The Witzard

The Cool Kids have been a staple on my own personal iPod(s) since their 2005 inception. It's almost uncanny for a group to garner so much fan/critical acclaim without a proper full-length release out. Said album ( When Fish Ride Bicycles ) has almost become Hip-Hop's "Chinese Democracy" - Talked about since roughly 2008. Over the course of their young career(s), Mikey & Chuck have been strung along like drooling teenage boys... by a handful of labels. The Cool Kids' track record includes ill-fated time spent with: Fools Gold, Chocolate Industries, Mad Decent, and even the demise of their own label - "C.A.K.E. Recordings." Note-worthy early collections include The Bake Sale EP, Totally Flossed Out (mixtape)... and 2 lead up "fish-tapes," Gone Fishing (2009) and Tacklebox (2010). Some of my choice early favourites include: "Black Mags," "Mikey Rocks," "What It Is," "88," "Gold and a Pag

Legend has it that Eddie Vedder picked up his first ukelele while on a Hawaiian beer run about 15 years ago (1996). The Seattle Grunge rocker has always seemed to have a strong connection with "Surf Culture" - Be it Music for Our Mother Ocean ( MOM 1-3 ), hanging out with Jack Johnson and Laird Hamilton , A Broken Melody surf-track, "Amongst the Waves" (Pearl Jam), or his efforts with the Kelly Slater Foundation . I have to admit, I almost always automatically think of either Tiny Tim or Steve Martin , when I hear "ukelele." Ukelele Songs consists of a mix of originals and covers, some culled from sessions dating back to the mid-90's. Inter-spliced throughout the album's 16 tracks are covers of obscure 1920-30's hits , along with an alternate version of Pearl Jam 's "Can't Keep." The track was originally featured on the band's 2002 album, Riot Act ; A mix of Folk/Art Rock/Experimental music, the album housed fa

Industrial Rocker turned film composer, Trent Reznor is currently putting the finishing touches on his second piece. Reznor's first composed output for The Social Network ("Facebook Movie") earned he and collaborative partner Atticus Ross a few Oscar/Golden Globe trophies. Again working with director David Fincher ... This time on the American adaption(s) of The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo and its companion sequels ( "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest" ). Fincher's versions will be based around 3 2009-released Swedish films - collectively dubbed "The Millenium Series," which were in turn, adapted from a popular Stieg Larsson novel trilogy. Over Memorial Day Weekend , a "red band" (R-rated) teaser trailer for the Dec. 2011 film was released along with The Hangover, Part 2 . Soon after Pitchfork's Tom Breihan reported on its sheer existence, the clip was leaked online.

" The Revolution Will Not Be Televised " (Gil Scott-Heron, 1970) You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip, Skip out for beer during commercials, Because the revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox In 4 parts without commercial interruptions. The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon Blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat Hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary. The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia. The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal. The revolution will not get rid of the nubs. The revolution will not make you look five pounds Thinner, because the revolution

"We realize this song was released prior to the Donuts material but we had a hard time singling out any one song. We also wanted to see "The Heist" come to life with its great lyrics and potential for visual representation. So, we apologize for any offense taken from mixing the 2 concepts... We just thought it was a cool way to have a "Donut MC." Hope you enjoy! We [would also like] to thank Stones Throw for this generous and unique opportunity." - Jimmy Joey & Frankie Productions (Winnetka, CA)

"Richard Phillips' "LINDSAY LOHAN" will be included in "Commercial Break," presented by Garage Center for Contemporary Culture ( Venice, Italy ) from June 1-5, 2011... Concurrent with the 54th international exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia ." * Featured soundtrack: Tamaryn - "Cascades," from 2010's The Waves .

