The Witzard

"Rucksack Records is a new label founded by The Find Mag. The tagline is "LOOKING BACK, THINKING FORWARD," meaning a focus on progression in beat-making while, also, giving an ode to the past. I've decided to start it because I want to support producers who take things a step further; who dare to push boundaries. Think of beat-makers who, also, do (Jazz) instrumentation, for example. I guess, beats are the core of it all, but to put it in a broader perspective: Rucksack Records is all about Hip-Hop, Jazz, and beats. I [bet you'll] think, "why not The Find Records?" That's a deliberate choice. I want The Find Mag to remain the independent editorial music platform it is, to protect it from becoming a "label promo machine." [They're] definitely going to be closely related to each other, but I, also, wanted to start something fresh, which, over time can, maybe, even venture into musical directions further from The Find's identity. W

CREDIT: Mark Marfa Capodanno (Fat Wreck Chords) Detroit-based Ska Punks The Suicide Machines were initially active for 15 years from 1991-2006 and remained disbanded for about three years before reuniting in 2009. They've been actively playing "reunion" shows ever since and at a gig with The Code in May 2018, announced they were currently working on a new record. "In December 2019, Fat Mike dropped a list of albums that were coming out in 2020. One of them was The Suicide Machines and today, we finally get to unveil the details!" read an exclamatory press release from Fat Wreck Chords . Said Suicide Machines album, Revolution Spring , has a street date of Friday, March 27, 2020 and yesterday, we were unexpectedly treated to its lead-off single, "Awkward Always." Revolution Spring was recorded in "about 12 days" at Recordo Rancho , a studio run by Marc Jacob Hudson , who currently plays bass for Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mo

Saudade is a music collective from THolyGhost consisting of Chuck Doom , Dr. Know, Mackie Jayson , John Medeski, Gil Sharone , Robert Thomas, Jr. and David Torn . Together, Saudade 's players have either recorded music or spent time playing with Deftones , Team Sleep, ††† (Crosses,) Bad Brains, Cro-Mags , Marilyn Manson, Medeski, Martin & Wood , David Bowie, Weather Report , Hazen Street, Madball , Palms, The Million Dollar Bashers , and more. Chuck Doom , who, seemingly, spearheads Saudade , by most accounts, is a protégé of legendary Jazzman/bassist, Jaco Pastorius . Saudade have, thus far, collaborated with a slew of part-time members across their releases to date, including Chris Bittner , D. Randall Blythe, Yeti Bones , Frank Maddocks, theOGM , Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Chelsea Wolfe . Saudade , initially, burst onto the scene in 2016 with the release of their debut self-titled single, which featured core members Chino Moreno, Chuck Doom, Dr. Know, John Medes

Durand Jones & The Indications dressed as The Batmen (@voodoonola) 🎃 David Bowie once described his then-new album, Young Americans , as [being] "the definitive Plastic Soul record. It's the squashed remains of ethnic music, as it survives in the age of Muzak, written and sung by a White Limey" within an 1976 Playboy interview. Said terminology was previously used by Paul McCartney to describe The Beatles' 1965 album, Rubber Soul, as well as Bowie's most commercially-successful album, Let's Dance (1983.) David Bowie and producer, Tony Visconti, recorded Young Americans primarily in Philadelphia between August 1974 & January 1975 with a slew of local musicians; this including an early-career Luther Vandross, Sly & The Family Stone drummer Andy Newmark, Carlos Alomar (James Brown, Chuck Berry, Iggy Pop,) and later, John Lennon at secondary sessions in New York. "Young Americans," actually, interpolates the Lennon-sung line, "I

