Lushlife Unleashes First "New" Grizzly Bear Song In Some 5 Years with "Foreground" for Ever-evolving A SONG A DAY KEEPS THE PAIN AWAY Benefit Comp. (Rough Trade Publishing)

"When I was asked to contribute to Rough Trade Publishing's A Song A Day to Keep The Pain Away (#SADRTP) benefit project, covering Grizzly Bear's outstanding album cut, "Foreground" somehow felt like the right starting point; in the moment, I was reacting to the Trump Administration's ~~Muslim Ban~~, projecting a song about a relationship falling apart onto man and country," one-time Das Racist affiliate and frequent Heems collaborator Lushlife wrote within a recent statement. "Foreground" was released on Day #74 of a planned 90-day initiative by Rough Trade Publishing, which they vehemently attest aims to "help a little with the pain and perhaps, even inspire you. We hope so. We all need to be doing whatever we can to make 2017 a better tomorrow." Previous prescribers to their A Song A Day Keeps The Pain Away benefit comp. include Sondre Lerche, Nada Surf, King Khan, A Place to Bury Strangers, Superchunk, awesomely-named Prism Tats, Juliana Hatfield, and countless talented artists. "Foreground" originally appeared within Grizzly Bears critically-acclaimed 2009 Warp Records album, Veckatimest; although, they've been relatively quiet since its 2012 follow-up Shields, it appears as though frontman Ed Droste and Grizzly Bear bandmates Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear, and Chris Taylor are currently hard at work writing and recording their long-awaited fifth studio album for imminent release.

Lushlife is certainly no stranger to recording and releasing inventive genre-spanning covers, as he has currently re-worked or expertly interpolated the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Billy Idol+French-Italian Horror film, French Coldwave pioneers Asylum Party, R. Stevie Moore with fellow Philadelphian Zilla Rocca, and Kanye & The Beach Boys for a fittingly-titled 2005 mash-up album, West Sounds. "As the administration's anti-immigrant policies predictably set ablaze a rash of hate crimes against Indian-Americans and other minorities (a topic I recently wrote an op-ed about in the Washington Post), the track's book-ending rhymes about xenophobia and nationalism took on a heightened urgency. Ultimately though, my goal was to re-interpret Grizzly Bear's plaintive joint with buoyant marching drums and fizzy Pop synths to emote something hopeful for these bleak times," Rough Trade Publishing's recent press release continued. Lushlife's like-minded MY IDOLS ARE DEAD + MY ENEMIES ARE IN POWER mixtape was unleashed upon the terribly dumbfounded world on the eve of Donald Trump's presidency with 100% of proceeds earned being donated to the ACLU. I was lucky enough to personally speak with Raj Haldar (Lushlife) and publish a comprehensive 5-question Idols + Enemies-centric interview right here at The Witzard!

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...

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