The Witzard

"What I love about [STEAL] THIS MIXTAPE is that it's a bridge from the mash-ups that we all loved 10 years ago to the modern style of production. Josh [Young] basically grabbed ANY genre of music an threw it all into his blender and what came out is all consistent," Fool's Gold Records founder @atrak ecstatically wrote about self-described "beast known as @yehme2 " during a lengthy Monday afternoon Instagram post. One half of Chicago -based Hip-Hop and EDM -influenced DJ duo FLOSSTRADAMUS supposedly challenged himself to staggering "beat-a-day challenge that would quickly morph into Me2 ," which eventually morphed into the 33-track of a genre-less mega-album that is his System of a Down -referencing STEAL THIS MIXTAPE ; Young's 50-minute debut mixtape somehow manages to effortlessly harvest and re-purpose samples "stolen" from the likes of FLOSSTRADAMUS , newly-freed Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj & Beyoncé , Paul Wall, Missy E...

"So proud of my brother James Blake dropping the bigness tonight... Also, so proud of our song ["I Need a] Forest Fire" came from wonderful accidents and good friendship... James , or Jim as I call him when I'm upset with him, is such a powerful musician; to be like Aaron Neville , AND Aphex [Twin] ?" Bon Iver frontman and frequent James Blake collaborator Justin Vernon (@blobtower) exuberantly Tweeted on the eve of The Colour In Anything . Vernon and Blake previously collaborated on "Fall Creek Boys Choir" from mid-album Enough Thunder EP , although likely first rubbed shoulders due to this singular candid statement: "He's James Blake . Just go listen to his music and say, "hey, that's Kanye 's favorite artist." Justin Vernon contributed crooned backing vocals assists to "MONSTER" and the majority of Kanye 's sprawling magnum opus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , as well as a number of fractured ...

"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...

"We've decided to make a new Death Grips album and it will be called Bottomless Pit ," Death Grips cryptically revealed, as per usual, on their Facebook page Wednesday evening. Founding members Stefan Burnett (better known as MC Ride ), Andy Morin , and Zach Hill have previously grabbed headlines for their frantic, nearly career-ruining antics; rubbing shoulders with Robert Pattinson & Beyoncé , appearing "in a minute" on Rachael Ray thanks to comedian Fred Armisen , releasing one album under Epic Records executive L.A. Reid 's hit-making reign, leaking a set of private emails and ultimately a d*ck-pic-boasting album cover, cancelling a string of dates in support of NIN & Soundgarden , suddenly breaking up via a note scrawled across a dinner napkin , only to "reunite" for a 2-disc album just a few months later, and if you ask me, inadvertently inspired Kanye West 's Aggro-Rap magnum opus Yeezus . Death Grips are for all intens...

Death Grips have somehow already managed to "break up" via a napkin and "reform" in a matter of months, signed an Epic Records deal and purposely leaked private emails to get dropped, posed for a mysterious backstage picture alongside Robert Pattinson & Beyoncé (above), recruited Björk to contribute vocals to Disc 1 of their "comeback" album, The Powers That B , were surprisingly name-dropped on Rachael Ray by comedian Fred Armisen , bailed on a whole string of scheduled shows Axl Rose style, and licensed "You Might Think He Loves You for You Money But I Know What He Really Loves You for and It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" for an Adidas Predator sneaker commercial... so, it would make sense that the newly-reformed Death Grips would need something of a fresh start; long-speculated Death Grips -affiliated Twitter handle @bbpoltergiest shared a cryptic zipfile link to a 9-track album called I've always been good...

BOOTS is just about the only artist I can think of who's single-handedly worked with Beyoncé , modern day Hip-Hop heavy-weights Run The Jewels , and thinly-veiled Australian songstress Sia , yet has somehow still managed to draw comparisons to Acid-Rockers Queens of The Stone Age ; a comparison which @bootsonboots quickly refuted in a seemingly since deleted Tweet , instead likening himself to "future Hendrix/[Black] Sabbath ." Late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, BOOTS played what could quite arguably be billed as his biggest "show" to date — one broadcast to hundreds of thousands of fans scattered across the United States and Canada . Jordan Asher took the Tonight Show stage after "openers" Will Ferrell Little Debbie and Chelsea Peretti to perform a riveting rendition of his latest Motorcycle Jesus EP single, "I Run Roulette." Asher was simply flanked by two righteously pummeling drummers backed by a barrage of str...

