The Witzard

"I could have made you mine. But no, it wasn't meant to be and see, I wasn't made for you and you weren't made for me... I'm on my own sh*t now. Let me tell you how it feels to be f**king great. I feel great," Rex Orange County laments on his latest Zane Lowe -premiered #ROCKMUSICFOREVER second single, "BEST FRIEND." Rex Orange County is the recently adopted alter-ego of Alex O'Connor , a self-loathing 18-year-old "bedroom" musician hailing from the outskirts of London in Haslemere, Surrey . "Being in a picturesque, but culturally void town didn't stop him from admiring fellow do-it-yourself producers Thundercat and Toro Y Moi , or falling in love with Frank Ocean 's Channel ORANGE ; "if I could do anything close to that musically, then that's it," O'Connor beamed within a recent press release. I would best compare Rex Orange County's unique half-sung half-rapped style to "Loser" -er...

I'm pretty sure myself, like many like-minded Indie Rock devotees, first heard Cults frontwoman Madeline Follin 's sultry whispery wail was on "Queen of Hearts" from Toronto Hardcore band F__ked Up 's sprawling 2011 Punk Rock Opera , David Comes to Life . While then nine-year-old Follin's first true "solo" work, Dee Dee Ramone -assembled Youth Gone Mad 's Touching Cloth (2000) pre-dates Cults by about 11 years, her latest set of recordings would appear to be her first legitimate outer-band side project; " Follin is the musical project of brother-sister duo Madeline and Richie James Follin . In the down time between record cycles of their respective bands [ Cults and Guards/Willowz ], they decided to finally record and release something together," San Francisco and Miami -based Father/Daughter Records wrote within a recent press release. It was an idea that they had hoped to turn into a reality for years, but time never pe...

London -based music producer Mark Ronson simply has NO BOUNDS; we're talking about the fearless genre-blending visionary who single-handedly spearheaded Amy Winehouse & The Dap-Kings' 21st century Doo-Wop revival, or revamped "New-Wop" sound, produced Lily Allen 's early Reggae/Dancehall -indebted hits, and has since worked with everyone from Duran Duran to Billy Joel -sampling Rap -singer Action Bronson . Ronson's own New-Wop -indebted Uptown Special is quite easily one of the year's greatest mainstream success stories and arguably, an "underground sleeper," due in part to the assistance of Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker and Miike Snow multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wyatt . Mark Ronson recently decided to re-team with buddies Parker and Wyatt for the first time since recording Uptown Special , along with guitarist Kirin J. Callinan and Jay Bratten on Moog synthesizer, to record a live in-studio cover of Queens of The Stone Age ...

Following an unexpected guest appearance on Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars' chart-topping smash single, "Uptown Funk" (Remix) last month, Action Bronson and Ronson have linked up once again to liberate the first of their two collaborations from MR. WONDERFUL , "Baby Blue;" a smooth horn-laden arrangement, almost reminiscent of Mark Ronson 's formative Dap-Kings -backed early work with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen , which seems to have been lifted from songstress Natalie Prass' literally just-released Columbia Records single, "Birds of Prey." Although "Baby Blue" was initially premiered on now-retired BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe's show Monday afternoon, @ActionBronson unleashed a "BEHIND-THE-SCENES MAKING OF "BABY BLUE" IN LONDON WITH MY BROS @MarkRonson [and] @zanelowe " late Thursday afternoon amidst the latest East Coast -pummeling snowstorm, fittingly dubbed "Thor." Action Bronson ...

Even though she released a new John Lewis -backed Keane cover just the other day, British Indie-Pop star Lily Allen has finally returned with "Hard Out Here," which could be a sonic indicator of her forthcoming third studio album. It's titular refrain goes something like "Forget your balls, and grow a pair of tits / It's hard, it's hard, it's hard out here for a bitch" and Allen addresses jarring topics such as body image, media-propelled sexism, super-sexed up video vixens, non-equality, injustice, etc. "Hard Out Here"'s companion Christopher Sweeney -directed video essentially conveys everything that Lily Allen whole-heartedly despises about Hollywood/London elite: plastic surgery, TWERKIN', Robin Thicke , wasteful champagne-pouring, ridiculous weightless ideals, wildly expensive cars. It's done in a very tongue-in-cheek way though, whereas if you didn't know any better, you might think that Allen was a terribly ...

