The Witzard

At this point in time, Jay Electronica and his long-rumored debut album have both become something of an enigma... although, with endless false start-ups and album "announcements," early this morning, 13 years after dropping Act I: Eternal Sunshine (the pledge) Jay Elect has finally dropped his debut album, A Written Testimony. Timothy Elpadaro Thedford or Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah, better known as Jay Electronica, first burst onto the Indie Hip-Hop scene in 2007 with "Act I." As its title suggests, Electronica primarily rhymes over the Jon Brion-scored soundtrack to Jim Carrey's award-winning film Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and features soundbites throughout from Erykah Badu & Just Blaze. Since then, Jay Elect has, technically, only "officially" released a handful of tracks, including, "Exhibit A," "Exhibit C," "Letter to Falon," "Shiny Suit Theory," "A Prayer for Micheal Vick & T.I....

Mydriase LP by VTCN RADIO VTCN RADIO are a Parisian Electronic production duo consisting of Nathan Bokobza & Louis Martinez . Their Five to Six Records -released debut, Mydriase incorporates elements of Experimental , Dubstep, Downtempo , and "Modern Classical" music. " Mydriase is a concept album stemmed from the sonic explorations we led, while trying to find uncanny sounds or textures. We did not bother with genres or format and pushed our own abilities to express complex emotions through Electronic music," VTCN RADIO explained within a recent statement. Louis Martinez & Nathan Bokobza further detailed that each song on Mydriase "represents a different emotional state, while applying the same approach for sound design and composition." Bokobza is a Classically -trained 27-year-old pianist "fascinated by the romantic repertoire and the harmonic research of the impressionists," while Martinez is a guitar player who's "...

" [Class Ring] EP is a fully independent production/release written and produced by myself and a handful of friends. I'm from the Los Angeles area, always made music, mostly was a drummer in bands and within the past couple years, have made the jump from making beats on my laptop to producing my own music and eventually, putting out this project. I definitely have plans to continue working and releasing music. Hopefully, some live shows, if I can book them and get some people that want to listen haha," Class Ring producer and multi-instrumentalist "Spencer" described within a recent emaile. Prior to his very recently released Class Ring EP , Spencer had only uploaded two projects to his newly-formed Soundcloud page: 13-minute Summer Mixtape and "Crafty," both quietly released within the last 1-2 months. Class Ring EP is fittingly tagged on Soundcloud as " Trip Hop , Ambient, Downtempo , Hip Hop, Chillwave , Beats, Sample , Drum & ...

"Part of my goal in writing "Moon Pulls" was to simply just be more honest. I've always been cryptic in my writing; instead of saying what really happened, I would use a metaphor or some type of simile to get the point across. With this track, I wasn't afraid to talk about the intense feelings of lust, love, and confusion I was experiencing. I feel like " Moon Pulls" is a drama condensed into a four-minute, Pop -structured song because it has movements that represent certain moments in time for me and it builds to a climax of myself bluntly asking, "what did I do to deserve you?" When I perform the song live, I always find myself screaming that part—it's such a human experience, being both grateful to have someone, while simultaneously feeling afraid to lose them," Brooklyn -based singer-songwriter and producer Sam Friedman (professionally known as Nerve Leak ) wrote within a recent emailed statement exclusive to The Witzard . W...

"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 ...

Sacramento -based Noise-Rap band Death Grips have had a very tumultuous, to say the least, relationship with the media since their sudden 2010 inception, although the recently "disbanded" and reunited three-piece have been heralded as "the first truly important band of the 21st century;" having direct influence on The Thin White Duke's final album ★ (Blackstar) , Kanye 's Aggro-Rap masterpiece Yeezus , and even Travi$ Scott 's righteous T.I. & Kanye -assisted Rodeo . Death Grips' first post-"breakup" album, Bottomless Pit was unleashed Friday, May 6th at the stroke of midnight, amdist a weekend abuzz with new music and countless headlines from the likes of Radiohead , James Blake, Chance The Rapper , De La Soul, Homeboy Sandman , KAYTRANADA, and Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def . Bottomless Pit was preceded by eventual album tracks "Hot Head," Zane Lowe -debuted "Eh," and non-album "Interview 2016," althou...

