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Showing posts from February, 2016

Mystic Sons Presents: Australia's "Answer" to Bon Iver, Hayden Calnin Readies Sprawling 10-track Debut, Cut Love Pt. 1 (independent release)

" Cut Love Pt. 1 is a conceptual bunch of songs, which should be taken on as a journey. This is not a pop record, so don't expect bangerzzz or much adhering to standard song structure. It's weird, but I like weird. I wanted to make something that was 100% me and the result is something I am really proud of. I recorded [Cut Love] Pt. 1 all at home in my studio and it's taken me a lot of time to get it finished, and I'm so excited to share it with you all. I have so many people to thank, but above all, this record wouldn't have been possible without all of your support and believing in what I create. So, thank you! I'll be posting some more on it tonight to give you a little more insight, but I really just wanted to let everyone know that I've put everything I have into this record, and to not go into listening to it with any expectations, and just let it translate to you as it does naturally. Some of you may love it, others may hate it, but all in all

Cults Frontwoman Madeline Follin Forms Electronically-driven FOLLIN with Brother Richie James; Unleashes "Roxy" Ahead of 2-track Father/Daughter EP (DJ Zane Lowe Premier)

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

Titus Andronucus & The Hold Steady Frontman Craig Finn Cover Each Other's "No Future(s)" for No Faith / No Future / No Problem (Digital Split)

No Faith / No Future / No Problem by Titus Andronicus / Craig Finn It almost seems as though New Jersey 's own pride and joy Titus Andronicus have been on a Bob Dylan 's Never Ending Tour -evocative cross-country jaunt in support of their critically-acclaimed Punk Rock Opera , The Most Lamentable Tragedy , onto which they've just added some sprawling 42 additional dates through May 30th with The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn and La Sera ; "with the hotly anticipated "No Faith / No Future / No Problem" American Tour kicking off in just one week, peerless rock band Titus Andronicus and luminous singer-songwriter Craig Finn are ready to take their friendship to the next level," reads a recently published post to Titus Andronicus' own web-headquarters. "It is in that spirit of love and sharing that they make available today, for streaming and free download , a digital split single of mutual covers, celebrating the imminent tour and the two

The Witzard's Week In Rap: "Excellent Rapping" from Kendrick Lamar, ANTWON, Aesop Rock, Meyhem Lauren, Travis Barker & Yelawolf (February 15-19th Ed.)

"I gave that lil' cockroach life, and he blasted me / N****s made all those memes, and they laughed at me... He's got 11 GRAMMY nominations, y'all not equal / Maaaan, f__k these white people / My grandma died at 82, scrubbin' floors / and n****s still runnin' 'round beggin' for awards," Jay Electronica ferociously rhymed on "The Curse of Mayweather" Monday; nearly an entire verse-worth of disses aimed at his one-time "Control" collaborator, Kendrick Lamar . Although, President Obama 's favorite emcee didn't seem to let Electronica's claims faze him, as he ended up winning five of 11 GRAMMY awards that very same night. I think it's pretty safe to say Kendrick effectively stole the show with his jarring live performance of "The Blacker The Berry/Alright/Untitled III," which juxtaposed he and a spirited Jazz band amidst an all-too realistic prison backdrop and a bonfire-lit African tribe scenari

Mass Appeal Records & PayJay Proudly Present: J Dilla's Long-lost 2002 MCA Vocal Album, THE DIARY Produced By Madlib, Pete Rock, Hi-tek, Nottz, House Shoes, Supa Dave West, Bink!, ?uestlove & Karriem Riggins (Formerly "Pay Jay")

" Dilla spent the better part of 2002 working on an album for MCA that featured his rapping over contributions from other producers with whom he had connected and whose music he respected. At the time, he was known primarily for his beats, yet reviled for his [emceeing] by mist anyone not from his hometown of Detroit . The project was to be an intentional freak of the industry," Chicago writer and film-maker Ronnie Reese wrote within his liner notes accompanying Stones Throw 's 2007 expanded re-issue of Ruff Draft EP . J Dilla 's ultimately scrapped and indefinitely shelved '02 MCA Album , or "Pay Jay," as it's long been referred, was recorded between his widely underrated BBE solo debut Welcome 2 Detroit and adventurous stylistic shift that materialized across Ruff Draft EP during his relocation from Detroit to LA . " Dilla had agreed to a one-year contract on MCA with an option for a second, provided he produced two accepted releas

The Rise & Fall of Kanye West: The Witzard's Early Review of Kanye's "Worst Album" of His Career, The Life of Pablo (Not-so-G.O.O.D. Music)

"There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or fame... but if you just focus on the work and you don't let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going, you'll look back and know that it was you," Taylor Swift passionately proclaimed Monday night whilst accepting her Album of The Year GRAMMY ; an apparent rebuttal to long-time frenemy Kanye West's exceedingly distasteful claims that he "made that b*tch famous" and that "[he] and Taylor might still have sex," lines which he previously proclaimed to be Kim & Taylor -approved. Let me first, preface this by saying that I've been a Kanye fan ever since "Through The Wire" and The College Dropout , although, I don't exactly agree with his latest burst of social media over-activity and apparent mental breakdown ... relentlessly bashing poor Taylor Swift , begging Mark Zuc

