The Witzard

John Morrison Diggin' for Records (CREDIT: D1L0) John "Liberator" Morrison is a self-proclaimed "Writer/DJ/Sample-flipper" hailing from Philly. Morrison is the host of Serious Rap Sh!t & Culture Cypher Radio and lists NPR Music , okayplayer, The Wire Magazine , and Bandcamp amongst his writing credits. John Morrison , additionally, functions as a Hip-Hop emcee and producer with remix credits on Lushlife 's MY IDOLS ARE DEAD + MY ENEMIES ARE IN POWER and Career Crooks' Thieving As Long As I'm Breathing . Morrison's debut full-length project, Southwest Psychedelphia was released on Deadverse Recordings in 2016 and there's currently a slew of remixes, flips, and non-album tracks uploaded to his Bandcamp page. However, in recent years, John Morrison has been on a bit of a hiatus/medical leave... as Morrison himself puts it, "on March 3, 2018, I was hospitalized with Flu-like symptoms and a searing headache. After nearly two weeks...

umm... and the Haunted Apartment by umm... Not entirely unlike his last retrospective release, The Station Signal 's Collection of Work , West Virginia emcee and producer Unsung (@UnsungTheRapper) has returned with Umm... 's and The Haunted Apartment . Umm... is one of Steven Miller AKA Unsung 's many recording aliases I've been hearing about these last few months. Umm... 's and The Haunted Apartment is, essentially, a long-shelved compilation culled from three separate previously unreleased Umm... albums initially recorded between 2002-04: Umm... and The Surprisingly Well Garnished Plan , U Look Like Pumpkin Pie, and Umm... and The Giant Windmill . Unsung self-recorded the albums onto a dusty old 4-track recorder from a friend, while compiling his first and second Hip-Hop albums, Embrace The Shellfish & TWIN , burned onto CD-R's, and passed out to his friends, family, and classmates nestled inside of "folded and staples [pieces] of paper....

"I go by the name King Ani Mal. I'm out of South Philly and originally from Gulf Port, Mississippi. SPP GSF AFFILIATE. I am currently working on a "so-far" untitled 5-track EP produced entirely by Look! It's Aidan AKA Aidan Douglas AKA A.I.D. (@look_itsaidan.) It should be out very soon! To keep up with my music and shows, Follow my Instagram, @turbocrunch . Also, check out my latest album, Skinny God out on EVERY streaming platform. Here's my Beat-maker Bedrock:" I. TV On The Radio - Dear Science (2008) "I think, Dear Science was one of the first albums that made me want to dip into production. I just remember thinking how good the album was and telling myself that if they could do it, so could I. Then, I downloaded LMMS (Linux MultiMedia Studio) and started playing around on my laptop. At the time, I was playing guitar in a Punk band and no one wanted to hear what I was making, except my homie Scress. I didn't rap or even plan on becomi...

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it," as 1980's silver screen teen Ferris Bueller would say. Anthony Friedlander , frontman of New Jersey -based Indie/Alternative/Prog-Rock band 4:44 , gets it and really seized the day on July 9th when on a whim, around 3AM, he uploaded 4-track JAY-Z EP to their Bandcamp page. Friedlander and his 4:44 bandmates—bassist Greg Mele, Jr. and drummer Zach Gormley —readily admit that "THIS IS A SHAMELESS MARKETING TECHNIQUE," as JAY-Z 's latest album was seemingly "named after" their band; just imagine a stylistic mix between alt-j , Indie Rock innovators Radiohead, and the frantic, frenzied vocal delivery of Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock . "We're actually huge fans of JAY-Z . Before this whole thing even happened, I had "we are the Mike Jordans of recording" in our Bandcamp Bio ; that is one of his lyrics and this was before h...

Chillactic - ßeat tape: vol. 1 by Praktikos "Born and raised in the culturally-diverse Bay Area , Haseeb Naweed (aka Praktikos ) is an Electronic music producer presenting a unique blend of atmospheric beats, often featuring deep uplifting melodies and soulful female vocals," Praktikos wrote within an email sent about two months ago; quickly likening his "ambient, downtempo, chill hip-hop style beats with a relaxing uplifting spacey vibe" to The Witzard 's recently covered Jenova 7 & Eddie Shinn 's A Cosmic Safari album, which initially prompted him to email me his music. "His latest release, Chillactic [Beat Tape, Vol. 1] is a 10-track instrumental catalog of ambient chilled hip-hop beats, providing listeners with an intimate introduction to his work... Influences range from Nujabes , Flying Lotus, Bonobo , and many pioneers of the chill-out/electronica sound ( Carbon Based Lifeforms, [Paul] Oakenfold, Enigma )," Naweed continued. Pr...

