The Witzard

STRANGE JAQSUN by STRANGE JAQSUN Villainous producer and founder of The Guerilla Godz crew, The Diabolical Doctor Strange AKA Solomon Strange AKA Solomon Caine , has returned with his first full-length project since 2017's The Friday Night Philosopher . This time around, Solomon Strange has joined forces with Swiss beat-maker and producer Sauce Jacqson to form STRANGE JACQSUN . The Diabolical Doctor Strange & Sauce Jacqson 's STRANGE JACQSUN project has been mysteriously teased on their social media accounts for a few weeks now, with today's date, Friday, November 30th, being curiously referred to as "the third quarter of the moon phase." Honestly, there's very little to no information online concerning either Solomon Strange or Sauce Jacqson and even less regarding newly-minted STRANGE JACQSUN . Although, the bulk of Doctor Strange 's scattered discography has been self-released under his own Guerilla Godz banner, as well as Canadian im...

Home Is Where We Start From by Star Slinger Star Slinger is one of the many recording aliases of "hairy music producer/DJ" Darren Williams . He's currently residing in Ljubljana in The Republic of Slovenia (Central Europe) but originally hails from Nottingham, UK . Williams has actively been recording and releasing music as Star Slinger since 2010 and quite honestly, was one of the very first artists, I believe, I ever covered here on The Witzard . I can still vividly remember hearing Star Slinger 's lushly-orchestrated Volume 1 and Remixes 2010 , both released online— Bandcamp was still in its earliest stages—over the Summer of 2010; the latter, featuring unofficial Electronic/Hip-Hop remixes of Deerhunter , Small Black, Rollerskaters , Alpine, and FIVENG tracks. Over the course of the past 8-9 years, Star Slinger has either worked with, remixed, or collaborated with Blackbird Blackbird , Childish Gambino, Dawn Richard AKA D∆WN , Ellie Goulding, Kilo Kis...

Soul Cannon by Soul Cannon First and foremost, major shout-out to Soul Cannon for sending out FREE Bandcamp download codes to everyone subscribed to their mailing list over the weekend. While their latest self-titled album has been on our radar for a few weeks now, we have to admit, that complimentary download code was really what it took for us to delve head first into the album just this past weekend. Now, with that out of the way, this brand spankin' new Soul Cannon album is phenomenal! Eze Jackson 's Twitter page ( @ezewriter ) describes him as the "Frontman for @soulcannonband . Reporter for The Real News Network . Host of The Whole Bushel ." Eze has been steadily making and releasing music since 2007, if not longer, and his most recent project is a string of 008 weekly Soundcloud singles dubbed #StashHouseSundays . In addition to Eze Jackson , Soul Cannon also, includes Matt Frazão on guitars/electronics, Jon Birkholz on keys/electronics, and drummer...

YOU BEST NOT MISS by Lace Berriez Lace Berriez is an emcee and producer hailing from the Northeast quadrant of Washington, DC . For musical inspiration, he readily draws from Soul , R&B, Funk , Jazz, and of course, DC -rooted Go-Go . Since 2017, Lace has self-released a staggering 5 albums and EP's, as well as countless stand-alone singles, on his own Bandcamp page. Lace Berriez 's latest 7-track EP, YOU BEST NOT MISS , was produced by Baltimore -based producer and The Witzard mainstay John Bachman AKA "DJ" Jumbled . "Growing frustrated with the slow pace of return projects, Jumbled reached out to Twitter saying he needed rappers to feed beats to; Lace Berriez Responded and the email exchanges began," reads Lace & Jumbled 's EP press release. Although, they've only met in-person once at a 2016 beat event called DATBEET #2 , Jumbled & Lace Berriez stayed in touch online and ultimately, created this Funky little Boom-Bap -leani...

First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving Day Weekend/Black Friday to all of our trusty readers out there and Happy Record Store Day Black Friday to my fellow crate diggers! Full disclosure: I'm pretty sure one of the first CD's I ever bought for my Walkman was Will Smith 's 1997 solo debut, Big Willie Style . Regardless, it was definitely one of my earliest brushes with Hip-Hop/Rap , which ultimately, changed my life! A few of my earliest favorite Hip-Hop albums I discovered on my own were Atmosphere 's Seven's Travels , Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill & Paul's Boutique, Wu-Tang Clan 's Enter: The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers,) and Jurassic 5's Power In Numbers. The latter has always had a special place in my Hip-Hop -loving heart and I would soon, go on to discover DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist 's heavily-bootlegged BRAINFREEZE , Chali 2na & Roc 'C's Ron Artiste' super-group, and Jurassic 5 's "last" album, Feedback , r...