" [Jordan Asher] came up with his logo, a horizontal stripe with two verticals, which can look like connected crosses or, people have told him, like "a bridge, train tracks, motorcycle handlebars," he said," laments a recently published New York Times profile centered around Run The Jewels , Beyoncé, and Sia collaborator, Jordan "BOOTS" Asher . "I'm not going to reveal rightly yet what it is. But if it's got you wondering, I'm on the right path;" Asher's purposely vague statements would in fact, then lead me to believe that the title of his recent short film/5-song soundtrack, Motorcycle Jesus , is likely a clever allusion to his sparse cross-handlebars BOOTS imagery. It's the proper follow-up to BOOTS' critically-acclaimed WinterSpringSummerFall mixtape (2014), which @bootsonboots modestly self-describes as: "my objective with this body of work was not to make "rock music." It was to make new mus...

Even though they amicably disbanded back in July, experimental Noise-Rap group, Death Grips still have an as-yet-unreleased double-disc album in their back pocket; part one of the powers that b , eloquently dubbed ni**as on the moon , was released for FREE download online prior to their break-up. " Death Grips just uploaded a video," read a stock YouTube email which suddenly appeared in my Inbox late Tuesday night... " Inanimate Sensation - Disc 2 - Jenny Death from the upcoming double album "The Powers That B,'" it continued. The entirety of "Inanimate Sensation" is strewn across a fallen NBA Jumbo-tron and it was supposedly directed by Death Grips themselves. Its bonkers, unconventional Hip-Hop beat vaguely reminds me of something that could've soundtracked Saturday morning/after school cartoons like The Animaniacs or even Looney Tunes and isn't all that dissimilar from Daft Punk 's now patented brand of Future-Funk ....

It's become something of an annual tradition; every December, Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche picks his favourite year-end track, re-records his own unique version, and sends it over to Stereogum 's headquarters. This yule tide season, he's conjured up a sparse acoustic-laden cover of "Wrecking Ball," effectively eliminating any remaining ounce of TWERKIN', debauchery, and mega-studio sheen. But in it's own right, "Wrecking Ball" is an incredibly well-written, dare I say... modern day power-ballad (for lack of a better term), and maybe Sondre Lerche 's version can help some naive-minded listeners finally see that! In recent years past, Lerche has sent Stereogum staff writers a few interesting Animal Collective , Owen Pallet, and Beyoncé covers. "I had trouble finding [a song] that I felt truly motivated to interpret. So, while "Wrecking Ball" may not be my very favorite song of 2013, it turned out to be ...

" Zach Hill is currently wrapping up a short film he directed with an [original soundtrack] by DEATH GRIPS . The film is entitled Misoneism , is shot entirely in monochrome film, and follows the exploits of a young man forced into the underground prostitution business in Brazil . Starring Robert Pattinson and Colin Hanks , the film hopes to shed light on the matter in a shocking and abrasive way," reads a fragmented chunk of an interesting Pigeons & Planes post uploaded late Thursday afternoon. While a Pitchfork counter-post claims that "there is no short film directed by Zach Hill and starring Robert Pattinson ," let's not forget... we're talkin' about a righteous Proto-Rap band here that's capable of leaking their own album along with private emails, generating countless self-shot music videos, staging elaborate pseudo-shows , and cancelling more tour dates than Axl Rose . Colin Hanks reportedly told Consequence of Sound Thursday ...

