The Witzard

"I'm Not Part of Me" is the perfect kind of disjointed, yet introspective brand of Lemonheads -influenced Indie Rock that's almost tailor-made for use on modern Rom-Com film soundtracks. Cloud Nothings frontman Dylan Baldi recently described the band's forthcoming new album, Here and Nowhere Else as more "refined" and "subtle" that their previous works. Baldi further elaborated in a press release that "I was feeling pretty good about everything, so I just made stuff that made me happy. I had nothing to be angry about really, so the approach was more positive and less 'fuck everything.'" Ahead of Here and Nowhere Else 's March 26-April 1st world-wide release, "I'm Not Part of Me" was unleashed Monday morning along with cover art, an 8-song tracklist, proper release details, etc. Since being initially established by Dylan Baldi as a one-man bedroom project back in 2009, Cloud Nothings has grown to i...

Chromeo , David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel , are without a doubt two of the forefathers of now über-trendy futuristic-leaning Electro-Funk ; they've been making smooth Space-Funk together since the mid-90's, but somehow only unleashed their first album, She's In Control , as recently as 2004. While Chromeo 's fourth album, White Women still lacks a solid release date, that indeed hasn't stopped them from kicking a promotional campaign into full gear! After releasing two teaser singles within the last few months, Dave 1 & P-Thugg stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Tuesday-Wednesday night, along with fellow Canadian buddies Death from Above 1979 and "The Sexy Socialites" (a fully fleshed out Gospel choir). The recently reunited 2-piece have seemingly been delegated to Chromeo 's backing band, while Dave 1 & P-Thugg took on the role of a 1980's-minded Back to The Future -like Electr...

Legendary Hardcore Art-Punk band The Dismemberment Plan had their original "reign of terror" across DC from 1993-2003, eventually parted ways, and all got boring blue collar desk jobs. Since initially re-forming in Sept. 2010, D-Plan have played a handful of scattered and wildly successful reunion tours (including a Late Night gig). After years of one-off gigs and claims of not getting back together "except to drink beer," it seems like Travis Morrison , Eric Axelson, Jason Caddell & Joe Easley are finally back together and in full form for the foreseeable future. But The Dismemberment Plan 's comeback single, "Waiting," was released in a pretty unconventional method. It was temporarily play-able when eager fans dialed 252-64-DPLAN , although "Waiting" has since been re-released via Soundcloud . Now, the band have unleashed a second taste of their forthcoming Uncanney Valley album, "Invisible," which Tom Breihan ...

Not incredibly unlike their previous collaborative efforts with John Legend , Jay Z, and Al Green , The Roots take the "big band backseat" role on their upcoming record with Elvis Costello , Wise Up Ghost . It's stark-looking, minimalistic cover was supposedly modeled after Allen Ginsberg 's Howl , more specifically it's infamous City Lights Pocket Poets Series rendition (1955). Questlove Jenkins defined Wise Up Ghost as a "document of music of 9 cats... Helmed by 2 music dweebs & their hero," which was reportedly released on a few as-yet-undiscovered Record Store Day white label 12-inches. "Walk Us Uptown" was unleashed mid-Monday afternoon in the form of a Soundcloud stream and Mariana Blanco -directed sparse lyric video. Legendary American Jazz imprint Blue Note Records plans to issue Elvis Costello & The Roots' long-rumored Wise Up Ghost on Tuesday, September 17th. The album first came to fruition after Costel...

Thanks to Kanye , now almost every time I hear Kings of Leon mentioned, I think: "Look like a fat booty Celine Dion / Sex is on fire, I'm the King of Leon-a-Lewis ..." Founded down in Nashville way back in 1999, Kings of Leon is truly a family affair; made up of 3 brothers and their cousin -- frontman Caleb Follwill backed by Nathan, Jared & Matthew Followill . While their sound has gradually morphed from Blues -based Southern Rock to Alternative/Arena Rock , Kings of Leon have slowly risen to the top(s) of the "modern" Rock charts. Their upcoming sixth studio album, Mechanical Bull was recorded in a pretty pressure-free environment with long-time producer Angelo Petraglia and sounds "more [youthful and] musically complicated" than the band's past efforts. Although, in a Twitter -fueled Q&A, Kings of Leon noted that Mechanical Bull could be easily compared to Youth & Young Manhood (2003) and Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)...

