The Witzard

Honestly, it doesn't even feel like there's a proper way to elegize an eccentric and extremely talented artist such as MF DOOM, who meant so much to so many of us for so many years for so many different reasons as truly unique as DOOM himself. So, what better way to pay tribute to The Man, The Myth, THE MASK himself than by speaking to those closest to him? With a heavy heart, I proudly present Shadows of Tomorrow; a new recurring column in tribute to DOOM in an effort to re-tell the tall tales, strange stories, and lesser-known tidbits of The Metal Face Villain himself. R.I.P. Daniel "MF DOOM" Dumile Thompson. "MF DOOM is easily the most inspirational act in Indie Hip-Hop. His voice, flow, production, character development, story-telling, and his ability to piece a cohesive album together were all extraordinary. Even in the early 90's in his KMD days, he was way ahead of his time. Going from a bright-eyed youth in his high school/KMD days—who wouldn...

"This is a loosie joint that I put together this month (sort of celebrating my birthday) with Weirdo Rock God-head R. Stevie Moore on the hook; to that effect, I produced an Avalanches -inspired instrumental and we're spitting rhymes that lament and celebrate being grown-up Rap dudes," rapper-producer Raj Haldar , better known as Lushlife , recently told me within an email concerning his latest Soundcloud release, "Earl Sweatshirt, Give Me a Hug." "I actually knew R. Stevie Moore when I was a kid—he worked at the record store where I would go every day and spend my lunch money on records. Never really knew he was like a lo-fi God or later, would be huge inspiration to dudes like Ariel Pink . We got to talking a while back and decided to flip this joint together," Lushlife tellingly continued. Haldar then recruited fellow Philly -bred emcee, Anything I Touch, I Bruise master-remixer, recent Rap Booklets curator, and part-time Passion of The W...

"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...

"I did one song with them a while ago and it was cool. They felt like it was OK and I felt like it was OK. But then we actually got in the studio and made a record and I swear, the record we made is incredible. "[Frankie] Sinatra" was the first one we did. That was cool, but the one we did after that... I swear, if we put that out, it'll change the world. I heard it that first night and that was the only time I heard it. I wanna hear it again," Danny Brown mysteriously revealed to Australia 's Triple J Radio nearly two summers ago. Now, roughly 16 years after releasing their critically-acclaimed debut, Since I Left You , The Avalanches have finally unleashed the first single, "Frankie Sinatra" from their now-mythical follow-up, Wildflower . MF DOOM & Danny Brown -assisted "Frankie Sinatra" was suddenly premiered on Zane Lowe 's Beats 1 Radio program overnight Wednesday into Thursday; ultimately, kick-starting a flurry of m...

Danny Brown is most likely far from your average rapper; Granted he regularly brags about "drinking & smoking," but he's been somewhat weirdly well-received by Indie Rock blogs and endearing fans alike. Maybe it's Brown's affinity for non- Hip-Hop beats, stark realism, cutting-edge threads, outsider appearance... or that Trent Reznor -reminiscent side-swoop haircut. Whatever the reasoning behind it, ex- Pitchfork contributor Eavvon O'Neal felt compelled to shadow and film Danny Brown for a few days back in February. The final edit has been dubbed Detroit State of Mind , a mini-documentary which Brown himself simply describes as, "really like a movie/reality show pilot or some shit ... you laugh, u cry and someone dies at the end lol." Overall, Eavvon O'Neal 's filmed account is a candid 20-minute look into Danny Brown's everyday life. Un-charistically "normal" happenings include: hanging out with family, getting a ...

"[ Bon Iver 's] a fucking genius! I'd never seen nor heard of him in my life, and I looked up, and I was in a fucking 5 x 5 room with a white guy, smoking weed... and his voice is like something I've never heard, and he's using words that are far from common. Within 20 minutes, I realized why Kanye had him there." - Rick Ross (Billboard) Justin Vernon probably never imagined that his high-pitched primary band, Bon Iver would ever garner so much widespread acclaim, let alone 4 Grammy nominations. 2011 was quite arguably The Year of Bon Iver ; Over the course of the year, Vernon somehow managed to strike up a lucrative friendship with Kayne & Jay-Z , harmonize alongside Nicki Minaj , appear on Gayngs' remix album - "Affiliyated," collaborate with The National and Dub Master James Blake , and hawking Bushmills whiskey. On top of all that, his long-awaited follow-up album (Bon Iver, Bon Iver) was released on Jagjaguwar . That very album ...