The Witzard

I met up my older cuz Josh and his girlfriend Jessie @ Philly 's outdoor amphitheater, The Mann Center for a Passion Pit show back in June 2010, backed by Tokyo Police Club/BRAHMS . It was the tour that took place between albums #1-2, Manners and Gossamer , which I still haven't heard a whole lot of... Chunk of Change EP (2008) was supposed to be a surprise Valentine's Day CD-R, but I remember when Kanye posted "Cuddle Fuddle" to his now-defunct blog. Manners was chock-full of Michael Angelakos' high-pitched wail and Electonica -soaked Pop sensibilities. It managed to spawn a number of memorable hits including: "Sleepyhead," "Little Secrets," "To Kingdom Come," The Reeling" and remixes for everyone from Katy Perry to Beastie Boys . "Yes, Juicy J rapped on "Constant." And it does make sense because it's fucking awesome," Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos Tweeted late Thursd...

Hanni el Khatib is the first natural-born American from a family of Palestinian and Filipino immigrants, who bravely heads up his own one-man band on a mission to revive 1950-60's era Rock "N" Roll , classic cars, Greaser chic, and straight razors. Khatib is a talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter/producer who's equally influenced by the stylings of Johnny Cash , Sam Cooke, Iggy & The Stooges , Black Sabbath, Johnny Burnette , etc. as well as Blues , Garage Rock, Soul , Folk, and Doo-Wop . Hanni el Khatib linked up with similarly-minded Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to record his second album, Head In The Dirt , which Innovative Leisure's putting out on April 30th. The pair recorded 11 tracks down in Nashville , soon after Khatib opted to "erase everything he'd become comfortable with and to make an album out of only raw instinct and inspiration." Head In The Dirt 's lead-off single, "Family" now has...

David Bowie quietly unleashed "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" late Monday night; It's the second pre-release single from his long-awaited/rumored album - The Next Day , which is slated for a world-wide release this upcoming March 8-15th. Bowie has been largely in-active for the bulk of the past 10-12 years... recording with TV on The Radio/Scarlett Johansson , morphed into a fashion icon, re-interpreted in Portuguese for The Life Aquatic , hanging out with Snoop Dogg and Alicia Keys , just growing old gracefully, etc. Producer-bassist Tony Visconti recently called The Next Day "quite a Rock album" that was secretly recorded between 2010-12 with Earl Slick , Gail Ann Dorsey, Sterling Campbell , Zachary Alford, guitarists Gerry Leonard/David Torn , Tony Levin, and saxophonist Steve Elson . Italian film-maker Floria Sigismondi directed "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)"' s companion music video, which co-stars actress Tilda Swinton as David ...

It's already been about 2 weeks since The Grammys aired, by the festive beef/drama is surely still going on. Early last week, a TMZ reporter asked Patrick Carney , whose band The Black Keys nabbed 4 Grammy awards, why he thought the academy didn't nominate Justin Bieber for an awards... to which Carney replied, "He's rich, right? I mean, I don't know. Grammys are like, for music, not for money and he's making a lot of money. I don't know - he should be happy, I guess." That's a pretty tame, politically correct response, but Bieber soon Tweeted " the black keys drummer should be slapped around haha." Patrick Carney quickly retaliated by changing his Twitter handle to "Justin Bieber" last weekend [Feb. 15-17th]. Tweeting @ terribly mis-led fans, harboring harsh responses, and ultimately Rick-Rolling unsuspecting Bieber fans with a NEW WORLD PREMIER, which actually ended up being "Recombo DNA" (1977). When...

Sean Price is a former member of 90's Underground Rap crews, Heltah Skeltah/Boot Camp Clik (who supposedly worked on 2pac 's last project ). My old Shop Rite buddy, Jarrad Jenkins first turned me onto Sean Price around like 2005-06, who had only released Monkey Barz and Donkey Sean, Jr. [mixtape] @ that point. Price's third solo album, Mic Tyson has been in-the-works since 2009 and after numerous delays and pushed back dates, Duck Down finally unleashed the album back in October '12. Evidence & DJ Babu produced the latest video-single pulled from Mic Tyson 's 15-song tracklist, "BBQ Sauce." It does a pretty damn great job @ showcasing the Brownsville, BKLYN native's criminally under-rated sharp tongue, un-matched cadence, and witty rhyme schemes. Pharoahe Monch co-stars in it's companion Todd Angkasuwan -directed music video, which super-imposes Sean Mandela into a number of historical events, TV shows, school sports, etc: ...