"There are milk crates downstairs, if you need to use one MT @justintimberlake Join me & @Target tonight for just one song" aging Indie Rockers Yo La Tengo snarkily Tweeted Wednesday night. For what it's worth, a global super-star like Timberlake really does have ABSOLUTELY NO business playing a one-off corporate-sponsored show at a shitty hole-in-the-wall [albeit closed] NJ Indie Rock venue like Maxwell's ; Justin Timberlake was actually filming an Instagram & Twitter -fied Target commercial for a select 150 lucky fans, which is coincidentally set to dual as a promo for his new clothing line and a secondary "Take Back The Night" music video. Not even 24 hours later, Jay Z and new-found buddy Timberlake unleashed their Anthony Mandler -directed "Holy Grail" visuals, via Facebook . The exclusively-released clip could've very well reached nearly 42 million combined "Friends" by now, which has only recently been re-u...

Once you're able to get past the semi-absurd notion that Jay-Z decided to employ former- N'sync er Justin Timberlake to re-sing some Nirvana lyrics, "And we all just / entertainers / and we're stupid / and contagious," "Holy Grail" is actually a pretty awesome album opener/lead single contender. While Jay-Z & Beyoncé were spotted at a Grizzly Bear show pre- Blueprint 3 and Empire of The Sun frontman Luke Steele actually sang back-up vocals on that very album, it seems as though Beyoncé 's 27-year-old Indie Rock -loving little sister Solange really has quite the influence on Jay-Z 's varied musical tastes; Not only does Magna Carta Holy Grail (MCHG) feature interpolated Nirvana & R.E.M. lyrics, but it also makes use of M.I.A. and Alternative Hip-Hop weirdo Gonjasufi samples, "Bad Girls" and "Nikels and Dimes" respectively. Thanks to Samsung Galaxies , MCHG has already "sold" 1 million+ cop...

Aside from co-headlining Budweiser 's second annual Made In America Festival , Mrs. Carter recorded an interesting new track for what's poised to be one of Summer 2013's biggest blockbusters, The Great Gatsby . While Bryan Ferry Emile Sandé contributed a "Crazy In Love" cover, Beyoncé & André 3000 managed to conjure up their own unique re-make, "Back to Black" (2007). Needless to say, Bey & Dre have TOTALLY flipped Amy Winehouse 's breakout Neo-Soul hit; and from the sounds of this just-released 90-second snippet, "Back to Black" has been effectively turned into a modern day Electro-Funk jam. But with that said, it's pretty damn hard to judge an entire track off a brief 90-second preview! Almost every time André 3000 randomly spits a few sub-par bars like this, it just makes me want that long-rumored OutKast reunion album even more, which I'm beginning to question will ever really see the light of day. Beyo...

Jai Paul is a painfully mysterious British-Indian singer-songwriter/ producer who's really only released 2-3 tracks since signing with XL Recordings in 2010: "BTSTU," "Jasmine," and "Flip Out" (Str8 Outta Mumbai). Paul's forward-thinking brand of Space R&B has been embraced by Drake , Beyoncé, rapper XV , and he even appeared on Big Boi 's recent solo album, Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors . Practically out of nowhere, during Coachella 's weekend-spanning festivities, Jai Paul quietly uploaded his long-rumored self-titled debut album/mixtape to Bandcamp . It's selling for 7 GBP's, which converts to about $10.35 or "Name Your Price" and that gets your a download folder containing 16 untitled tracks. Jai Paul CD-R kinda sounds like a mixed bag full of rough demos, fully fleshed out songs, and random skits; Track titles have been speculated to include "Baby Beats," "A Thousand Light-Years ...

Rather than just issue some dumb, pre-concieved press release/statement, veteran lyrical assassin Jay-Z decided to step into the studio and record a track about his involvement in a few current events. "Open Letter" bravely delves into slightly questionable shit like The Carters vacationing in Cuba (a restricted tourism zone) and having to sell his small fraction of the Brooklyn Nets in order to become a sports agent. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz co-produced the track, which also somehow manages to work in references to Kevin Hart 's infamous "You gon learn t'day" comedy skit and Bob Dylan 's Blood on The Tracks era single, "Idiot Wind" (1975). It's worth noting that Jay-Z most likely isn't working on a new album, cause his hair is pretty shaped up and well-kept ha, which in itself, basically alludes to time NOT spent in-studio. Here's a few well-written bars pulled straight from the painfully short Life + Times -b...