Fresh off an extensive Fall US tour with Nine Inch Nails & The Jesus & Mary Chain in support of Black Moth Super Rainbow 's latest effort, Panic Blooms , multi-instrumentalist and producer Thomas "Tom" Fec AKA TOBACCO has returned with Malibu Ken ; both a collaborative effort and newly-formed rapper/producer group with long-time touring mate and world-renown emcee Aesop Rock . TOBACCO & Aesop Rock , actually, first worked together on "Dirt" from Fec's 2008 anticon CD/DVD F*cked Up Friends . Later that same year, Aes & Tom "worked together" again on a mash-up/remix project called The Hood Internet vs. Tobacco & Aesop Rock "featuring" Breeze Brewin , Cage, Mr. Lif , The Mountain Goats' frontman John Darnielle, Zaid Maxwell , Camp Lo, Rob Sonic , and El-P. The Hood Internet 's Aaron Brink & Steve Reidell implemented a similar style on 2010's The Hood Internet X TOBACCO X Felt , remixing tracks fr...

It's a fairly simple, yet effective concept: "your favorite Punk, Hardcore & Ska albums, but with four fingers." That, in fact, is the mantra of Instagram page @simpsonsXcore (formerly @MillionsOfDeadSimpsons) whose creations can also, be found on Facebook & Twitter. sXc has tastefully re-designed both classic and contemporary Punk, Hardcore & Ska albums. The Witzard has been Following @MillionsOfDeadSimpsons/ @simpsonsXcore's Instagram since roughly September 2017 and to be completely honest, it's one of our favorite accounts! We recently had an opportunity to conduct a comprehensive interview with SimpsonsXcore, which has been lightly edited for general clarity. Make sure you Follow @simpsonsXcore's pages on Instagram, Twitter , and Facebook for regular updates and side-by-side comparisons. Additionally, SimpsonsXcore was kind enough to put together a last-minute 20-song Spotify playlist consisting of their favorite Punk/Hardcore selections ...

I'm Insane by JACK MOVES Since the release of his Work to Rule EP earlier this year, emcee, beat-boxer, and live looper Jack Moves quietly unleashed a Bandcamp cassingle entitled "Smoke Break​/​Sweet Revenge." Now, he has returned to unveil his next Extended Play. It's titled I'm Insane: A Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne , which is obviously, a 6-song tribute to The Prince of Darkness , Ozzy Osbourne and his long-time/now-defunct band, Black Sabbath . I'm Insane includes Jack Moves' previously released and extremely spot-on cover of Ozzy 's howling 1983 single, "Bark at The Moon," as well as his 1995 Zakk Wylde & Geezer Butler -assisted single, "Perry Mason." For I'm Insane , Jack Moves additionally tackles "Shot In The Dark" from The Ultimate Sin (1986) and "Mr. Crowley" from Blizzard of Ozz (1980) as well as Black Sabbath 's "Black Sabbath" from their 1970 self-titled debut. Then...

"I will try to keep this breakdown brief. It seems fitting, as our songs themselves are short and fast. We're a Hardcore Punk band from Toronto, Canada. We have been a band for over two years and have a few tapes that we have self-released, but this is our first proper EP. Our sound takes influence from everything we like to listen to, but is most often, and obviously, compared to 80's US Hardcore. We love US bands like Void, YDI, Jerry's Kids, and Cro-Mags, etc. but also, listen to Punk from all over the world. [We] especially enjoy Japanese Hardcore bands from the 80's and Burning Spirits bands. We also, like Metal. The entire EP was recorded in Boxcar Studio in Hamilton, Ontario by Sean Pearson in one day, before we headed out to play a show in Kitchener, Ontario that night. A key to "good" Hardcore is playing fast and to the point; this is also, reflected in our recording process. The production on the record is pretty much the same song-to-song....

It all started just a few days ago, when I saw a post on F*CKED UP frontman Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham 's Instagram page ( @leftfordamian .) He was teasing a then-upcoming episode of his weekly podcast, Turned Out A Punk , featuring Chris Dodge from "The Beastie Boys of Hardcore," SPAZZ . A photograph of @mrchrisdodge was surrounded by images of No Use for A Name , NOFX frontman Fat Mike, CROSSED OUT , Kool Keith , Southern Lord Records , Melt Banana, and The Melvins . I ( @sharpcheddar856 ) posed an exclamatory question through comment, "Woah, now, what's Chris ' relation to Kool Keith !?" Fellow Instagram Punker @bengonzales815sl soon Replied: "@sharpcheddar856 Kool Keith did a guest spot on a SPAZZ record," which I soon learned, was in fact, SPAZZ's 1997 album, La Revancha . Later, Damian Abraham himself, actually, Replied back, as well: "@bengonzales815sl @sharpcheddar856 they are also name checked on Dr. Oc ....