Before jet-setting off to SXSW March 15-16th for a secret showcase with ?uestlove & RJD2 , Justin Timberlake stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for Night 5 of what's being dubbed, #JustinTimberWeek . Ramping up the long-awaited release of The 20/20 Experience this upcoming Tuesday, March 19th , Timberlake decided to string together a medley of greatest hits for the last performance of his week-long stay @ Late Night: "Like I Love You/My Love/Cry Me a River" and "Señorita." Joined on-stage by his 10-piece band, The Tennessee Kids , Justin Timberlake launched into a slow-building acoustic/electric performance that ended up lasting almost 11 sweltering minutes! Anybody else notice that saucy-looking Spanish or white chick singing back-up and cuttin' a rug!? "It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?" is what I'd like to holla @ a beautiful girl like that... to which she'd likely reply, "I don'...

I'm not really 100% sure if I'm gonna throw together one of those "Year-End Lists" yet or not. But But there were definitely quite a few strong releases littered throughout 2012, some unveiled pretty recently, too: Handwritten , good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Wasting Light , Blue Chips, Audio Video Disco , Blak & Blu , etc. My 2 current favourites, good kid, m.A.A.d. cit y and Blak & Blu , were released roughly 2 weeks ago (Oct. 22-23rd). Gary Clark Jr. and Kendrick Lamar are 2 talented men in their mid-late 20's, simply aspiring to make it in their respective genres of Blues Rock/Hip-Hop and are making some pretty bold moves to do so. If you're interested, check out my separate reviews for both albums, which should still be on "The Witzard" 's front page [below]. Gary Clark Jr. liberated the officially-stamped music video for "Ain't Messin' Round" over @ Rolling Stone earlier this Monday morning. It marks the seco...

Frank Ocean is a brave, brave man for coming out as bi-sexual in the [final] weeks leading up to the release of his major label debut... something that could have deeply affected channel ORANGE 's initial sales, which ended up debuting @ #2 on the Billboard 200 chart! Ocean's new-found "preference" really doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on channel ORANGE 's overall song content, quality, etc. Most of the time, Frank Ocean sounds a lot like Usher ; a suave R&B singer who could easily fit in on "Urban Radio" and hang with the music industry's BIGGEST rappers. While there's definitely a great mix of various styles spread out all across channel ORANGE , there's an underlying Soulful Funkiness , mildly reminiscent of Prince . Man, it's almost difficult to describe on "paper" how fucking AWESOME channel ORANGE really is - quite easily the best Hip-Hop/R&B album of 2012 [so far]! Granted each of Frank Ocean ...

I was seriously considering writing up a review for Frank Ocean 's just-released, Billboard chart-topping album: channel ORANGE ... until I saw Refused rip shit up on Fallon @ 1am late last night. Refused are a pretty infamous, recently re-formed Swedish Hardcore band that were originally active from 1991-98; They released 3 seminal albums in their heyday - including The Shape of Punk to Come , while it was critically-acclaimed, the band still feels that it didn't get a proper "push" back in the day (1998). "We never did The Shape of Punk to Come justice back when it came out; too tangled up in petty internal bickering to really focus on the job. And suddenly there's this possibility to do it like it was intended. We wanna do it over, do it right. For the people who've kept the music alive through the years, but also for our own sakes. We feel that you deserve it and we hope the feeling is mutual!" - Refused While taking part in a full-fledge...

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).