It all started about two months ago now, when I received a rather intriguing cold sent email from James Barker at London-based PR company Mystic Sons, which read, "First Listen – New Album from Australia's [Answer to] Bon Iver – Hayden Calnin, Cut Love Pt. 1;" described as a "fantastic artist" whose debut single, "Cut Love," at the time, already garnered 40,000 digi-spins at Hype Machine and had received stylistic comparisons to the likes of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), M83, Dawn Golden, Beach House, and whom, I, myself, immediately likened to Electro-Soul crooner James Blake. "'Cut Love Pt. 1" the album is a testament to Hayden's creative abilities, demonstrating that each track can resemble a new chapter. It is experimental to say the least, but an experiment that certainly works. It's exhilarating, truthful, and vicariously touching," Mystic Sons befittingly wrote within their initial emailed press release. Leading up to Cu...

" 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...

"DROPPING SOME NEW TRACKS IN THE [MORNING] JUST TO SAY, "HEY WE'RE WORKING ON NEW TUNES JUST EXPLORING AND FINDING... THANKS FOR THE LOVE AS ALWAYS," @badbadnotgood cryptically Tweeted late Thursday night; on the heels of their latest impending non-album double-header, "Here and Now" and "Timewave Zero." okayplayer's own skilled wordsmith Michael Eric Gonik fittingly described "Timewave Zero" as a "full-sprint psychedelic jazz & rock romp built over a dizzying shuffle and lurking, murky organs." Gonik then continued to describe the slightly more subdued, college slam poetry bar-leaning "Here and Now" as "[ramping] up the reverie with a sampledelic treatment that could double as a lost Sun-Ra outing with a more straightforward groove." While they've previously reinterpreted everyone from Ol' Dirty Bastard to Kanye 's favorite London -bred crooner James Blake , BBNG 's recen...

"I've always felt like "Life Round Here" wasn't [ever] really finished," lamented English singer-songwriter James Blake during a recent Noisey video-interview with new-found collaborator. Chance The Rapper . Arguably a First Wave Dubstep pioneer, Blake's music almost seems pre-fit for a sharp-tongued young emcee like Chance ; But it doesn't come off in that preconceived, label-suggested, and slapped together kinda way like other recent "crossover" hits (ie: A$AP Rocky & Skrillex ). It's pretty easy to tell that these guys are true admirers of each other's work, who have become fast friends. Fresh off a collaborative track with Lil' Wayne , Chance The Rapper recently revealed to online-magazine XXL that he and Blake met at this past year's SXSW and "kept in touch and started working together on a couple of tracks, including some original material... people seem to like ["Life Round Here"] a lot....

James Blake is a London -based First Wave Dubstep super-producer; one of the genre's originators, before it got all Americanized , club-ready, and alcohol-infused (ie: Skrillex ha). Blake has always kinda seemed like an on-looking Hip-Hop supporter/closet fan... he actually unleashed a series of white label 12" Harmonimix[es] prior to his self-titled debut: Lil' Wayne , Destiny's Child, Snoop Dogg , and handsome hermit D'Angelo. After working with master swordsman RZA on his second album Overgrown , James Blake recently recruited hyper-rhyming Chicago upstart, Chance The Rapper to help remix "Life Round Here." It's supposedly the "first of many songs with @jamesblake ," if Chance The Rapper 's righteous Twitter feed is to be believed; Blake told Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe Tuesday morning that the track was re-recorded post- SXSW and lamented that "[He] never really felt the track was finished; even when it went on the album...

James Blake 's music has always had an underlying, vaguely Hip-Hop feel to it; from his early Harmonimix tracks to his work with Grime rapper, Trim . But now, it seems like Blake is fully embracing his inner beatsmith on his upcoming sophomore album, Overgrown ... having worked with legendary Wu-Tang Clan emcee/producer RZA , sampling Big Boi for a bonus track , and most likely logging some studio time with Kendrick Lamar in the near future. James Blake recently linked up with former R&S Records manager, Dan Foat to form a new imprint, which has been dubbed 1-800-DINOSAUR . Overgrown hits shelves next week, April 8-9th and it will be their second (first major) release. James Blake lamented, "It was like sending it for mastering. It was like, 'Just see what comes back.' [RZA] really nailed it though. I mean, he's obviously a consummate professional. He also did it with such a level of intimacy and sensitivity that I got it back and I got shivers,...