"Previously unheard vintage Thom Yorke remix of DOOM's "Gazzillion Ear." Thom sent us this nasty re-working back in 2009. It was marked "Man On Fire Remix," but no one heard it until last night when he dropped it on an epic [installment] of Benji B's BBC Radio 1 show," LexRecords wrote within a brief statement attached to their Thursday, September 8th Soundcloud upload of DOOM's mysterious "Gazzillion Ear (Thom Yorke Gazilli Remix)." It seems as though DOOM and long-time Radiohead frontman have maintained a mutual admiration for each other's work and wildly different aesthetics since around 2008-09—Yorke has included not only DOOM , but countless J Dilla , Madlib, Flying Lotus , Quasimoto, and MADVILLAIN tracks within numerous BBC Radio 1 DJ sets. Thom Yorke 's latest nearly 3-hour Benji B BBC Radio 1 DJ set included everything from Frank Ocean and Sampha to James Blake & Vince Staples' "Timeless...

"With the blessing of my Fool's Gold family by my side, I'm excited to be working with Warp [Records] on new material. They're music fans to the same high degree I am and I'm looking forward to breaking some rules together," frantic Detroit -bred emcee Danny Brown recounted within a brief statement released along with his latest single, "When It Rain." Nearly mere hours after its Tuesday night reveal, Brown appeared on revered Beats 1 Radio DJ Zane Lowe 's web-series; "it's actually even better! Shout out to [Mimi Cave] , man- she really just made my vision come to life... I really got the idea from this Talking Heads documentary that I saw and I was really into that, so I wanted ["When It Rain"] to look like that," Danny Brown divulged when Lowe inquired if Cave's video treatment came out like he had imagined. Brown continued that his still currently untitled album was heavily influenced by a book penned abo...

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...

While they may be a little out of my typical wheelhouse of head-nodding Hip-Hop or fist-clenching Punk Rock , I've always been a casual fan and long-time admirer of Radiohead 's rather unique aesthetic and business tactics... name-your-price In Rainbows , Kid A, OK Computer , I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, The King of Limbs , Amnesiac, and COM LAG (2plus2isfive) . Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and his band mates have seemingly always attempted to employ an underlying Hip-Hop feel and have a mutual respect for the genre as a whole; Philly -bred Tonight Show band The Roots sampled them on Game Theory stand-out "Atonement," as did Kanye, Pharrell & Lupe Fiasco 's short-lived super-group Child Rebel Soldier (CRS) , and even Portishead founder Geoff Barrow & Katalyst went as far as to revamp "Fitter Happier" on a Guilty Simpson & MED -asssisted Quakers cut. Yorke has even managed to work alongside the mysterious masked villain h...

"It's Katalyst [Ashley Anderson] and Geoff Barrow that produced my album. I met Katalyst in Australia and we had dope studio chemistry. Me & Phat Kat did features for the Quakers album & later, I found out they were on Stones Throw. When I met with Stones Throw, their name came up & it made sense because I really liked their production. Now, here we are," Guilty Simpson exclusively revealed to The Witzard on the inception of his hot-off-the-press new album, Detroit's Son. Anderson runs the Australian-based headquarters of Invada Records along with long-time friend, Portishead founder, and fellow Quakers bandmate Geoff Barrow; he's been releasing music under a number of aliases since launching his music career back in 1998... Moonrock, Katalyst, 35-member Hip-Hop collective Quakers, and Space Invadas with Steve Spacek. Having previously worked with everyone from Gift of Gab to Jack Johnson, Detroit's Son is Katalyst's first full-length proj...

"For a while now, Guilty Simpson has been working on a new album with Katalyst of Quakers, the 30+ member rap supergroup who came out on Stones Throw a couple years ago. Expect an album soon. Until then, here's one fresh from the lab – "Vanguard Organization,"' reads Stones Throw's latest press release uploaded earlier today; a mere uncanny, perfectly-timed coincidence, Stones Throw have unleashed Guilty Simpson's "Vanguard Organization," which he self-describes as "a throw-away cut [that] isn't on the album," as I've concurrently been piecing together an all-inclusive 15-question interview for this very site. The Detroit native whose actively preparing his second full-length for Stones Throw, DETROIT'S SON, candidly covers everything from his "lost" 2005 album recorded with J Dilla, being mentioned in the same sentence as Radiohead, the current status of OJ Simpson 2 and Random Axe 2, working with elusive emce...