Quasi-retired British songstress and walking firecracker Lily Allen has finally made a triumphant return to music, in one of the least Punk Rock ways humanly possible; covering "Somewhere Only We Know" (Keane) for a super-early John Lewis Christmas web-ad. But somehow, it really works and Allen's airy vocals synch up well with the playful, old school-looking Bear & The Hare animation work. Since releasing her sophomore album, It's Not Me, It's You (2009), Lily Allen got herself a husband and 2 kids, stared acting a bit, launched a record label imprint, changed her name twice (Lily Rose Cooper), and recently appeared on Pink 's latest single, "True Love." "Somewhere Only We Know" is a pretty drastic shift from Allen's former potty-mouthed brand of Reggae -infused Indie Pop , which could very well echo her forthcoming third album. According to NME , Lily Allen recently lamented that "it's not an earnest "I...

Madeline Follin was even more beautiful and sultry live in concert than I could have ever even imagined! Her voice was a tad bit deeper than on record, but I think it actually sounded better in a larger-scale [concert] setting. A drummer, bassist, and multi-instrumentalist were brought into the fold to help beef up the band's sound, just for the special occasion. Follin belted out each and every passion-filled note as if she were a seductive, slithering Jazz songstress playing a gig @ a hoppin' Lounge joint back in The Roaring 50's . Cults proceeded to rip through the entirety of their 11-track Columbia debut. A few appended tracks were also added into the mix for good measure: "The Curse" (Cults 7" EP) , a BRAND NEW Leonard Cohen cover, miscellaneous noodling and banter. At the imminent close of said blistering set, guitarist Brian Oblivion muttered something to the effect of "Fuck that corny shit where the band walks off stage, pretends to han...

"Concrete Waves" is just one of those songs that's wildly catchy right off the bat! You know that you like it. But also know that you'd really be hard-pressed when asked "Why?" Kendra Morris is poised to become the next short-term Queen of Soul Pop Music; A genre initially spearheaded by the late-great, Amy Winehouse . Since "Throwback Soul" 's early-mid 2000's inception, many young songstresses have decided to jump aboard: Lily Allen, Duffy , Ke$ha, Sharon Jones, Janelle Monáe , Adele, Miss Jack Davey, Lana del Rey ... and now, Wax Poetics' very own Kendra Morris . Kendra Morris was born and raised along the coast of Florida to 2 musically-inclined parents. So, it was frankly no surprise to anyone that she grew up to be a Soulful -voiced little young lady. Morris made "The BIG Move" to New York City around 2003, where she proceeded to record bedroom [closet] recordings onto an 8-track . Those very recordings would re...

Madeline Follin & Brian Oblivion [O.K.A. "Cults" ] somehow manage to produce a blend of sun-drenched Pop and 60's era Girl Group ditties, which is the total 360° flip of their adverse dark, gloomy public image. Following the release of their self-titled debut long-player ( In the Name Of ), Cults went on to announce an interesting second step: "We're working on a Hip-Hop mixtape of the album. Like, changing all the songs up and getting up-and-coming rappers, guys like Freddie Gibbs and Lil B and stuff. That's gonna be really exciting. We've been dealing with a lot of really bizarre managers... interesting personalities." - Brian Oblivion on Guitar Fast-forward from Summer-Fall 2011 _ Earlier today, Hypetrak fully liberated Cults' initial foray into Hip-Hop: "Bad Things" (Remix) . Sporting a slightly sped up and Boom Bapped beat, Brian & Madeline even re-recorded their vocal flourishes to better match Freddie Gibbs...