It looks like a Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) remix is most likely the closest Justin Timberlake 's ever gonna get to Indie Rock super-stardom; Besides that time he played Bon Iver on "The Prince Show" alongside in-house SNL Beyoncé & Jay-Z impersonators. The former N'SYNC crooner seems to be focusing on music full force yet again, after a 6+ year-long absence from the music industry. Justin Timberlake hosted/performed on SNL this past Saturday (joining The 5-Timers Club ) and he's guesting on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon all week, shows airing March 11-15th. In what appears to be another act of cleverly-planned promotional, Four Tet 's label-sanctioned "Suit & Tie" remix was mysteriously leaked to The Internet late Sunday night, coincidentally followed up by a superior quality version the next day. UPDATE: It's been brought to my attention that The 20/20 Experience 's complete 70-minute tracklist is now streaming on iTunes...

I first discovered Brooklyn 's premier Indie Rock experimentalists , Dirty Projectors , quite a few years ago; Right around the same time that frontman Dave Longstreth decided to re-record an entire Black Flag record from memory (2007). The band's line-up seems to morph/permeate a little bit with each album and has previously included cats like Angel Deradoorian , Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend), Adam Forkner, and former-drummer Brian McOmber . Dirty Projectors-13 's latest line-up consists of Longstreth, Nat Baldwin, Michael Johnson , and the sultry 3-part harmonies of Amber Coffman/Haley Dekle/ Jenn Wasner Olga Bell . I guess I'd almost describe their overall sound as some sort of post- Destiny's Child R&B crooning. Case in point: "Stillness Is The Move," which Beyoncé 's little sister Solange just so happened to cover, too. I just ordered used copies of Rise Above, Bitte Orca , and Swing Lo Magellan from Amazon and s...

It's not really about Diplo or Zeb Malik , 2 left-field multi-instrumentalists hailing from the heart of Philly . It isn't even about stupid, in-descriptive genre classification(s). It's just "About That Life:" The plain and simple, every day is Saturday type of GOOD SHIT! The Mad Decent labelhead and super-producer who has semi-recently worked with Beyoncé , No Doubt , Usher, and Kid Cudi is finally gearing up to release his long-awaited follow-up LP to Florida (2004). Teaming up with JAHAN LENNON aka Zeb Malik from PO PO fame, who amidst inner-band fighting, have now disbanded after liberating their "debut album," DOPE BOY MAGICK (20012) ... Diplo has self-described "About That Life" as a Psychedelic Southern Gospel jam. Along with "Express Yourself," it'll eventually appear on Diplo 's untitled 2012-13 solo record. Somehow making use of a bunch of instruments that're even pretty "weird" for adv...

Ancient Egypt was quite the area of interest for this guy right here was back in grade school... pyramids, King Tut , mummies, scarabs, The Nile, Spinx , etc. Frank Ocean really seems to share the same mutual admiration for Egypt , as his new 10-minute opus is affectionately titled "Pyramids." Friday [June 9th] was a BIG day for Mr. Ocean! It was later revealed that a mysterious trailer which was leaked in the early morning hours in fact contained both a new track and proper album release date; channel ORANGE , Frank Ocean 's long-awaited debut LP, is finally slated to be unveiled on Def Jam July 17th. John Mayer supposedly managed to string together a guitar solo for "Pyramids'" mid-song tempo/stylistic shift. Fresh off the heels of some Coldplay support dates, Frank Ocean announced his first full-fledged solo tour: Seattle-Chicago , running from July-early August. I guess it's pretty safe to assume that "Thinking About You" will re-...

You said you're looking for artists that embody the American spirit. I've got a guy: He's got a beautiful voice and he sings Al Green songs well. The only problem is that he's super-busy and Donald Trump thinks he was born overseas. [Laughs] "Ah, yeah, THAT guy. I'm gonna try. I'm gonna tell you guys right now: I'm gonna give him a call and I'm gonna try to get him to perform - Do a little rendition of Al Green - but I doubt it. I think that opens up the political season. He'll be so far into helping the world that he probably won't have time, but I'm absolutely going to ask him." - Jay-Z (Rolling Stone)