Bad-ass vampire/vampire slayer flicks have been a pretty solid Hollywood mainstay for the bulk of the past 50+ years; We're talkin' about shit like Dracula , Interview with a Vampire, The Lost Boys , Blade, Buffy Vampire Slayer , etc. - NOT those pussified, glistening love-stuck "vampires" from Twilight or whatever! While I was a little too young for The Coreys' Lost Boys (1987) and even Blade's late 90's reign of terror, I can vaguely remember Sarah Michelle Gellar 's sheer ass-whooping hotness... I guess former- Das Racist swordsmen Heems is a champion of OG vampires, too because from what I understand, his latest music video for "Desi Shoegaze Taiko" re-purposes Stephen Norrington 's opening scenes from Blade (1998). It's basically a Wesley Snipes -less scenario with a room-full of white people gettin' downright Funky @ some sort of weirdly awesome [and bloody unsanitary] vampire rave/BLOODBATH, which appropriately ...

Just a few short years after the demise of his long-time Alternative Rock band The Czars and soon after his 1970's-inspired debut solo album Queen of Denmark (2010), John Grant decided to move from Colorado all the way to Iceland on a whim. Grant had initially planned to record it's follow-up, Pale Green Ghost , with his buddies from Midlake once again. But while vacationing over in Iceland sometime between 2011-12, John Grant linked up with Electro -producer Biggi Veira (Gus Gus) and the 2 almost immediately recorded "Pale Green Ghosts" and "Black Belt." Bella Union/ Partisan Records will co-release Pale Green Ghosts this upcoming May 13-14th world-wide. "If Queen of Denmark is Grant's 70's album, channeling the spirits of Karen Carpenter and Bread , then Pale Green Ghosts is his 80's album," recounts label Bella Union in it's lengthy featured biography on John Grant . John Grant & Biggi Veira 's in...

ANTWON 's beat-making buddies usually seem to conjure up some pretty emotionally-driven, hard-hitting borderline "Industrial-Rap" rhythms; But every once in a while, Nature Boy Gang 'll unleash a couple sun-soaked 90's New Jack Swing -reminiscent jams like "Darby Crash" (stacy Remix) , "LIVING EVERY DREAM," and now "3rd World Grrl." Since being re-released late Tuesday afternoon, the latter is currently serving as ANTWON 's second IN DARK DENIM (Greedhead) video-single... now has a hilarious [companion] puppet-assisted Live Circus & Alessio Avezzano -produced/directed clip to go along with it. Built around dimly-lit scenes of ANTWON rapping straight into Avezzano's camera, which are then juxtaposed against his puppet counterpart living his every sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll -fueled fantasy surrounded by an entourage full of beautiful hunnies. ANTWON , channeling Rico Suave , smoothly raps during "3...

Phoenix somehow managed to get their hands on what most music fans and audiophiles would consider damn-near "The Holy Grail" of modern recording equipment: Michael Jackson 's infamous Harrison 4032 recording console, which was used to make Thriller ! Guitarist Laurent Brancowitz found the console included within a surprisingly no frills auction and eventually haggled it's owner, Clayton Rose down to a fair $17,000 [from $32,000 asking price]. Frontman Thomas Mars immediately had Rose ship Jackson's Ping-Pong table-sized Harrison 4032 across the pond and over to Paris so that Phoenix could begin mixing their new album, Alternative Thriller Bankrupt! Last week, the band unveiled the companion "just peachy" cover artwork, 10-song tracklist, and a world-wide release date -- April 22-23rd. DJ Zane Lowe debuted Track #1, "Entertainment" on his BBC Radio show Monday afternoon, which was then followed by a home-made YouTube lyric video...

It looks like America 's favourite triple-threat, Justin Timberlake , is finally ready to make his long-awaited return to his first love, crafting smooth panty-dropping R&B . Timberlake linked up with his fellow entrepreneur-music mogul buddies, Jay-Z & Timbaland to produce comeback single "Suit & Tie." The Social Network director David Fincher 's the man behind the camera lens for "Suit & Tie"' s swanky, black-and-white Luxury Rap clip, which echoes last week's Motown /big band-reminiscent Grammy performance. The 20/20 Experience (March 15th) is currently available for pre-order in a number of special packages, ranging from $10.99-35. Renowned fashion designer-director, Tom Ford fabricated the various 3-piece suits, 2-piece tuxedos, black leather loafers, and other high-fashion accessories worn on Timberlake's recent single cover and pre-release "Suit & Tie" lyric video. While laying low during the 6-ye...

Roughly 10 years and 4 albums deep into their career now, "Bathroom Laughter" is only Pissed Jeans' third music video!; Not too far behind behind Thrash Jams like "False Jesii, Part 2" and "I've Still Got You (Ice Cream)" (2007-09). Matt Korvette, Brad Fry, Randy Huth , and Sean McGuiness unleashed Honeys , which was recorded @ Milkboy Studios (Philly) with producer Alex Newport , on Sub Pop this past Tuesday, Feb. 12th. For you un-familiar slackers, Pissed Jeans kinda sounds like late 80's experimental Black Flag , complete with fuzzed out guitar licks and 1/2 sung-shouted vocal fragments. It's director Joe Stakun 's demented riff a late night knife set-selling info-mercial gone terribly wrong, which somehow morphs into a bloody rotten mess! We're talkin' about VMA -worthy performances from Mark Proksch (The Office), nerdy My Life As Liz [Lee] dame, up-and-coming actress Leigh Myles , and Philly wrestler Dragon...