"GUN HAS NO TRIGGER" is about the possibility for true dissent, and how I can't figure out what that could be. What is a 2012 Exodus from the Society of the Spectacle (to mix language Situationist and Rastafari )? So, we made a video from the iconography of the "Default" profile image used by Facebook and Gmail , and also the look of the classic Apple iPod commercials. The colors in the background are the ones I think of when I hear the harmonies of Amber [Coffman] and Haley [Dekle] (via experimental synesthesia). Enjoy!! - David Longstreth (Director) Dirty Projectors will make their triumphant return to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this coming June 19th, which just so happens to be the release date for the band's new album, Swing Lo Magellan . Cross your fingers that David, Amber, Haley , etc. decide to link up with The Roots for yet another made-for-TV performance like "When The World Comes to an End" (2009). Shout outs to the guy who ...

I picked up a copy of The Ting Tings second album, Sounds from Nowheresville a week or 2 after it's March US release date. Pretty solid album, just not as instantly catchy as "That's Not My Name" or "Shut Up & Let Me Go." But hey, those are the kind of anti-calculated breakout hits that happen unexpectedly, very 10 years or so. The Ting Tings played Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night (April 11-12th) in support of a string of recent state-side tour dates. While not exactly a radio single, Katie & Jules ROCKED OUT to "Hit Me Down, Sonny." Dancing frontwoman Katie White was sporting some sort of sexy, mish-moshed little ensemble: trucker hat, red/white "sailor" T-shirt, mysterious buttons, booty shorts, and knee-high lace leggins. Jules de Martino was directly to the left of White on guitar & back-up vocals, behind the band was a dormant drumset. You can almost immediately tell that while "Hit Me Down, Sonny...

Let's face it, "orchestral" and "concept album" are basically taboo words in The World of Hip-Hop ; Terms which are not generally met with the most positive fanfare. Though, there are of course exceptions for every rule: Kendrick Lamar 's incredible 2011 mixtape street album, #Section80 - A fictionalized account of this generation's all too real prescription drug dependency and alarmingly high tolerance... and The Roots' just-released [Dec. 6] landmark 13th commercial effort, undun . Over the course of it's 14 tracks, ?uestlove & The Roots Crew effectively flesh out the life story of one Redford Stephens , undun 's titular character. Stephens' primary traits were grafted from a number of real life inspirational sources including The Guess Who , Sufjan Stevens' "Redford" character (Michigan) , Black Thought 's own friends-family, and a few small-time Philly drug dealers. Frequent Roots collaborators Dice Raw,...

I think it'd be legitimately "safe" to say that a [Third Wave] Ska-Punk Fusion band like Rancid would not even exist without vets, Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff . Fuhgeddaboud Bob Marley & The Wailers for a minute, Jimmy Cliff was the true originator of the 2 Jamaican -bred Reggae musicians; Cliff is widely known for his beautiful, honey-drenched Soulful harmonies... and was recently recognized as one of the few Reggae -tinged Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees (March 2010). Past mainstream hits have included "The Harder They Come," "I Can See Clearly Now," and "Many Rivers to Cross." Dr. Cliff is currently putting the finishing touches on a 2012 full-length, Existence . Jimmy Cliff effectively teamed up with Rancid-Transplants frontman, Tim Armstrong to record what would become his first proper studio release in nearly 8 years, Sacred Fire EP . The by-product of 6 arduous months is a set of 5 songs... produced by Armstron...

While the majority of their peers are busy rapping about bitches, drugs, and money ... The Roots spend the bulk of their time producing Conscious Hip-Hop , concerning the trials and tribulations of life. I've personally been an avid Roots aficionado since first hearing "Don't Say Nuthin'" and it's accompanying album, The Tipping Point (2004). But many fans may be most familiar with the Philly 8-piece because of their 2003 commercial break-out single, "The Seed (2.0);" De facto re-envisioning of Cody ChesnuTT 's own Funky original composition. The band really is so much more than "Hip-Hop," a group made up of true musicians, actively led by drummer ?uestlove since 1987. Between albums #9-10 [counting "The Roots Come Alive" ] The Roots Crew became the official in-house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , fully on board for it's 2009 debut. For what it's worth, How I Got Over was hands down my favourite alb...