"Filmed in a sleepy, French suburb in God-knows-where, and starring a group of the coolest kids in the cul-de-sac, "The Greeks"' video reflects the song - It's about everything, and kinda nothing, and being young, or something... We wanted to work together [with MEGAFORCE ] to create something both visually appealing and aesthetically relevant to the band. We like kids, we like gangs, we really like daydreaming and imagination; The video straddles the line between nostalgia and the visual death-porn of our generation - the action film... This is a straight-up kid brawl the way it played out in your head when you were stealing your mum's mascara to be like Arnie in Predator . It isn't a shocking rebuke to our drama queen, populist news culture either - Just naive, blissful "shoot-yr-mate until he's definitely dead war-games" - The way you wish it still could be." - Posted by Is Tropical @ Kitsuné Journal

Gaspard Augé & Xavier de Rosnay's "Civilization" - A Release Timeline Mid-2010: Rumors of new music begin to circulate... March 14, 2011: Pure existence of new tracks confirmed. March 16: "Adidas Is All In" ad series debuts nation-wide. March 28: Audio file, as ripped from viral video(s), leaked. March 29: "Civilization" digi-single ( iTunes Global Store). March 30: 11-second "Civilization" Teaser clip uploaded to YouTube . April 4: Physical Ed Banger vinyl single released. April 16: Demo included within Record Store Day release - The Bee Sides (Mini-Album). May 27: Edouard Sailer -directed/ Ali Love -feat. (vocals) music video debuts online. June 6: Single re-release... Remix EP with edits from Mr. Oizo & The Fucking Champs . TBA 2011: Justice LP#2 unleashed!

"I'm On Everything" is the newest track unveiled from Eminem and Royce da 5'9" (Slaughterhouse) - Collectively known as "Bad Meets Evil." The Detroit natives/recently reconciled friends were originally active from 1998-2002... and essentially re-grouped when Slaughterhouse recently signed to Marshalls' Shady Records . June 14's Hell: The Sequel EP will be the first legitimate release from the "Motor City" team, as they had previously only appeared together on featured tracks in their first incarnation. The second track released from the collection, "I'm On Everything" appears to be a homage to The Hangover [2] 's hard-partying ways. It features production from Mr. Porter (D12's very own Kon Artis ) and a sampled bit/"hook" from stand-up comedian, Mike Epps - "Black Doug." Be on the look-out for the Syndrome -directed "Fast Lane" music video, which will reportedly be unlea

What a shame. Gil was a true legend and pioneer... On the bright side, there's such a plethora of great, timeless music to enjoy for years to come! R.I.P. Gilbert Scott-Heron ; April 1, 1949–May 27, 2011 (62). Here's a collection of a few early obituaries - Courtesy of Variety , LA Times, and NPR .

Curren$y teamed up with Monsta Beatz production team ( "Roaster" ) to string together Weekend at Burnie's . Being toted as a "street album" (mixtape), the release will serve as the New Orleans rapper's sixth overall release; Preceded by his major label debut Pilot Talk and its sequel ( Pilot Talk 2 ) in 2010, a "free digital album" (mixtape) with The Alchemist for 4/20 - Covert Coup ... As well as 2 lesser known releases for Amalgam Digital , way back in 2009. Jet Life Recordings (Warner Bros.) will release Curren$y & Monsta Beatz' Weekend at Burnie's project on June 28, 2011. Muscle Car Chronicles , a [shelved] Sean O'Connell/Damon Dash production, is also slated for a TBA 2011 release. "Pilot Talk 3" will be unleashed @ some point in the not-so-distant future as well.

