The Witzard

Daptone Records announced yesterday they'll be re-issuing The Poets of Rhythm's 2001 sophomore album, Disceren / Define. It was previously released on Ninja Tune & Quannum Projects and has been extremely sought-after within the two decades since. Daptone's updated version of Discern / Define boasts a deluxe gatefold jacket with re-imagined artwork. It appears to feature a newly-unearthed Bonus Track by way of twelfth track, "Eulogize The Source." Daptone shares: "Celebrating the album's 20th anniversary, Daptone Records is pleased to present the first vinyl re-issue of The Poets of Rhythm's galactic, Funky masterpiece, Discern / Define." Discern / Define by The Poets of Rhythm "As pioneers in the burgeoning Modern Funk scene of the 90's, The Poets of Rhythm created new standards, transcending the parameters lesser groups were defined by. With Discern / Define, The Poets took their brand of Classic Funk to the next level by ble...

CREDIT: Jan Weissenfeldt "I can't believe these guys are from Germany and speak with thick German accents when not singing. Also can't believe it's a relatively new recording. They nailed it," Peanut Butter Wolf wrote within the liner notes to PEANUT BUTTER WOLF PRESENTS - BADD SANTA: A STONES THROW RECORDS XMAS. The Soul-Saints Orchestra's "Santa's Got A Bag of Soul" is featured along with a slew of festive favorites and lesser-known holiday classics hand-selected by Wolf himself. BADD SANTA additionally boasts selections from James Pants, Free Design, 69 Boys & Quad City DJ's, Bruce Haack, James Brown, and Baron Zen. The Soul-Saints Orchestra (or The Soul-Saints) was, actually, a short-lived side-project of The Poets of Rhythm; featuring Boris Geiger AKA Bo Baral, Jan "Curly" Krause, Jan Weissenfeldt AKA J.J. Whitefield, Malte Müller-Egloff AKA Wolf Schlick, Max "Muggy" Weissenfeldt, and Michael "Treetop...

"'Johnny" was our band internal call for "dude," "bro," etc... our sound guy Jochen started, at one point, calling everyone "Johnny" and this spread to the point that everybody was called "Johnny" by everyone in the crew... [it] was easy, you didn't have to remember names... also, there is a similarity to the West African habit of using the name "Charley" for "dude,'" Poets of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers mastermind JJ Whitefield wrote within an email concerning his latest eclectic musical output, JOHNNY! Billed by Now-Again as " Ghanaian Afro-Rock from German producer/composer JJ Whitefield and an international cast of top-shelf musicians," JOHNNY! consists of Johnny (Henry) Taylor on vocals/keys, Johnny (Eric) Owusu on vocals/percussion, Johnny (JJ) Whitefield on guitar, Johnny (Tomi) Simatupang on bass, Johnny (Bernd) Oezsevim on drums, and Karl Hector helming productio...