The Witzard

Let me just start by pointing out that my old Loyal Lanes bowling crew and I were into world-renown DJ David Guetta [light]years before 1/2 the free world even knew who he was! Now, I'm talkin' about EPIC strikes/spares soundtracked by "The World Is Mine" (2004), which was practically eons before Fergie & will.i.am , Flo Rida, Kid Cudi , LMFAO, Rihanna , or Usher even knew how to pronounce Guet-ta . His latest video-single, "Play Hard" samples an already infectious Alice DeeJay Dutch-Eurodance track, "Better Off Alone." It's ridiculously zany companion music video plays out like some sort of twisted gangster flick... complete with pointy toed Mexican cowboys, unibrow-sporting pageant queens, heavily tattooed cholos, a fake Tron dancer, Les Twins , a pint-sized prize champion dancer, and disjointed cameos from David Guetta along with guest singers Akon & Ne-Yo . But general weirdness isn't always a bad thing; Although, I...

For argument's sake, I guess I've always been an Usher fan... or @ least an admirer of Mr. Raymond's sheer talent and work ethic. I can vaguely remember nervously asking a few P.Y.T.'s to dance to "U Got It Bad" (2001) @ those painfully cheese-tastic 7-8th grade dances. Paraphrasing Pitchfork staff writer Ryan Dombal , it was an oddly-matched collaboration that no one expected, let alone asked for. But somehow still managed to greatly surpass everyone's non-existent expectations: Friday night @ FADER Fort (SXSW) , Usher wandered on-stage with The Afghan Whigs mid-way through their "Climax" cover. Frontman Greg Dulli & Usher then launched into spirited, guitar-driver renditions of both artists' more well-known tracks, "Somethin' Hot" and scorching set-closer, "OMG." Former- Yeasayer member and solo artist Sinkane (Ahmed Gallab) came on stage to perform a super- Funky version of his own single, ...

I first discovered Brooklyn 's premier Indie Rock experimentalists , Dirty Projectors , quite a few years ago; Right around the same time that frontman Dave Longstreth decided to re-record an entire Black Flag record from memory (2007). The band's line-up seems to morph/permeate a little bit with each album and has previously included cats like Angel Deradoorian , Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend), Adam Forkner, and former-drummer Brian McOmber . Dirty Projectors-13 's latest line-up consists of Longstreth, Nat Baldwin, Michael Johnson , and the sultry 3-part harmonies of Amber Coffman/Haley Dekle/ Jenn Wasner Olga Bell . I guess I'd almost describe their overall sound as some sort of post- Destiny's Child R&B crooning. Case in point: "Stillness Is The Move," which Beyoncé 's little sister Solange just so happened to cover, too. I just ordered used copies of Rise Above, Bitte Orca , and Swing Lo Magellan from Amazon and s...

HAIM are a band made up of 3 20-something sisters from LA who's only recorded output includes: the 3-track Forever EP , a Fleetwood Mac cover, some hook work for Childish Gambino , and now "Don't Save Me/Send Me Down." Ever since the imminent break-up of family band Rockinhaim about 5 years ago, Danielle, Alana & Este have been secretly recording together non-stop... fine-tuning their sun-soaked Rock "N" Roll meets 90's R&B sound. They seem to be equally inspired by everyone from Usher to The Beach Boys , but HAIM have somehow been able to meld together a unique brand of Power/Girl Pop . I personally think it's pretty SICK [AWESOME] that 3 hot, model-ish chicks like Danielle, Alana & Este Haim can Rock this hard, whether or not you really even dig their music! While they're slowly but surely chipping away @ finishing up their major label debut, the Haim sisters unveiled a music video for "Don't Save Me...

It's not really about Diplo or Zeb Malik , 2 left-field multi-instrumentalists hailing from the heart of Philly . It isn't even about stupid, in-descriptive genre classification(s). It's just "About That Life:" The plain and simple, every day is Saturday type of GOOD SHIT! The Mad Decent labelhead and super-producer who has semi-recently worked with Beyoncé , No Doubt , Usher, and Kid Cudi is finally gearing up to release his long-awaited follow-up LP to Florida (2004). Teaming up with JAHAN LENNON aka Zeb Malik from PO PO fame, who amidst inner-band fighting, have now disbanded after liberating their "debut album," DOPE BOY MAGICK (20012) ... Diplo has self-described "About That Life" as a Psychedelic Southern Gospel jam. Along with "Express Yourself," it'll eventually appear on Diplo 's untitled 2012-13 solo record. Somehow making use of a bunch of instruments that're even pretty "weird" for adv...

Frank Ocean is a brave, brave man for coming out as bi-sexual in the [final] weeks leading up to the release of his major label debut... something that could have deeply affected channel ORANGE 's initial sales, which ended up debuting @ #2 on the Billboard 200 chart! Ocean's new-found "preference" really doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on channel ORANGE 's overall song content, quality, etc. Most of the time, Frank Ocean sounds a lot like Usher ; a suave R&B singer who could easily fit in on "Urban Radio" and hang with the music industry's BIGGEST rappers. While there's definitely a great mix of various styles spread out all across channel ORANGE , there's an underlying Soulful Funkiness , mildly reminiscent of Prince . Man, it's almost difficult to describe on "paper" how fucking AWESOME channel ORANGE really is - quite easily the best Hip-Hop/R&B album of 2012 [so far]! Granted each of Frank Ocean ...

While Philly DJ-producer Dilpo and his record label, Mad Decent have been an instrumental part of the ever-growing Electro House/Dubstep scene(s) since roughly, 2003... Most people really don't even realize how familiar they are with Diplo 's discography: "Paper Planes," Kid Cudi, "Run The World (Girls)," Usher, Die Antwoord , Wale, Chris Brown Busta Rhymes , and even an upcoming Reggae album with Snoop Dogg . Dilpo 's current passion project, Major Lazer was started out as a collaboration with Switch - who effectively jumped ship in Dec. 2011. Major Lazer is represented by a cartoon frontman who's basically a "bionic Jamaican super-commando and nightclub owner who fights zombies and vampires on a rocket-powered skateboard." Diplo is currently hoed up in Kingston, Jamaica earnestly working on the proper follow-up to Major Lazer 's well-received Indie Rock breakthrough, Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do (2009). T...