The Witzard

"We’ve always had this really jammy, high-energy live show compared to some of our records. We all love to dance. We didn’t want to take away from the emotion or the core feeling of what our band is all about—which I don’t even think we could take out if we wanted, because it is who we are—but we wanted to bump the speed up and have a little bit more fun," Warpaint vocalist and guitarist Emily Kokal explained within a statement concerning their self-titled album follow-up, Heads Up . Since releasing critically-acclaimed Warpaint (2014), Jenny Lee Lindberg quietly released a 2015 solo album right on! , as jennylee ; Theresa Wayman issued material as BOSS on producer Mr. Dan 's Speedy Wunderground imprint; drummer Stella Mozgawa played on Kurt Vile 's 2015 efforts, b'lieve i'm goin down... and Spotify Sessions EP ; Kokal worked alongside NIN affiliate Saul Williams on his politically-charged "Burundi," as well as "Wishing Song" ...

Barcelona -based Latin Alternative producer Pablo Diaz-Reixa 's 2010 Young Turks/XL album under his El Guincho guise is easily a shimmering David Bowie & Michael Jackson -influenced Spanish -language Psych-Pop masterpiece. I've been (im)patiently awaiting Diaz-Reixa's proper follow-up to his nearly flawless Pop Negro for a solid year or so and now, it seems like he's finally readied his fourth album, Hiperasia for a digital release February 12th and a physical release a mere month later on March 11th. For those not exactly familiar with El Guincho 's frenzied sample-laden output, it sounds like something similar to Vampire Weekend 's Paul Simon Graceland -influenced "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" era material, which has additionally been described as Tropicália , Psych-Pop, and "Space-Age Exotica" stylized rhythms. Formerly the drummer for seemingly defunct Experimental-Batucada group Coconot , Pablo Diaz-Reixa has released three a...

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...

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 ....

Death Grips have always been a band to defy convention; whether it be signing with a major label Epic deal and ultimately getting dropped for leaking private emails, self-releasing not one, but three full-length albums (one complete with dick pic cover art), cancelling an entire 2012 tour to record without informing nay of the pre-booked venues, and working on a mysterious [probably fake] short film with Robert Pattinson & Colin Hanks . Just last night, Death Grips posted a message scrawled across a napkin on their Facebook page, which reads: "We are now at our best and so Death Grips is over. We have officially stopped. All currently scheduled live dates are canceled. Our upcoming double album "the powers that b" will still be delivered worldwide later this year via Harvest/Third Worlds Records . Death Grips was and always has been a conceptual art exhibition anchored by sound and vision. Above and beyond a "band." To our truest fans, please stay l...

"this is "n**gas on the moon," featuring björk on all 8 tracks. it is the first installment of our new double album, "the powers that b," due out later this year on Harvest/Third Worlds Records . the second disc is titled "jenny death,"' Death Grips wrote along with eight newly-released YouTube audio streams uploaded on Sunday around 12 midnight. While little else is known about n**gas on the moon , a couple days later, Björk did in fact confirm that she appears on the mini-album and that she's thrilled to be Death Grips' latest "found object," which I'd assume would basically mean that they used chopped and sampled vocal fragments. It's their third consecutive album meticulously "leaked" online in such a manner; n**gas on the moon was preceded by their November free album Government Plates and infamous Epic Records contract-infringing dick pic album, No Love Deep Web . Björk 's nearly unmistake...

While Alec Baldwin 's first major post- 30 Rock endeavor, "Here's The Thing" only has about 4,000+ Facebook Likes , Baldwin's still been able to book some pretty A-List-worthy celebrity talent for his bi-monthly podcast series: Brian Williams , Lena Dunham (Girls), Billy Joel , Judd Apatow, Andrew McCarthy , Fred Armisen, and most recently, Thom Yorke . Randomly littered with mid-conversation Capitol One drops, Baldwin's latest podcast is a rare sit-down with a mysterious an who really doesn't give a lot of interviews; Alec Baldwin & Thom Yorke 's nearly hour-long conversation covers everything from getting impromptu singing lessons from Björk and Micahel Stipe (R.E.M.), computer-based recording techniques, just being able to email guys like Flea to join a band, etc. Here's a choice quote pulled from their "Here's The Thing" interview: "I got Ed [O'Brien] because he was dressed like Morrissey and he had some ...

Man, Death Grips had one Hell of a 2012: signing and ultimately getting dropped from Epic Records , released 2 full-length albums, made an interactive "I've Seen Footage" video for MTV , teamed up with Galen Pehrson/MOCA for an art project, leaked a few private e-mails, etc. Despite [or maybe because of] all the controversy, The Money Store and NO LOVE DEEP WEB are definitely worth a couple highly attentive, aggression-filled listens. Looks like Zach Hill & MC Ride decided to start 2013 with an Internet -shaking BANG... "Come up and get me" (short film). It's a 13-minute black-and-white, 3/4's silent film/music video clip that was filmed @ Hollywood 's infamous Chateau Marmont . "Come up and get me" 's hard-hitting audio track doesn't even kick in til around 9 minutes deep and the rest stars Stefan Burnett [Ride] as a "leading man," of sorts. Hill & Burnett filmed a bunch of self-directed footage whil...

Love This Giant , the long-rumored brass-based collaborative album from St. Vincent (Annie Clark) and former Talking Heads frontman, David Byrne is finally slated for a September 11th release on 4AD/Todo Mundo . Having randomly met @ a 2009 Dirty Projectors & Björk benefit show... Clark and Byrne were later approached to orchestrate a similar concert for Housing Works , to which David Byrne adamantly replied, "Why don't we [just] go ahead and record these and make it an album!?" After roughly 2 1/2 years of tinkering between their own solo albums, Love This Giant is finally good and ready for a wide-spread unveiling. Material was jointly co-written/recorded by both St. Vincent & David Byrne , with production assistance from John Congleton , and horn-aided backing from The Dap-Kings AND Antibalas . The album will be composed of 12 original tracks and accompanied by a Fall mini-tour spanning across the United States and Canada . First single, "Who?...