Height Keech, Drew Scott, Ray Strife & Lt Headtrip Play Vans_Westly's "QUILLS RELEASE PARTY" On The Eve of Nelwayne & Scott-produced Quills EP (The Windup Space)

I was attending a wedding reception here in South Jersey at The Little Red Schoolhouse this past weekend with my fiancé, when I received a Tweet from @DrewciferScott tagging me in a previous Tweet from @Vans_Westly, which simply read: "Yo, I really want someone to review Quills." Westly was of course, referring to his latest Quills EP, which was completed and released just in time for his Quills Release Party this past Saturday, June 24th at Baltimore's The Windup Space with "special guests" Height Keech, Drew Scott, Raymond Strife, and Lt. Headtrip—nearly all of whom I've previously worked with and covered here at The Witzard. Drew Scott, who produced "Spring Sh*t" on Quills, road tested a few new tunes from his upcoming "weirdo Psych-Pop EP," which soon after The Windup Space show, he said "felt real sexy and pathetic;" in addition to Vans_Westly's Quills EP, Scott also released a long-in-the-works remix of headliner Height's "Amazing Spiral" from his recent album, MIND MOVES THE MOUNTAIN. Quills EP was entirely produced by fellow Baltimore-based Producer // Musician // Visual Artists Nelwayne (aside from Drew Scott's contribution) and vaguely reminds me of Stones Throw's early 2000's output, such as Quasimoto AKA Madlib's The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, DOOM & Madlib's MADVILLAINY, Jaylib's Champion Sound, and even J Dilla's magnum opus, Donuts. Drew Scott additionally lent his hand on the mixing/mastering end of Quills EP in post-production, as well

Long story, short... I spoke with Vans_Westly following our Saturday afternoon wedding reception, as well as throughout the weekend and he was kind enough to provide this statement on his Quills EP: "Well, I made the cover like six months ago in Hawaii, but only started working on the music about three months ago. I think I've found my rhythm with this EP and although I didn't come into it with a purpose, it became a weirdly personal project... I like [to] think, when referring to arrows in the [Quills] EP, it's actually internal or external struggles I face/see people face in my life. Although, that's probably me just being pretentious lol... I got diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder like the end of last year, so this whole year I been struggling with that and the effort it takes to try and make it work. The EP for me is kinda a weird reflection of all that." Vans_Westly additionally readily cited Morrissey, The Smiths, and "Dropout Bear" Kanye as his greatest sources of inspiration and influence while creating Quills EP. Quills is Vans_Westly's second project released on Bandcamp, after last year's Re-Reading Texts at 3am EP and third overall, if you count his 2013 DatPiff EP, Barefoot . In . Baltimore. Westly easily had one of the strongest verses, in my humble opinion, on fellow Baltimorean Drew Scott's recent album, ILL VESSEL, which can be heard on "Signals." Vans_Westly's 6-track Quills EP is currently available for an extremely reasonable "$4 USD or more" (Name-Your-Price) on his Bandcamp page.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel

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