Originally named after "Town Leader" Mark Foster - Foster & The People , repeatedly butchered by their circle of friends... and as a result, re-christened Foster The People . Yeah, the name stuck... as the associated "Take care of the people"/"Do it for the people" type of vibe was met with strong embrace. At its core, Foster The People is essentially Mark Foster (vocals, keyboard/guitar), Cubbie Fink (bass, backing vocals), and Mark Pontius (drums). Additional live musicians include Sean Cimino (guitar, keyboard/synthesizer) and Isom Innis (piano/keyboard); Both members also lend backing vocals for added flourishes, and played small roles in the making of The People 's record. That album - Torches , was just released a mere 4 days ago by way of Columbia (Startime International) . Said collection was preceded by a self-titled EP , which featured 3 of the [eventual] album's 10 tracks. "Pumped Up Kicks," the warm, Poppy lead sin

Fresh off the heels of the House of Balloons mixtape, comes the latest offering from The Weeknd: "Rolling Stone." R&B crooner, Abel Tesfaye has indicated that the past collection was the introductory part of a 2011 album arc - "Balloon Trilogy." Parts 2-3 will reportedly be dubbed Thursdays [Summer] and Echoes of Silence... [Fall]. "Rolling Stone" seems to be the first taste of Thursdays , which Abel ( @theweekndxo ) has recently announced "is coming sooner than you think." Capped off by a fuzzed out feedback-filled intro, Abel proceeds to lay down an assortment of "ohs" and "ahs" over a sparse acoustic/percussive backing track. One can assume that the piece was produced by frequent collaborators, Doc McKinney & ILLANGELO . Pay close attention to The Weeknd 's respective Social Media feeds, as additional release information pertaining to the 2 upcoming mixtapes is soon to be released.

While "Haus of GaGa" [creative team] originally only intended for "Edge of Glory" to serve as a Promo/Teaser Single, it's now being pushed as an Official Single. Meant to be included within iTunes' "Countdown to Born This Way" lead-up promotional effort... It became so successful almost immediately after its original release, inspiring countless YouTube memes and impacting US Mainstream Radio , in turn becoming Single #3 . Genre-wise, "Edge of Glory" can easily be categorized as Electro Rock, Dance-Pop, Synthpop, and/or Jazz ; The latter, due in part to the added sax riffs of Clarence Clemons (E Street Band) . Thematically, the track was inspired by the recent death of GaGa's grandfather, as well as segments of Rocky 3 . Born This Way is now available for purchase @ Your Friendly Neighborhood Record Store. Select retailers will also be carrying a 2 CD-encompassing "Special Edition" version - Complete with 5 tacked on

Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota . "The Man, The Myth, The Legend" turned 70 just yesterday. A singer-songwriter, poet, and painter, Bob Dylan has released roughly 34 studio albums... Thus excluding countless live, collaborative, bootleg, and compilation collections. Some of Dylan's most memorable Pop Culture contributions include: "Going Electric" (Paul Butterfield Blues Band, 1965), enabling The Beatles ' drug use-age, The Wallflowers , Hendrix 's 1968 hit cover of "All Along the Watchtower," Judaism-Christianity-Judaism, "SOY BOMB," Kurtis Blow 's "Street Rap," and "Judas!" From my personal experience, Dylan is much like Lil' Wayne - Either you love him and think he's "Prolific," or you simply just "Don't get it." Rolling Stone recently teamed up with various musicians to compile a celebratory list of "The 70 Greatest Dylan Songs&qu

"[ Justin ]'s a FUCKING GENIUS!" I'd never seen nor heard of him in my life, and I looked up, and I was in a fucking 5x5 room with a white guy, smoking some of the best weed the world has to offer... His voice is like something I've never heard, and he's using words that are far from common. Within 20 minutes, I realized why Kanye had him there." - Rick Ross @ Jason Lipshutz (Billboard) As a special pre- Memorial Day "treat," Justin Vernon and Megafaun pianist, Phil Cook without a doubt brought the medley back ... on the 5/23-24 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC). For the occasion, Bon Iver 2.0 prepared a sparse, key-backed "A Song for You"/"I Can't Make You Love Me"/"Nick of Time" combo pack - Donny Hathaway (Leon Russell) and Bonnie Raitt covers, respectively. A short, pre-medley Fallon conducted interview can be viewed over @ Pitchfork . Vernon's Raitt Edit will exclusively appear