We've been repping Jumbled AKA John Bachman here at The Witzard ever since his 2018 release, [I wish it was longer] or simply, WIWL . Self-described as "somewhere between Madlib & Mike Watt," the teacher, husband, father, beat-maker, dish-washer has been nothing short of productive these last four years. Bachman is a huge component in both the Baltimore and East Coast Hip-Hop music scenes and has, personally, been a great ally here at The Witzard. Jumbled has released action shots ep, The Ghost of Len Bias with UllNevaNo , THE INSULT with Dwell as Bully Preston, Merry Christmess, YOU DON'T KNOW?!, You Best Not Miss with Lace Berriez , Padre, and August Heat all on his own imprint, Harford & Reckord Tapes since WIWL . His latest effort, ORSULAK , definitely doesn't disappoint either; here, Jumbled has joined forces once more with his long-time friend and collaborator, Eben Dennis , for something that's a little more Mike Watt-leaning than his t

CREDIT: Ivan Scruby/NOBL (@noblphotos) Total Nonstop Action by The M-Tet "Growth is a slippery slope for musicians. Once you've become established for a sound and style, the expectation to adhere to what put you where you are looms overhead at every writing session, rehearsal, and show. Purists for Meters-style Funk would, probably, scoff at a band suddenly rolling out Yamaha DX-7's and double-neck guitars, no matter how stank the groove. But, then, there's the musician's inner itch for exploration, experimentation, and expansion that keeps the process that much more exciting at a time where most of us won't reach higher tax brackets through music. The incentive to keep going is growth. But, perhaps, the most difficult feat is straddling the line—to grow and build upon a trademark sound while managing to not alienate a core audience. Bay Area Funk quartet, The M-Tet, manage to pull off the ever elusive Option C on their sophomore long-player, TOTAL NONSTOP A

"SUNNY & SHARY Beach Umbrella Rental" (Artist Unknown) Chris Shary is a Descendents/ALL -affiliated artist, drama teacher, father, husband, dork, and self-described "Grade "A" [Certified] smarta$$." Shary has been scribblin' pictures of mostly Punk bands ever since 1988 and had a short-lived music career himself; making records with his own bands, Evel Knievel Rice, Pilot Car , and Sizewell , as well as performing back-up vocals on 7Seconds' Leave A Light On and Down By Law 's Blue. While most well-known for his work with Descendents/ALL , Chris Shary has created album artwork, T-shirts, concert flyers, etc. for blink-182 , The Dead Milkmen, The Dickies , FIELD DAY (ex-Dag Nasty,) The Germs , Good Riddance, The Queers , Redd Kross, Rise Against , and Teenage Bottlerockets. Chris Shary designed the artwork for Descendents' Cool to Be You, Hypercaffium Spazzinate, SpazzHazard 12-inch EP, and and "Feel This" 7-inch flexi

Nothing by Ghouli Ghouli are a macabre-inspired Richmond, Virginia-based Hardcore Punk band, who just released their debut EP, NOTHING , earlier this morning. We, actually, first learned about Ghouli last week, when Stereogum Senior Editor, Tom Breihan , posted the first installment of his new Let The Roundup Begin: The Month In Hardcore - January 2020 column. Ghouli hail from an area that boasts a decades-long pedigree of great Punk/Hardcore bands, which includes newcomers One Step Closer, CANDY, Break Away, NOSEBLEED, Division of Mind, Red Vision, and Left Cross. Ghouli were formed in early 2018 and their current line-up consists of frontwoman Sam Poe , guitarist Mikey Kent , bassist Ethan Mackenzie , and drummer Eric Kelly , including former members of Hold Tight, Radio Reds, and Teen Death. Mikey Kent recently told The Witzard, via email, that Ghouli are "heavily influenced by 80's Hardcore bands, like T.S.O.L. & Poison Idea, old school Death Rock, like Chri

