The Witzard

"Anthony Friedlander, frontman of New Jersey-based Indie/Alternative/Prog-Rock band 4:44, gets it and really seized the day on July 9th when on a whim, around 3AM, he uploaded 4-track JAY-Z EP to their Bandcamp page. Friedlander and his 4:44 bandmates—bassist Greg, Mele Jr. and drummer Zach Gormley—readily admit that "THIS IS A SHAMELESS MARKETING TECHNIQUE," as JAY-Z's latest album was seemingly "named after" their band; just imagine a stylistic mix between alt-j, Indie Rock innovators Radiohead, and the frantic, frenzied vocal delivery of Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock," reads part of a 4:44-centric piece I published this past August. Since releasing their critically-acclaimed JAY-Z EP back in July, 4:44 frontman Anthony Friedlander (@anthokneefree) and I have, personally, had amany late night conversations about the future of the band, his solo music, and their wonderful—still largely unrecognized by The Needle Drop—"SHAMELESS MARKETING ...

Xavier de Rosnay & Gaspard Augé will be the first to admit that they're far from classically-trained musicians. But over the course of the 4 years since the release of their break-through debut, † ("Cross") , they've noticeably upped their musical chops. When compared against Justice 's original Dance -inspired sample- based sound... Audio, Video, Disco is said to be a lighter-sounding Arena/Prog Rock nodding affair; Soft-violent "daytime [ Electronic ] music," if you will. Particular artists of influence have been said to include: Supertramp, The Eagles, Black Sabbath, Queen, The Beatles , and Yes . Yet the most interesting factoid concerning the 11-track set [Oct. 25th] may very well be that the 2 DJ's played EVERY single instrument! Thusfar, our ears have been graced with 2 singles and 1 leaked track: "Civilization," "Audio Video, Disco," and "Helix." Read more about Audio, Video, Disco 's tedious 1.5...