- Rick Ross & Andy Samberg on [not] using the phrase "no homo." Ross: "I don't use it. There's no reason. I mean you Tweet me, I hope you're no homo. They'll be like, "Yo man, let me get your blunt, no homo." That's why I don't smoke with nobody." Samberg: "We have cousins who are 11 or 12 years old who are like, "Hey man, do you wanna come over and hang out, no homo?" Like, fucking kids just come over and hang out with each other!" Read the complete 3-page Complex sit-down interview . This is surely "one for the books." Kudos to Joe La Puma for conducting a CLASSIC, highly entertaining interview! Both Maybach Music Group (Rick Ross) - Self Made and Lonely Island - Turtleneck & Chain are now available for purchase @ your local record store.

At its cold, Electronic heart, Tesla [Coil] Orchestra is essentially Ian Charnas (Conductor), Keith Lewis (Music Director), and a handful of other various behind-the-scenes contributors. In lamens terms, Tesla Orchestra is basically 2 giant, electro-fied, music-making coils/"instruments." The tedious process of building up the robotic "covers" generally starts off with obtaining the MIDI song files from the original artist. Then, segments of the track are crafted and sequenced... Sometimes parts of the track have to be left out, as the Tesla coils can only produce one note at a time. Keith Lewis elaborates, "We pick out the main melody and usually the bass line or harmony line from the existing track... Plug them into a standard MIDI track, send that information to the coils, and then play the backing track along with it." Tesla Orchestra 's latest effort - "Open Spark Project," is a 40-minute Master-Mix of many unique artists' w

"Blanck Mass" is the newly-appropriated alias of Electronic musician Benjamin John Power . Venturing out on his own for the first time, Power usually performs as 1/2 of Fuck Buttons ... Not to be confused with similarly-named acts, Holy Fuck or Fucked Up . Formed in 2004 along with Andrew Hung , the band draws influence from Instrumental Rock/Experimental pioneers like Mogwai and Aphex Twin . Together, Power and Hung have crafted 2 albums-worth of material for ATP Recordings - Street Horrrsing (2008) and Tarot Sport (2009). Land Disasters by Blanck Mass Ben Power has said that Blanck Mass , "Represents a pretty clear image of [him]self." An image that "might be controlled by some other type of subconscious guidance." - Deep... Trippy! The 10-track collection was entirely written, recorded, and self-produced by Power @ his London home, between Summer-Winter 2010. The sounds harnessed within Blanck Mass were inspired by Carl Sagan, Ennio Morrico

" Bass Drum of Death is a band from Mississippi . John plays guitar and sings and Colin plays the drums. Together they make blown-out, blazing songs... John was Fat Possum 's worst employee 3 years ago. He wrote and recorded the whole record himself using just a drumset, a guitar, a USB microphone, a computer, and a shit-load of talent. The songs are about drugs, trying to make it with religious girls , panic attacks, stealing stuff, mild to severe depression, Elvis appearing in your dreams and giving you advice, gravity bongs, and the Devil living inside your brain." - Fat Possum

For his latest creation, visual artist Nash[MONEY] teamed up with Alt. Hip-Hopper [MF] DOOM and iconic sneaker company PUMA . Fresh off the heels of the Air Force 1 "Sneaker Speakers" (Feb. 2011), Nash melded yet another set of rubber soles/soundsystem. - A truly perfect combination for die-hard Hip-Hop/Sneakerheads! Working alongside Metal Fingers himself, Nash managed to wire controls and lights through an over-sized pair of PUMA Suedes . Stylistically, they include some of DOOM 's favourite features: "Shiny silver stuff, comics, villains, red LED's, Geometry, gems, rubies, Sci-Fi, gadgets, modern architecture, and metal shit." The release of the PUMA Suede "Sneaker Speakers " was set up as to coincide with the latest issue of Sneaker Freaker (magazine). The Online Edition of Issue #21 includes further detailed images and additional information on the converted sneakers. Pick up a physical copy of Issue #21 over here , for the reasona