The Mr. T Experience (oftentimes, abbreviated as "MTX" ) are a long-standing Punk Rock/Pop-Punk establishment hailing from Berkeley, California. MTX have been active ever since 1985 and are a product of the same local "scene" as The Donnas/Electrocutes, Green Day, Jawbreaker, NOFX, Operation Ivy, Rancid, and Tilt. They, also, share stylistic similarities with other bands not native to The Bay Area, who are, often, closely associated with this movement, such as The Queers, Screeching Weasel, and The Groovie Ghoulies. MTX 's unique sound is, additionally, characterized by a heavy Ramones-ian influence and they even went as far as to cover 1978's Road to Ruin in full, as part of Selfless/Clearview Records' Ramones Covers Album Series. MTX were mainstays at iconic Punk/Hardcore club, 924 Gilman Street/Gilman during the 1990-2000's and were signed to Lookout! Records 'til about 2004. The Mr. T Experience 's current line-up consists of "D

CREDIT: Lupe Bustos (Big Picture Media) Worcester, Massachusetts-based Melodic Hardcore/Pop-Punk band Four Year Strong have finally returned with the announcement of their long-awaited fifth full-length album BRAIN PAIN, produced by Will Putney. Fans have been eagerly awaiting a proper follow-up to Four Year Strong's self-titled 2015 album, which was "followed-up" by a 2017 Odds & Ends-style compilation called Some of You Will Like This, Some of You Won't. Four Year Strong consists of vocalist/guitarists Dan O'Connor & Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, and drummer Jackson "Jake" Massucco. To be completely honest, I had never heard of Four Year Strong (FYS) 'til the other day, when my buddy at work casually mentioned "Four Year Strong had a new single out;" it soon clicked that I vaguely recognized the name "Four Year Strong" because I had received an email earlier that very same morning from a press agent at Big Picture Media

CREDIT: Atiba Jefferson / Glen E. Friedman (Apple) BEASTIE BOYS BOOK is a phenomenal 571-page historical document and mixed-media hardcover book written by surviving Beasties Michael "Mike D" Diamond & Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz released on SPIEGEL & GRAU in 2018. It was, of course, written following the untimely death of founding Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch on May 4, 2012, now known world-wide as MCA Day, but is without a doubt, a well-written tribute to his life and career. Last year, following widespread critical/fan-acclaim of BEASTIE BOYS BOOK , Mike Diamond & Adam Horovitz went on tour in support of their book somewhat confusingly billed as, "BEASTIE BOYS STORY: A 2 PERSON 1 MAN SHOW ABOUT 3 KIDS WHO STARTED A BAND TOGETHER." It wad directed by long-time collaborator and friend Spike Jonze and appeared to be, by most accounts, something to the effect of a live audio book version of BEASTIE BOYS BOOK. Now, it has been announced t

dubldragon. is a Bay Area, California-based Hip-Hop group consisting of emcee Chad "Skeptik" Porras and producer Dan "Danny G." Gensel . They have affiliations with The Lobetrotters Collective , Full Moon Freakz, and Deep Thinka Records and are currently signed to BRZOWSKI 's imprint, Milled Pavement Records . dubldragon. 's latest album, Macroforms , was released in November 2019 on Milled Pavement . Macroforms has been described as "an examination of man's place (or lack thereof) in the universe. In a digital space, what meaning does physicality have? When man has depleted The Earth entirely, will we have anywhere to ruin next in its place? Where do the divisions lie between, wants, needs, and desires? As unanswerable as it may be, it sure is fun to think about, isn't it?" Skeptik & Danny G. have already released two music videos for "Case" and "The Aleph" from the album. Supposedly, there are, at least, TW

"Rarely, when formulating combinations of musicians you would like to hear play together, do you get to, actually, hear it. If Brian Chippendale & Ty Segall made a record, would you want to hear it? If the answer is "yes," read on. If the answer is "no," it's too bad you ended up canned, suspended in syrup with nothing but other peaches to keep you company. Ty 's 2019 album, First Taste , and the new Lighting Bolt album, Sonic Citadel , are easily some of the best material either entity has ever released; so, if these two happened to find themselves in the same recording studio, a fan just might entertain elevated expectation levels. In fact, some might, actually, show signs of enthusiasm, even excitement at the fact that from July 5-13th, 2018, in the air-conditioning free environs of Ty 's home studio, the duo, eventually, calling themselves Wasted Shirt , wrecked the joint as thoroughly as you hoped they would." "Prepare to

