Leonard Charles Joins Forces with The King of The Boogie Leroy Burgess for "NINE LIVES" (Wonderful Noise/From The Crate Records)

Jeremy Toy is an extremely talented singer, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer hailing from Auckland, New Zealand. Toy has an Indie-Pop/Shoegaze band called She's So Rad with his wife, Anji and also, moonlights as "Basement" Funk originator Leonard Charles. Although, he's been recording and self-releasing music as Leonard Charles for quite a few years now, his 2016 Basement Donuts album is what really first pinged on our radar; an expansive 31-track album, Basement Donuts is a stylistic re-imagining of J Dilla's magnum opus and final record, Donuts, on its 10th anniversary. Charles has since released an unofficial cover of Madlib, M.E.D. & Blu's "The Turn Up" and ALL NIGHT LONG EP with Reggie Blunt & Jellphonic, as well as one-off collaborations with fellow Kiwis, Team Dynamite and long-time Dilla affiliate, Guilty Simpson. Leonard & Guilty first teamed up for "BREAKING OVER YOU," which was premiered right here at The Witzard last year and they are currently wrapping up a proper 2019 full-length attributed to The Leonard-Simpson Duo AKA LSD. Somehow, amidst all these genre-eschewing collaborations, as well as a year-long recovery back to good health following a hit-and-run accident, has returned with "Nine Lives" alongside The King of The Boogie himself, Leroy Burgess.

An esteemed singer, song-writer, keyboard player, and producer, Leroy Burgess has spent nearly half a century meticulously "crafting and performing hits, deep cuts, and cult classics with unmatched energy, emotional fervor, and commitment to sincerity in song-craft and expression." Burgess has either performed alongside or recorded music with the likes of Black Ivory, Larry Joseph & Science, Aleem, Phreek, LOGG, The P.A. System, Universal Robot Band, Cassius, High Frequency, Bumblebee Unlimited, and countless others. "Inspired by a video of a Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) workshop with [Leroy] Burgess, [Jeremy] Toy took a chance and contacted him with a view to co-writing and recording a song together," states part of a RBMA press release. It appears as though Leroy Burgess instantly connected with a particular Leonard Charles instrumental entitled "Basement Funk Mix," which quickly morphed into "Nine Lives." Digitally released on Jeremy Toy's own From The Crate Records in conjunction with Red Bull Music Academy, Leonard Charles & Leroy Burgess' "Nine Lives" will soon be issued on 12-inch vinyl through Japanese imprint, WONDERFUL NOISE PRODUCTIONS. "Nine Lives"' Main Mix is backed by an Instrumental Mix, as well as Charles' aforementioned "Basement Funk Mix" and a cascading dance floor-ready remix provided by Frank Booker & Julien Dyne.

"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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