The Witzard

Broken Bells (@broken_bells) have been teasing something since about August with cryptic black-and-white in-studio Polaroid -esque photos , some dated as far back as 7/26/18. Broken Bells is, of course, the collaborative duo of James Mercer & Brian Burton . Mercer is the long-time frontman of The Shins/Flake Music and Burton is also, known as super-producer Danger Mouse ; who has worked with everyone from MF DOOM (DANGERDOOM) to The Black Keys , A$AP Rocky to Parquet Courts , and likely, most famously, as Gnarls Barkley with Cee-Lo . Since initially forming in 2008-09, Broken Bells have released two full-lengths, 2010's Broken Bells and 2014's After The Disco , as well as a 2011 EP dubbed Meyrin Fields and a number of non-album singles. Honestly, we, here at The Witzard , personally, favor Broken Bells' self-titled 2010 debut, but their entire cannon of music is phenomenal! Lest we forget, Broken Bells courted a then-relatively unknown Christina Hendricks (...

Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig has had a pretty buzz-worthy year; having appeared on genre-blending tracks with Major Lazer , SBTRKT, Chromeo , @Seinfeld2000 , and even a duet with Karen O on the Her soundtrack. Koenig's latest outer-band activity includes a Twitter -esque "rapped-sung" verse on new-comer iLoveMakonnen 's Red Bull Music -backed "Down 4 So Long" Remix , which was released over the weekend along with 1,000 free downloads as part of their 20 Before 15 singles series. " @iLoveMakonnen5D and @despotroast (Despot) could both put out greatest hits albums and neither one has ever made an album," @arzE Koenig affectionately Tweeted about his fellow collaborators and new-found buddies upon "Down 4 So Long"' s release. Koenig and Despot 's appended verses add an air of fun and familiarity to Makonnen 's "Down 4 So Long," which is reportedly about the accidental shooting death of his high scho...

Well, it sounds like Lana del Rey wasn't the only artist to debut new music during a Grammy commercial break last night; Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O has once again teamed up with N.A.S.A. aka Sam Spiegel ( Spike Jonze 's brother) for a twinkling Reggae -infused cover of Eric Clapton by way of Bob Marley 's "I Shot The Sheriff." Initially appearing within a brief 30-second SONOS PLAYBAR spot, "I Shot The Sheriff" was soon re-uploaded to Soundcloud in full-length form, as well as select digital retailers. Speaking as both a music writer and a fan of both Marley and Clapton's original versions , I'd quite honestly say that N.A.S.A. & Karen O 's updated take is a fresh, new, slightly club-ready version of a decades old classic about love, loss, and remorse. Without any apparent further pans for a follow-up to N.A.S.A. 's 2009 debut, The Spirit of Apollo and Indie Rock darlings Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most recent album...