" THE L.A.S.E.R.S. MANIFESTO: To Every Man, Woman & Child... 1. We Want An End To The Glamorization Of Negativity In The Media. 2. We Want An End To Status Symbols Dictating Our Worth As Individuals. 3. We Want A Meaningful And Universal Education System. 4. We Want Substance In The Place Of Popularity. 5. We Will Not Compromise Who We Are To Be Accepted By The Crowd. 6. We Want The Invisible Walls That Separate By Wealth, Race & Class To Be Torn Down. 7. We Want To Think Our Own Thoughts. 8. We Will Be Responsible For Our Environment. 9. We Want Clarity & Truth From Our Elected Officials Or They Should Move Aside. 10. We Want Love, Not Lies. 11. We Want An End To All Wars. Foreign & Domestic (Violence). 12. We Want An End To The Processed Culture Of Exploitation, Over-Consumption & Waste. 13. We Want Knowledge, Understanding & Peace. 14. WE WILL NOT LOSE BECAUSE WE ARE NOT LOSERS, WE ARE L.A.S.E.R.S.!!! L.A.S.E.R.S. are the opposite of losers. L.A.S.E.R.S.

Erykah Badu/Suicidal Tendencies session bassist, Steve "Thundercat" Bruner is FINALLY breaking out on his own; Thundercat 's debut solo release, Golden Age of Apocalypse was produced entirely by Flying Lotus ... and will be issued later this Summer by way of FlyLo 's record label, Brainfeeder . "For Love I Come," a George Duke cover, marks the first single released from the collection. Jeff Weiss @ Passion of the Weiss quite fittingly describes the track as, "Somewhere between Cosmogramma , classic Alice Coltrane , and Teebs... Breathtaking, beautiful, blah, blah blah." Thundercat - "For Love I Come" Aside from his work on Cosmogramma and New Amerykah, Part 2: Return of The Ankh (2010), Bruner has also lent his bass-playing/writing talents to Shafiq Husayn (Sa-Ra Creative Partners), Bilal, M.I.A. , and Andreya Triana's respective projects. Check out another "leaked" Golden Age of Apocalypse track, "Thunderca

Beyoncé 's most recent effort, "4" (June 28 - Columbia Records ), was said to have been structured in a way that would showcase her diverse personal music tastes. From the looks of the rough list of collaborators [Producers: Frank Ocean, Derek Miller, Diplo/Switch , Q-Tip, and Kanye]... Miss Knowles ' "Most Frequently Played Artists" playlist includes the likes of: Major Lazer , Florence + The Machine, Sleigh Bells , Bon Iver, and Odd Future . Sia, Babyface , Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, The-Dream , Bangladesh, and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins also reportedly contributed to the album sessions. Single #1, "Girls (Who Run the World)" heavily draws from Dilpo & Switch 's passion project, Major Lazer ... More specifically, their 2009 track, "Pon de Floor" [-feat. Vybz Kartel] from debut long-player, Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do . With that said, Beyoncé 's take seemlessly melds Hip-Hop, Dancehall,

For this latest edition, Bruton Strouble profiles American Classic Barbershop - A bona fide, modern take on first-rate "Old School" establishments. Based out of St. Louis, Missouri , the shop has seen a recent spike in business, as a result of current 1930's-60's -centric TV series like Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men ... Shop owner, Dave Devine discusses the overall air of the traditional barbershop, technique(s), the dos and don'ts of straight razor shaving, memorable clientele [war] stories, and common successes/failures. American Classic Barbershop is located directly @ 5419 Chippewa Street, Saint Louis, MO 63109-1635... (314)-351-5993 . If you're ever in the area, stop by for a shave and a cold one! Help keep the true American classics alive!