" Phex Twinnipicks material is still unquenched thirst... Syria , September 23, 2014, along with records of Aphex Twin 's new album to be released. For the owner of Triple vinyl, CD and digital formats will be available. Bleep a very limited vinyl version you can register your interest in buying," reads Warp Records' seemingly intentionally jumbled Aphex Twin SYRO press release. While he hasn't released a full-length album in a whopping 13 years, Aphex Twin mastermind Richard D. James recently alluded to new material via both a mysterious "2014" tagged blimp and a few encrypted posts uploaded onto the more often than not corrupt underground Deep Web. Aphex Twin then unexpectedly unleashed the first SYRO teaser track, "minipops 67 [120.2] [source field mix]," just in time for the onslaught of the weekend. It's already garnered loose comparisons to Thom Yorke , Caribou, and Burial , fellow modern day veiled Electro -leaning artist...

"And I say, "Gee [whiz]," which I'm not sure is a phrase I've ever uttered before. I can imagine it appealing to American truckers with Good Riddance to Bin Laden stickers," alt-J frontman Joe Newman recently told British publication The Guardian in a rather scathing band interview; Newman is of course referring to alt-J 's latest single, "Left Hand Free," which the band said was only written to appease their American label because they didn't exactly feel teaser single, "Hunger of The Pine" was a "big single." alt-J 's critically-acclaimed first album, An Awesome Wave (2012) was essentially heralded as the second coming of Radiohead , while "Left Hand Free" is more so along the lines of Black Keys or Jack White -ian Modern Blues-Rock . "I tried to make the drums as cliched as possible, there's none of my personality in it... I'm doing some kind of organ solo. I don't know wher...

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 ...

(1) What's up, Kassa & TECLA!? First off, it's a pretty bold statement releasing your first mini-collection on the last day of the world! Was that intentional or just completely random? Nothing is unintentional. 2) How would you guys describe the overall sound of CABIN IN THE WOODS EP? What sorta music influenced it's creation, cause it's pretty unique sounding! Both of us come from musical backgrounds with extremely wide varieties. TECLA went from Classically trained pianist to Punk Rock front-girl, and Kassa went from Jazz drum virtuoso to mosh-pitting rapper so... When stuck in a cabin in the woods together, I guess this is what came out. (3) Let's just say today is the end of the world, for arguments sake... What are your plans for the day/night, all things considered? Same thing we do every day, pinky... (4) Is the apocalypse a running theme on CABIN IN THE WOODS EP and if not, what were you going for? We didn't actually have a theme. ...

Numbers-wise, Stones Throw 's Quakers [collective] is just about as MASSIVE as it's earth-shattering name-sake: 41-track album, 35 members, 3 producers. Because of Quakers' sheer size, it's almost ludicrous to try and summarize the wide scope of their self-titled debut... I have a copy, but have yet to listen straight through in one sitting. Guilty Simpson & M.E.D. are 2 of the countless featured rappers that Geoff Barrow (Portishead), Katalyst , and 7-Stu-7 recruited to come in and lay down verses. Quakers and Quakers (Instrumentals) are both now available for purchase over @ Stones Throw on vinyl, 2-CD, or mp3. Temporarily backed by The Quakers All-Star Brass Band , Guilty & M.E.D. abrasively lace up "Fitta Happier." Barrow pulled samples from 2 separate 1997-2000 era Radiohead tracks, "Fitter Happier" and "The National Anthem," now re-interpolated and complete with a horn section. It's companion Eric Coleman -di...

I was pretty bummed out yesterday afternoon when I first heard about the sudden passing of Adam "MCA" Yauch , after three years of fighting cancer. Growing up with four older cousins (I was born in 1987), I've been a huge Beastie Boys fan since I was 10-12... enjoying their music for as long as I can remember! They were the first to do a lot of things: NYC Punk , massive sampling on Paul's Boutique , being the first white Jewish rappers, intricate Pop Culture -referencing rhyme schemes, making music for both frat dudes and Punks , etc. Those of you who just know "Brass Monkey" and "Fight for Your Right" —now, come on, let's get real; The Beastie Boys were so much more than that and those radio hits are merely just the tip of the iceberg! All the teenage debauchery aside, gruff-voiced MCA really seemed to grow into a fine young man, post- License to Ill . Earnestly standing up for what his heart believed in: women's rights, Tibetan ...