Tilted by MRC Riddims MRC Riddims is a Stoner Tech-House , Pop, Dancefloor & EDM DJ/production team consisting of Alap "Alap Now" Momin & Marc "Merc Yes" Sorrillo . Alap Now has either played with or recorded music as BKGD Audio , Deadverse, Numbers Not Names , This Immortal Coil, and MGR , as well as functioning as Oktopus , a founding member of Noise-Rap pioneers dälek from 1998-2010. Merc Yes , on the other hand, has functioned as a multi-instrumentalist for New Jersey -based Shoegaze/Noise Rock band All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors for the past 22 years, as well as having a hand in Ifwhen and his own Marc Sorrillo Audio Production . It appears as though Alap Now & Merc Yes first met when Alap engineered All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors' 1996-98 albums All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors & Turning Into Small ; they even appeared together 10 years later on a 2008 split 12-inch entitled dälek vs. Ifwhen ‎– Hear Less / No G...

As any well-rounded Hip-Hop head should already know, we recently celebrated the 25th anniversaries of two of Hip-Hop 's most revered and widely-loved albums: Wu-Tang Clan 's monumental debut, Enter: The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and A Tribe Called Quest 's third album, Midnight Marauders both originally released on November 9th, 1993. Wu-Tang 's 9 surviving clansmen, as well as ODB 's son, Young Dirty Bastard (@DirtyBastardJr) have recently been making the rounds in celebration of their 25th anniversary; making recent appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live , Good Morning America , and in Staten Island AKA "Shaolin" in honor of Wu-Tang Clan Day . Wu-Tang also, dropped a career-spanning documentary called For The Children: 25 Years of Enter: The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers.) A Tribe Called Quest 's surviving members— Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Jarobi White —on the other hand, have remained a bit more silent since their 2016 "final" album with...

Weekend Money (or W$ ) are a Hip-Hop/Electronic duo consisting of emcee NE$$ AKA @NESSTAGRAM and producer/vocalist Amar "Baghdaddy" Ibrahim AKA @AmarBagh & @Bagh3d . NE$$ & Baghdaddy originally hail from Philly & Iraq , respectively, but are currently based somewhere in-between Philly, Brooklyn , and Miami . Weekend Money , during their earliest aughts, were affiliated with now-defunct Das Racist and, at one point, were even signed to Heems' label, Greedhead Music . NE$$ is also, one-half of The A-Alikes , a crew with affiliation to dead prez and their "militant rhyme crew," People's Army . I can still vividly remember seeing W$ at one of Das Racist 's final gigs at Union Transfer in Philly right around the same time as their 2013 debut EP, Naked City . If I'm remembering correctly, I believe, Baghdaddy & NE$$ nearly ripped through the entirety of their genre-blending as-yet-unreleased 9-track EP. Now, if my memory is s...

BOUNCE THAT ASS by ICE-T & CHARLIE FUNK vs. MIGHTY MOCAMBOS As you may recall, The Witzard published comprehensive interviews with both Ice-T & MR.X from EBE NATION , as well as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band multi-instrumentalist/band leader Björn Wagner right around the same time just a few months back. Now, it appears as though Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band 's self-described "alter-ego" or "evil twin" band, The Mighty Mocambos have joined forces with EBE NATION founders Ice-T & Afrika Islam AKA MR.X under his zany Funk -tastic alter-ego, Charlie Funk . Here's how Björn Wagner tells it: "the story is rather short: we met Charlie back with [Afrika] Bambaataa in Hamburg , performed together at Reeperbahn Festival , and recorded "Zulu Walk" & "Battle" in Hamburg . The tracks ended up on The Future Is Here (2011) record." "We kept in touch and recorded more songs for the second album. When Charl...

"DJ Bacon is one of Brisbane's best known and best loved DJ's. He began performing in the mid-1990's at some of the city's formative venues. Across 20 years in Melbourne and Brisbane, he has played at most of Australia's iconic club venues and events. He is a former QLD DMC DJ Champion and Qmusic Award winner. He is rightly famous in the Australian music underground for his effortless blend of Hip-Hop, Soul, and Funk from every era. DJ residencies across the country have included world-class venues, such as Laruche, Cloudland, Revolver (Melbourne,) First Floor, The Evelyn, E55, Kerbside, Lychee Lounge, X&Y Bar, Press Club, Bavarian Bier Cafe, Sake Restaurant, Rumpus Room, Brooklyn Standard, and more. DJ supports of note have included all-time Hip-Hop pioneers, such as Grandmaster Flash, DJ Shadow, DJ Dexter, Cut Chemist, Jurassic 5, The Roots, and many more. With his band, Briztronix, he has won QLD Music Awards, released 3 full-length LP's, and appe...