The Witzard

Aside from our aptly-named ongoing The Witzard Interview(s) series, 3 Fee High & Rising new artist featurette, and producer-selected playlist Beat-maker Bedrock , we really don't have a lot of recurring columns here at The Witzard. Partly because my fiance and I just moved into our first home together within the last month or so and also because there's just an influx of solid independent releases before year's end, I thought it might be a good time to start up a new recurring weekly wrap-up column tentatively titled, The Witzard's Take 5: Five Independent/Self-released Albums & EP's Worth Checking Out This Week. So, without further ado, here's The Witzard's Top 5 albums/EP's for the "week of" 10/27-11/3—a slightly expanded "weekly" edition to include a couple releases from last week, as well—in no particular order or ranking. Now, a few of these artists should be quite familiar to The Witzard regulars, while some might be e...

"The Speedlights! Power-Pop Rock "N" Roll from Denton, Texas. Drummer Josh Prisk and guitarist Dwayne Ray have been playing in bands together since high school back 1992. And back then, they were in a band with bassist Tony Greene. Skip ahead to late 2014 when Josh and Dwayne were working together and in between bands, on a lunch break, they were discussing how Power-Pop had lost that 70's Rock edge a long time ago and decided to see if they could bring back that edge. A few days later, Tony happened to post a Rockpile - "So It Goes" video and Dwayne & Josh decided to ask if he'd like to join in on the idea. After a few practices, they decided they'd need some kind of lead/jangle-type guitarist and days later, the long-time UPS delivery driver at Dwayne & Josh's work, Jess Boyer, stops in and says, "Hey, do you play guitar? Do you maybe know someone who might be looking for a guitarist?" and BAM! he joined us that weekend! (J...

" Deep of 2 Hungry Bros. is often known as the crazy and ExperiMENTAL half of NYC 's Lower East Side production duo. Deep has produced beats for songs that feature artists such as: Tanya Morgan , Breez EvahFlowin', Reef Tha Lost Cauze , Homeboy Sandman, Fresh Daily , Cella Dwellas, Substantial , and many more. Deep often DJ's parties now, as well as radio show, Living Envious Styles , on Sunday afternoons from 2-4:00pm on 8BallRadio . He has released three instrumental albums on HiPNOTT Records : What You Leave Behind , Bushwick Beatfeed, and Family Recipe . He also expanded his beat tape empire into The West with 77 Rise Recordings' label dropping three sold out beat tapes, Depth Perception Vol. 1-2 . Volume 3 is set to drop this November. All of his albums can be found on all digital retailers and streaming services, as well as on Bandcamp ." Depth Perception Vol. 3 by Deep of 2 Hungry Bros I. DJ Shadow - Entroducing..... (1996) "So, I wr...

planet pumpkin by Purple Dialect " Purple Dialect answers an ad on Craigslist to raid PLANET PUMPKIN . The orc hives are a little more lit than they appeared [in] the brochure. Zane has to decide if the job is worth it when he finds out it only pays in candy corn and Samba 45's," Zane Rice AKA rapper-producer Purple Dialect wrote within the Bandcamp description for his latest album. PLANET PUMPKIN is sub-titled, "GHOST VOLCANO: SEASON 1; EPISODE 4" and an impassioned Rice asserts, "this is a mixtape. It's raw as f**k. Hopefully, you like it." Purple Dialect 's CAMPFIRE EP follow-up, PLANET PUMPKIN , as you might have already deduced, is a largely Halloween -themed and inspired album from Philly 's own Purple Dialect . PLANET PUMPKIN consists of 13 spook-tacular tracks from Purple Dialect , who said he simply "just tried to make music that [he] liked." He then, called in frequent collaborators Luke "Spook" No...

DARK THOUGHTS HALLOWEEN TAPE by DARK THOUGHTS It really makes complete and total sense for a band entitled "Dark Thoughts" to make a spook-tacular Halloween -themed mixtape just in time for All Hallows' Eve . I'm actually, a bit surprised they haven't done it sooner; considering Dark Thoughts are a self-described Pop-Punk -minded band "dressing up" as their beloved The Ramones nearly each and every day. Dark Thoughts have already opened up for fellow Philly Punks Blank Spell , Pissed Jeans, and SHEER MAG and are currently working on the follow-up to their critically-acclaimed self-titled 2016 debut. HALLOWEEN TAPE showcases four rough demos currently slated to appear within Album #2: "NO GOOD," "DON'T WANNA," "HATE THIS SONG," and "LITTLE THING," all of which collectively clock in right around the 5-minutes mark. Then, the remaining nine or so minutes housed on Dark Thoughts' HALLOWEEN TAPE con...

Jokes for Feelings are an East Bay -area Ska Punk band consisting of drummer Tony Acosta , vocalist/keyboardist/violinist/guitar player Bill Raphael , trombonist and back-up vocalist Allie Miller , bass player Dave Garcia , trombonist Noah Ortiz , sax player Michael Booker , and guitarist and back-up vocalist Josh Raphael . Jokes for Feelings regularly play gigs at 924 Gilman St. Alternative Music Foundation AKA "Gilman" in West Berkley, California . Throughout their brief, yet plentiful career, the "4th Wave" Ska band's members have played with Punk/Hardcore luminaries such as The Ramones' 1989-96 bassist C.J. Ramone , Agent Orange, Mike Watt of The Stooges and Minutemen fame, Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Specials (Roddy Radiation & Neville Staple,) The Aggrolites, and Guttermouth . Since forming in 2006, Jokes for Feelings have self-released three EP's— One of Us Sucks , Sleeping Giant , and We Don't Need Your Label Anyways —and one f...

"Nice Rhymes. Leather Bull Mask," is how Torito fittingly describes his musical approach within his Facebook About Me section; a full-time baker by day and masked emcee by night, Torito harnesses the ferocity of "a bull in a china shop." His latest single, "Glowing Clothes" is the third teaser from his upcoming self-produced album, Fabric Scraps , which will likely be released on rapper-producer Darko The Super 's label imprint, U DONT DESERVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ART , at the top of 2018. "The beat is a little sample from "This Is Sally Hatchet" by Father John Misty , plus, me playing guitar and keys. It starts with a news [report] of a wild story about a bull that escaped from a Philadelphia slaughterhouse," Torito wrote via email, describing "Glowing Clothes." His frequent collaborator and Philly -based producer Johann Sebastian helped "beef up the drums a bit and offered some production guidance" and is...