James Blake is basically the "Iggy Pop" of imported First Wave Dubstep , before it got all sugar-coated and mainstream [corny]. While it's a little unclear as to when it was originally stripped down and mixed together, "Confidence Boost" is a James Blake Harmonimix of a track that was first released back on Soulfood, Vol. 2: Lyriks (2007). Blake has brutally remixed Grime emcee Trim 's hard-hitting composition into something completely different... Skrillex could definitely learn a few things! Although, Pitchfork went on to point out that this isn't just a mere remix, it's a newly-recorded, suped-up version. Let's just call it "Confidence Boost (2.0)," for argument's sake and man, this is a CRAZY/cool breed of Hip-Hop that's in a category all of it's own! James Blake is quite arguably the most Soulful white dude in contemporary music since Hall & Oates made their ever-lasting mark on Soft Rock back in the...

It's pretty wild how a forward-thinking Free Jazz group like BADBADNOTGOOD can take something as "played out" [commercial] as Soulja Boy and re-arrange it so FRESH TO DEF! I got a YouTube email alert from BBNG 's channel earlier today, complete with a still video, which was neatly linked directly to their "Pretty Boy Swag" (Remix) . While it's their first LEGIT [un-]official remix, I'd almost have to say, for lack of a better term... that what BADBADNOTGOOD do "on the reg." is already pretty remix/instrumental-rooted. The guys of BBNG really seem to teeter the line between Classic Blues-Jazz textbook knowledge and a keen 1980-2000's Hip-Hop know-how! Chester, Matt & Alex somehow managed to add all sorts of swaying, Jazzy pauses and commas to the now stripped-down "Pretty Boy Swag;" Largely accenting Soulja Boy 's weirdly endearing Ringtone Raps , which I was first turned on to through Girl Talk 's 2006-...

It's fairly safe to assume that by now, most of us have heard about D'Angelo 's well-received European "Comeback Tour" and impending, triumphant return after a 12-year self-imposed exile. This is your typical quick rise, great success... EPIC fall, drug problem, arrest(s), companion rumor mill, and long-awaited comeback story. I faintly can remember watching "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" on either MTV or The Box back in like 7-8th grade and not really knowing what to think. It was a suggestive music video which had potential to be pretty "scarring," but look how I turned out: Well-grounded and open-minded nonetheless ha. I can quite honestly say that D'Angelo was my first favourite R&B crooner ! Arguably the break-out "King of Dubstep" (2010-11), James Blake is roughly the same age as me and I bet he saw D'Angelo 's batch of Brown Sugar-Voodoo era music videos on British TV , too. Anyways, fast-forward to pre...

VICE loves to party. And so does Snoop Dogg . For its newest video series, "PARTY LEGENDS," VICE teamed up with the upcoming feature film, Project X , and rounded up its favorite celebrities with legendary party pasts; Asking them to tell us their most ridiculous party stories... then we animated them. Boom! In the first [episode] of VICE 's "PARTY LEGENDS," Snoop Dogg goes to the Playboy Mansion , hangs with some Bunnies , drinks from his Pimp Cup , and then SHIT HITS THE FAN. - Meka @ 2dopeboyz

Initially assumed to be a musical alias of James Blake , as a result of corresponding stylistic nuances... it has since been proven that Ifan Dafydd is in fact Blake's cousin/ex-flatmate [college buddy]. Ifan Dafydd's premier track is essentially Dubstep -drenched, sample-based Funky affair; "No Good" skillfully employs and re-purposes a sampled chuck lifted from Amy Winehouse 's Dap-Kings-assisted "You Know I'm No Good" (2007). In what seems to be an eerily [in]appropriate sheer coincidence, "No Good" was released to the masses in August 2011 - During the timeframe just after Winehouse's all too sudden death. But with that said, I think it's a fitting "tribute" and final bow , of sorts. In the day & age of mass over-exposure, Ifan Dafydd is a rarity. A true mystery of a man, the Wales -bred Dance producer is currently prepping his debut release for Push & Run , Treehouse EP (Jan. 30-31st). Dafydd's onl...