ARTIST CREDIT: MC Blue Matter & Simone Cihlar 2020's most "unlikely" collaborators, Detroit emcee Guilty Simpson and New Zealand-bred producer and multi-instrumentalist Leonard Charles have returned with their second single, "My Inspiration," billed together as The Leonard Simpson Duo . Later this month, they plan to unveil their similarly named full-length debut, LSD on Berlin, Germany-based imprint, Jakarta Records . Last year, just before year's end, The Leonard Simpson Duo burst onto the scene with their Psychedelic/Acid Rock-tinged single, "Nobody," which sampled "Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore" from New Zealand's own Marlon Williams & Aldous Harding. "Nobody" was debuted over at esteemed publication HipHopDX last year, as well as across Jakarta Records' Bandcamp page, along with a full-fledged LSD album announcement. For "My Inspiration," Leonard Charles sampled and, no pun intend

"After years of depriving all of us adoring fans of a live performance, Bracket are finally embarking on a World Tour !!! They are set to hit exotic locales, such as Santa Rosa & San Francisco ... well, that's it, really... but beggars can't be choosers," explained a recent post on Fat Wreck Chords' Facebook page. "For all you disappointed non-Bay Area residents, we've got a little something for you, too. We're rolling out the brand new video for "Forget" from Bracket 's latest full-length, Too Old to Die Young ," their tongue-in-cheek statement continued. Bracket 's first shows in FOUR years will take place on Friday, February 14th and Saturday, February 15th in Santa Rosa, California at Shady Oak Barrell House (A FREE SHOW!) and in San Francisco, California at Thee Parkside , respectively. Bracket 's aforementioned 2019 album, Too Old to Die Young , was their first album issued by NOFX frontman "Fat" M

THE HUSTLE IS REAL is a story about creating your own lane to make money doing what you love and the hustle and grind that goes along with it. "If you have to work, you might as well do what you love." DJ Prestige makes a living as a DJ spinning 7-inch 45 RMP vinyl records. He's, also, a freelance writer, graphic designer, and champion of all things vinyl. "I'm really a working-class DJ." His lane is music that has soul, music that moves you. Funk, Jazz, Soul, Hip-Hop, Latin, Disco, and more are what he delivers at his DJ night. Whether it's in the lobby of the ACE Hotel in NYC, The SHAKE Party in Brooklyn, behind the decks at various venues on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ, or as a guest DJ at Boston's SOULELUJAH, Prestige is known for his impeccable selection that controls the vibe and moves the dance floor. "90% of what I play, people don't know, but, they get down and dance anyway because it's good music. It's the be

The Drowns are a Punk/Hardcore-leaning Rock "N" Roll band hailing from Seattle, Washington. The Drowns' core line-up consists of both current and former members of The Briggs , Coyote Bred, Madcap , The Shell Corporation, Success , and Time Again. It's believed The Drowns' players are frontman Aaron "Rev" Peters , bassist/vocalist Andy Wylie , drummer Jake Margolis , and guitarist Jonny Wade . The Drowns have hand-crafted a unique breed of Punk/Hardcore-indebted bare bones Rock "N" Roll akin to Bouncing Souls, C*ck Sparrer, The Gaslight Anthem, Hot Water Music, and Titus Andronicus. The Drowns released their first proper recordings together in 2018 as View from The Bottom on 1984/Live from The Rock Room/Bypolar/Gunner Records. Although, throughout 2019, they seem to have struck up a partnership with Emeryville, California-based imprint, Pirates Press Records ; said label released two 2019 EP's for The Drowns , The Sound 7-inch and a