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...

For his latest single, "Ego Death" LA -based rapper-producer Busdriver has essentially assembled an all-star team of Underground Hip-Hop MVP's; Busdriver, Aesop Rock & Danny Brown spit hot fire in succession over the course of Stones Throw affiliate Jeremiah Jae 's nearly 6-minute neck-snapping beat. While hailing from three separate corners of the Underground Hip-Hop spectrum, the three veteran emcees surprisingly mesh very well together (I believe Busdriver & Aesop have rapped together before). "Yeah, no... I understand what you're saying. But is is sexier than torture?" opens Jae's slightly off-kilter beat, which features multi-layered lines like: "And downtime is never met with an overjoyed grin / cause sleep and death have always been conjoined twins," "He shoots the whores, truly stupid troubadours," and Danny Brown 's fairly sound assertion that he's the "Rap Marilyn Manson." It's ...

For the sake of cohesive clarity, maybe it should be duly noted that the majority of this very post was written down in my parents' basement earlier tonight while I was listening to Dope Body 's latest Sludge-Punk album, Natural History , and drinking midair-smuggled German beer: While I can't exactly say that I'm a huge Kelis fan, and you may not be either, but let's be totally honest... who isn't at least vaguely familiar with "Milkshake" or even "Got Your Money" (ODB)? TIME further notes that Kelis has essentially bounced all over the place during her 15-year career; "she made strange, funky Pop songs like "Milkshake" [with Pharrell ] that took over American radio. She was more forceful still with clanging, dissonant R&B tracks like "Bossy." Then, she transformed into a spaced-out Electro-House diva on her last album, 2010's Flesh Tone ." Now the ex-wife of legendary Queens emcee Nas , K...