You Belong With Me EP by Adam Lempel and the Heartbeats My buddy Adam Lempel hit me up on Facebook last week, asking if I'd be down to write up a Witzard review on his new band, Adam Lempel & The Heartbeats' upcoming Reoccurring Dreams/Friends Records debut. The answer was obviously, "FUCK YEAH!" I met Adam and his fellow bandmate, Brendan Sullivan (WEEKENDS) backstage in the make-shift green room [church pews] @ a Surfer Blood show in South Philly (2011). Needless to say, following a few texts and emails, I had an advance copy of "Adam Lempel & The Heartbeats" safely nestled in my Inbox. After a few listens, I gotta admit, it's a pretty far departure from WEEKENDS' feedback-drenched brand of improvised Noise-Rock , but The Heartbeats managed to compile an almost INSTANTLY catchy Folk/Pop Rock record!.. mildly reminiscent of The Beatles , Beach Boys, Fiona Apple , Weezer, Simon & Garfunkel , Pixies. "It was recorded ...

"Today is February 7th, 2013, which means it is the birthday of one of the greatest Hip-Hop producers of all time, James Yancey aka J Dilla ; Today, he would've been 39 years old. It's incredible that every month of February for the last 8 years that Dilla 's life & music is celebrated around the whole world. It's also bittersweet because he was taken from us in such an early age when it looked like he was really get ready to take the world by storm. I [was] been very lucky & blessed to be part of his close circle of friends when he moved to Los Angeles . Not only was he was a talented individual and one of the nicest & humble guy I ever met, he was also a private person... You definitely [didn't] want to get on his nerves LOL!! I know there's a lot of Dilla Tribute mixes out there, and me personally, I don't think there's anyone that can out top a Dilla mix that was made by my fellow Beat Junkie & the 3rd member of J...

" AAN is a fearless experimental Pop band from Portland, OR mixing heavily textured guitars with rich vocal harmonies," according to Facebook . Frontman Bud Wilson decided to start a band with friends-musicians Jon Lewis (drums), Reese Lawhorn (bass), and Jeff Bond (guitar). AAN , which is pronounced like a hard Boston -accented "on," managed to self-release a number of CD-R's throughout the city starting around 2007. 6 years and a few well-received singles/EP's later, AAN are finally ready to unleash their long-awaited debut album, tentatively titled Amor ad Nauseum . I almost hate making open-ended analogies like this... But most of the time, Wilson's vocals sound a lot like a near-perfect hybrid mix between Jeff Buckley and Pavement's sloppy brand of smart 90's Indie Rock . Stereogum (Claire Lobenfeld?) scored an for AAN's latest, Mike Wilson -directed music video, "Mystery Life." It's titular plot revol...

Fresh on the heels of his recent un-characteristically chill Matmos sing-song feature, DJ DOG DICK unleashed Identity EP out of nowhere mid-Wednesday afternoon [Feb. 5th] to the wide-spread surprise of The Internet(s). @NoiseyMusic not-so-ironically managed to describe the 4-track EP as, "sludge-caked Pop nuggets from the weed-chocked outskirts of Rap & Noise " in just 140 characters or less. DJ DOG DICK (Max Eisenberg) was 1/2 of Baltimore Noise-Pop ensemble, Dog Leather and currently performs art installations/live shows along with Pictureplane , who're often simply billed as "DICKPIC." Eisenberg supposedly recorded the bulk of Identity EP in Far Rockaway [Queens] while dealing with the Earth-shattering aftermath of Hurricane Sandy . It's really a disjointed precursor to The Life Stains LP , which HOSS Records finally has plans to release this upcoming May. DJ DOG DICK somehow harnesses a wide-spanning, unique soundscape on Identity ...

Antwon is a rare breed of genre-blending rapper, even in this diverse Internet Age ; The San Jose -based emcee "cut his teeth" playing bass in a number of East/West Coast Hardcore bands throughout the early 2000's. Antwon 's currently gearing up to release his fourth independent project since 2011, In Dark Denim - which is the proper follow-up to last year's critically-acclaimed END OF EARTH and his first mixtape assembled along with Greedhead (Heems') creative backing. Track #11 of 11, "Still Guarded" was unleashed post- Hump Day , just in time for your rowdy weekend festivities and roughly 2 weeks a head of In Dark Denim 's slated Valentine's Day [Feb. 14th] release. Antwon properly laces up a hazy Chillwave/Cloud Rap -tinged Cities Aviv -produced beat, which ends up sounding like a glitched out Biggie impersonation. While it doesn't even last 2 minutes, director Romoface (Uncle Dee) somehow manages to make "Still ...