While keeping up with the running "family" theme of their most recent album ( The Family Sign ), Atmosphere & MTV Buzzworthy Present... "She's Enough." The Dave Wilson -directed clip starts off in the with Slug dropping his son, Ben off at grade school. Right off the bat, while his teacher is preoccupied with a lesson about slugs and ants * ... Ben sticks a piece of gum in his classmate, Aria 's hair. He continues to "Josh" her throughout the course of the day... Scribbling on her drawing, ruining Gym and Lunch, terrorizing her Teddy Bear collection, and throwing pudding in her hair. Even still, at the day's end, Aria kisses Ben on the cheek. An awkward conversation between Slug and Ben follows the next morning. Cameo appearances come from Keyboardist Erick Anderson (Aria's dad) and label-mate, Brother Ali (Lunchlady). Shouts due to my friend Danielle ... AKA: "Lemmy Kill-Mistress," for making me [re-]aware of thi

"Hey, so here is a video that maybe explains a bit more of our motivations... In a clear and non-judgmental way. We really are mostly all being completely serious during this, it's kind of like a "Kayfabe moment" (or whatever), seeing as how the musical thing is mostly LEGIT. But it's the entire band identity up to this point [that] has been the actual thing that's needed clarification. But that will be for another time." - Mike Haliechuk/10,000 Marbles (AKA: "HIDDENWORLD" @ Looking for Gold ) Fucked Up 's "Rock Opera," David Comes to Life , is out June 6th (United Kingdom) and June 7th (America) by way of Matador Records .

" ALEC BALDWIN IS A DIE-HARD YANKEES FAN, [WHILE] JOHN KRASINSKI PLEDGES HIS ALLEGIANCE TO RED SOX NATION ... WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON? VOTE @ FACEBOOK/ NEW ERA CAPS . PICK A TEAM AND SHOW YOUR FRIENDS WHICH FLAG YOU'RE FLYING FOR THE 2011 [MLB] SEASON! " 16,616-15,614 @ 5:00PM, May 17th . Head on over to Canadian Business to check out Jeff Beer 's article on the series, along with a Guy Barnett (The Brooklyn Brothers) interview. Beer points out that there are 3 more Baldwin/Krasinski Episodes to come... One for every Yankees vs. Red Sox series this season.

Random Axe - "The Hex"

Before recently testing the "solo waters," Virginia Beach 's favourite rapping brothers Clipse released 3 acclaimed albums, about 5 official mixtapes, and 1 shelved Elektra album (1999). Highlighted in this post, is "Wamp Wamp (What It Do?)" - The second single from Clipse 's middle album. Hell Hath No Fury was produced by The Neptunes (Pharrell) ... and this particular track featured guest verses from Houston 's very own Slim Thug . After the release and promotion of Til the Casket Drops (2009-10), the brothers decided to take some time off to work on individual projects. In 2011, Pusha T and Malice both unleashed their assorted solo efforts. Pusha T signed to Kanye 's G.O.O.D. Music , appeared on Mr. West's 2010 Album #5/ "G.O.O.D. Fridays" series, and released a mixtape - Fear of God . It has since produced related videos for "Cook It Down," "My God," "Can I Live?," and most recently "Open

#Featured Soundtrack : Grateful Dead - "Don't Ease Me In" (1980)

Right around the time of its [her] Winter 2009 inception, viral muse "iamamiwhoami" was Speculated to be the new alter-ego of Popular songstresses like Christina Aguilera , Lady GaGa , and Lykke Li . When the artist responsible for the handful of mysteriously creepy videos was revealed to be none of the above... But in fact Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee and musician/producer Claes Björklund , the Internet went a frenzy. Following the release(s) of a string of numerically coded "[animal] teaser clips," a set of legit [lettered] songs was slowly unleashed. Throughout the course of 2010, "b," "o," "u," "u-1," "n," "t," "u-1," and "y" were subsequently released as Amazon/iTunes singles. Internet-savvy fans should be able to locate an unofficial EP compilation of the tracks and their companion remixes - "To Whom It May Concern." Upon closer inspection, it becomes appar