me of Ben Folds' cover of "Such Great Heights" (Postal Service) that was released just a few years ago. In an un-usually crafty turn of events, Carly Rae Jepsen & Late Night Band somehow re-appropriate "Call Me Maybe"'s central melody and Pop -tinged hook on a gaggle of common classroom instruments: triangle, ukelele, tambourine, xylophone, bongo drums, kazoo, "recorder," afro pick, etc. Jepsen was essentially discovered online by Justin Bieber and now has a #1 hit single for Scooter Braun 's record label, Schoolboy [Interscope] . Grab a copy of Carly Rae Jepsen 's Curiosity EP and stay tuned for a full-length album, while Jimmy Fallon 's new star-studded comedy record, Blow Your Pants Off is out Tuesday (June 12th).

Frank Ocean uploaded his latest track, "Whip Appeal" to his personal Tumblr account earlier this evening. Like many of his other recent "releases," the track was pulled from the bulk of Internet servers just a few hours later [presumably by Def Jam ]. Soon after "Whip Appeal" was yanked, Ocean hopped back on Tumblr to clarify that the track probably won't be appearing on Nostalgia, ULTRA 's major label re-release, which might never even see the light of day. Frank Ocean has logged studio time and penned hits for the likes of Nas, Justin Bieber , Kanye & Jay-Z , John Legend, Beyoncé, Bridget Kelly, Pharrell , and Brandy . Since he self-released what would have been his debut project on his own back in February 2011, Frank Ocean and Def Jam have been on not so good terms... But his currently untitled premier release is expected sometime during 2012. "Whip Appeal" is roughly 5-minutes long and features Ocean lamenting about ...

"Bam Bam Bronsonelli" himself announced that he has a number of projects currently in-the-works, set to rival his highly successful 2011 output(s). Action Bronson set Twitter ablaze last night, Tweeting about 3 upcoming releases: "Blue Chips" mixtape with Party Supplies (February), Tommy Mas -produced sophomore effort "Mr. Wonderful" (Summer 2012), a currently [finished] untitled album with The Alchemist , and a project entirely made up of Harry Fraud beats. It seems as though Action Bronson wasn't happy with JUST taking over Underground Hip-Hop , he's prepping to dominate the mainstream market in 2012 A.D! Merely minutes after the stream of announcements, Action Bronson liberated a BRAND NEW Party Supplies -produced sampler track, "Mistletoe" (Remix) . Bam Bam spits a few quick bars over a chopped and edited version of Justin Bieber's recently-penned Christmas jingle. Now, you can knock the man, but don't knock "...

Similar to the vast majority of Hip-Hopping up-and-comers anymore these days, Asher Roth really manages to flex his lyrical "nuts" across the length of his free-form mixtape releases... Maybe it's the chance to pull samples from just about any source (free of charge) and "GO HARD" without a single worry or fret that's all the more liberating. Whether it be The GreenHouse Effect (2008), Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry , or THE RAWTH EP (2010); Roth's intelligent Beats & Rhymes which are thinly spread across his mixtapes, regularly TRUMP his companion major label-spun album by-products. Fun Fact: Asher Roth and Justin Bieber actually share[d] the same talent manager, Scooter Braun . Asher Roth initially burst onto the music scene in 2009 - upon the release of his radio-friendly lead single, "I Love College." Paired along with Asleep In The Bread Aisle (premier LP), Roth managed to reach the #5 spot on Billboard's Hot...

Frank Ocean is by far the most restrained [musically talented, for that matter] and commercially accessible member of Odd Future . While his overall subject matter is still pretty messed up, it's more in that suave D'Angelo - Teddy Pendergrass type of way. It has yet to be seen if Ocean's public affiliation with the crude and rowdy OF sect will help or hurt his musical career. Frank Ocean is more like Redman anyways; Who was never really a legitimate Wu-Tang member, but without a doubt always considered a pivotal element of the group. A true vigilante of a "businessman," Ocean self-released his debut album Nostalgia, ULTRA online back in mid-Feb. (2011), while Def Jam continued to slack. Needless to say, the label execs. and [female] fans alike are now latching onto his every word. Frank Ocean is currently holed up in the studio, putting the finishing touches on his premier major label release. @ press time, Ocean has played roughly 3-5 live shows and is ...

"Talking about rape and cutting bodies up, it just doesn't interest me anymore. What interests me is making weird Hippie music for people to get high to. With Wolf , I'll brag a little bit more, talk about money and buying shit. But not like any other rapper, I'll be a smart-ass about it. Now it's just girls throwing themselves at me and shit, but I got a girl back home. People who want the first album again, I can't do that. I was 18, broke as fuck. On my third album, I have money and I'm hanging out with my idols. I can't [still] rap about the same shit." - Wolf Haley (Spin)