The Witzard

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...

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...

" 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...

"WE REMIXED THE BEAT FOR "GUV'NOR" AND DOOM SPAT NEW VERSES ON THE TRACK," BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG) Tweeted almost immediately preceding Noisey's world premier of the JJ DOOM remix, which was lifted from Keys to The Kuffs (Butter Edition) . Lex Records plans to unleash the expanded and remixed album version on August 21st, but sadly the 12" picture discs won't ship until the end of October; The 2-CD set includes the original 14-track album, plus 4 BRAND NEW tracks and a gaggle of all-star remixes, 2 of which make use of expanded DOOM verses, too. In addition to BBNG and in-house producer Jneiro Jarel , Butter Edition features glitched-out remix contributions from Beck , Clams Casino, Radiohead members Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood , and TV on The Radio mega-producer Dave Sitek . Chester Hansen, Alex Sowinski & Matt Tavares AKA BADBADNOTGOOD previously recorded and self-released a blazin' instrumental Jazz cover titled "DO...

I read some fragments from a partially disjointed Noisey interview with Jeff Broadway and Peanut Butter Wolf , the director of forthcoming documentary "Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This Is Stones Throw Records" and the Indie Hip-Hop label's co-founder the other day. One particularly interesting [tid]bit dealt with the film's star-studded interview section; when the interviewer said, " Kanye must've been a hard get," Broadway quickly responded, "Actually, as far as who took the most convincing, that'd be DOOM ." Yep, 1/2 of MADVILLAIN , the walking enigma formerly known as MF DOOM was hard to track down - Go figure! ha Preceded by a behind-the-scenes making-the-video segment the other day, Noisey UK ( DOOM currently resides in South London ) released the Steve "ESPO" Powers -directed "BOOKHEAD" clip late Wednesday afternoon. Lex Records must really have DOOM in a tight nut-hold, cause they're already r...

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 ...

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 ...

They say that some of the best collaborative results come out of mutual admiration and friendship. Daniel Dumile AKA Zev Love X [MF] DOOM and Thom Yorke (Radiohead) managed to form their own professional bond around 2007-09. First off, Yorke featured a few DOOM -affiliated tracks within his various DJ mixes/playlists. He then proceeded to concoct a remix of "GAZILLION EAR," a track from DOOM 's very own Born Like This (2009). Talking to the press in March 2011, Dumile seemingly revealed plans to lay down a full album's-worth of material of material with Thom Yorke . Lex Records has now liberated what appears to be the preliminary fruits of DOOM & Yorke 's labors. Diligently produced and melded along with the technical assistance of Radiohead guitarist-producer Jonny Greenwood , "Retarded Fren" was quietly released late last night (11/1-2). Serving as Track #1 from Lex Records' upcoming 10-year retrospective compilation "Complex,...