Egon's Now-Again Reserve: Paternoster "Cultural & Business Liaison" Stephan Szillus Reveals The Cross-continental Journey Behind Tracking Down Frontman Franz Wippel & Son of Bassist Haimo Wisser (The Witzard Interview)

"The venerable Austrian rock-scribe Johan "Hans" Pokora was the most welcoming–he, through his Record Collectors' Dreams books, had first canonized Paternoster, bestowing upon the album his highest honor of six-stars (the rarest of rare records) and also placing next to it his "symbol-of-music" ... He had kept two copies of the album–one with a proto-type, hand-colored cover–and he traded the other to me. That kickstarted this re-issue, as I put out a call to find someone–anyone–who could put me in touch with any of Paternoster's principal members. Stephan Szillus, a German journalist with a Hip-Hop background but with a worldly score, heeded the call and found Franz Wippel," Now-Again Records founder Egon wrote within his extensive 65-page Paternoster re-issue liner notes; referencing a fateful 2014 Instagram post that started a cross-continental journey to track down the long-lost makers of a fabled album that's been compared to everyone fro

Your Love Is Like a Rollercoaster, Baby, Baby: Death Grips Unleash Pummeling, Brain-melting Bottomless Pit Comeback Single, "Hot Head" On The Eve of Superbowl 50 (Thirdworlds)

"WE ARE NOW AT OUR BEST AND SO DEATH GRIPS IS OVER. WE HAVE OFFICIALLY STOPPED. ALL CURRENTLY SCHEDULED LIVE DATES ARE [CANCELLED]. OUR UPCOMING DOUBLE ALBUM THE POWERS THAT B WILL BE DELIVERED WORLDWIDE LATER THIS YEAR VIA HARVEST/THIRDWORLD RECORDS . DEATH GRIPS WAS ALWAYS HAS BEEN A CONCEPTUAL ART EXHIBITION ANCHORED BY SOUND [AND] VISION. ABOVE AND BEYOND A "BAND." TO OUR TRUEST FANS PLEASE STAY [LEGEND]," Death Grips wrote within a seemingly haphazard napkin-scrawled band break-up note uploaded to their Facebook page back in July 2014. Although, it now seems as though said disbandment was nothing more than an elaborately planned rouse, as founding members MC Ride, Zach Hill & Flatlander are amidst a full-fledged band reunion; having already circled the world once around, booked a number of festival dates for this upcoming summer, and are currently recording a proper follow-up to their reported "last" album, The Powers That B , tentativel

Asher Roth & Nottz Raw Enlist Blink-182 Drummer Travis Barker for Self-described "Supercalifragilistic-mystic Odyssey," RAWTHER EP (RetroHash)

" Ash Roth, Trav Bark, Nottz Raw ... supercalifragilistic-mystic odyssey / When Travis hits the crashing kick and Nottz is on the beat / When Ash is spittin' nasty sh*t, it makes it hard to breathe / Masters of the craft, it's the last of a dying breed," Asher Roth ferociously rhymes during his introductory "Goin' Down" verse on his latest cleverly-titled Travis Barker and Nottz Raw -assisted release, RAWTHER EP . Roth's newest Punk Rock -tinged extended player has seemingly been in-the-works since he, Nottz , and Barker first met during their concert-opening stint on Blink-182 's 2009 "One Way to Bonerville" reunion tour, which in turn, helped spawn a plentiful working relationship, as well as Travis Barker 's "Sour Patch Kids" Remix from his remarkable mid-album cycle mixtape, Seared Foie Gras with Quince & Cranberry . RAWTHER is of course, the unofficial follow-up to Asher & Nottz 's Misfits and J

"Come to 42nd Street and hear a man in the subway play "Hotline Bling" on trombone;" Your Old Droog & Marco Polo Effortlessly Flip Nu Shooz's "I Can't Wait" Into "42 (Forty Deuce)"

"[ "42" is] a song that's literally been in-the-making for over a decade. Wanted to flip this sample since '05 and I finally brought it to a producer and got the job done," Ukrainian-American rapper Your Old Droog , who was widely speculated to be Nas alias at first, recently told Complex upon the premier of his "42 (Forty Deuce)" music video. It was produced by Marco Polo and Droog himself, who together, somehow managed to expertly flip a sample of Nu Shooz 's 1984 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart No.1, "I Can't Wait." "42" was proceeded by its frenzied @CLEOFUS -designed single artwork about two weeks prior, which featured Your Old Droog front and center in an Elmo costume surrounded by a bunch of eclectic New Yorkers , but now, along with his Jonah Schwartz -directed video, makes a lot more sense in retrospect. "It's about a special place that I really used to frequent back in the days. The vi