The Witzard

NIGHT FINDS YOU by TUFF TURF TUFF TURF is a New Jersey -based Nihilist New Wave band fronted by everyone's favorite Nihilist Punk-Rap super-star, JE DOUBLE F . Equal parts Glenn Danzig & RiFF RAFF , JE DOUBLE F is, actually, the ALL CAPS moniker of Atlantic City 's own Jeff "Spooky" Richie . We've previously covered both Jeff 's 2017 full-length, HUMAN RITES and TUFF TURF 's "BODY HEAT" B/W "HEAVEN, RIGHT NOW" cassingle; plus, JE DOUBLE F was the second brave artist to submit a Beat-maker Bedrock to us, featuring particularly "gloomy" selections from Gravediggaz, Samhain & Nine Inch Nails , of course. Now, JE DOUBLE F -helmed TUFF TURF have returned with the long-rumored follow-up to their 2016 American Scream Records full-length, HUNGER & HAUNT , ominously titled NIGHT FINDS YOU . TUFF TURF , actually, take their name from Fritz Kiersch 's 1985 American Drama film of the same name starring a young...

Lost Remixes by Algorhythms Justin Boland & Kyle Tierce were the co-founders of beloved and now-defunct Indie/Underground Hip-Hop label and collective, World Around Records . Thanks to Zilla Rocca , we ran a sort of label send-off/track-by-track breakdown for their final comp. before permanently closing up shop, 2017's We Are World Around, Vol. 6 . Tierce frequently records and releases "dusty, sample-heavy beats inspired by the Psychedelic music of the late 1960's" as Dr. Quandary , according to Discogs . Aside from his solo output, Quandary recently released an album of fictional Italian "film scores" as MASSIMO E MASSIMO with Dakota Crane and produced the entirety of one-time label mate Louis Mackey 's 2017 effort, AVGVSTVS . Boland, on the other hand, has recorded and released music under a revolving door of musical nom de plumes, over the years, including, but not limited to Thirtyseven , Humpasaur Jones, Hump Jones , FDR with Godforbid...

Lunar Beautific by Variations Of Light " Variations of Light . My new group and album with Alnitak Kid & Nate88 . Lunar Beautific drops April 19. 3 releases in 4 months. No slowing up here..." Nelson Dialect (@Dialect.Official) wrote within a Facebook post earlier this month. I believe, the "3 releases in 4 months" Nelson is talking about are, in fact: Nelson Dialect + Architech 's Opera House released on Galant Records , So.Crates / Alnitak Kid / Nelson Dialect's Sunset Cities on Bedroom Suck Records, and, of course, Variations of Light 's Lunar Beautific released a matter of days ago on Bleu Avian Records . Trusty readers of The Witzard will, likely, recognize Nelson Dialect 's name from his eppearances on "Beyond The 10th," "In The Pocket," and "Hold It Down" on Side B of Ray West & The Soul Misfits self-titled "one-off" cassette for Red Apples 45/FatBeats . Alnitak Kid, Nelson Dialect ...

MAYO SUPREME by The Muslims Durham, North Carolina -based inclusive Punk/Hardcore band The Muslims readily bill themselves as, "your brand new Black/Brown & Queer (AF) Muslim Punk band. Political Satire & Extremism " on their Twitter page, @TheMuzlimz . They're currently aligned with Chicago -based non-profit DIY Punk label, Don't Panic Records & Distro . The Muslims are an All-Queer, Black & Brown Punk band, who emerged from the fire onto the DURM, NC music scene following D***ld Tr**p's 2017 Presidential Inauguration . "Taking inspiration from classic Punk & Afro-Punk roots, they mix Hardcore , Rock-Rap Fusion, Political Satire , and shared experiences as multi-racial Muslims into a powerful and spiritual deliverance," the SALAAMZ/STORY section of The Muslims' Facebook page explains. Its members include lead singer/guitarist Laylatul Qadr AKA QADR —a Black Queer Muslim originally hailing from New York — North Car...

S/T by Witchtrial It's always reasonably enjoyable when artists start up a new side-project or band that's slightly outside of their typical/expected genre; for example, Hardcore Punks playing "Classic Rock" ( Angel Du$t on Pretty Buff or The Men on Tomorrow's Hits ,) Norwegian Heavy Metalers playing sunny Power-Pop ( Kvelertak as Beacheads ,) Fleet Foxes drummer J. Tillman re-emerging as Indie Rock/Folk heart-throb Father John Misty , members of Anthrax, Fall Out Boy & Every Time I Die joining forces as Pop Punk -inflected Heavy Metal band The Damned Things , Brownout covering Black Sabbath as Brown Sabbath , Ty Segall 's Noise-Rock/Punk side-band GØGGS ... I could, honestly, go on and on! So, this brings us to the latest band of merry misfits doing unexpected things musically: WITCHTRIAL . A primarily DC-based band, WITCHTRIAL consists of members of some of The East Coast 's finest Punk/Hardcore bands, including, but not limited t...

Sage Francis & B. Dolan are two Underground/Indie Hip-Hop emcees who have, arguably, achieved as much success as one can within the genre, without "going" Mainstream." It appears as though Sage & B. have always been friends and have been collaborating with each other for years, although, first appeared on-record together in 2012 for the first time dually billed as EPIC BEARD MEN. It was on "2BAD" from B. Dolan's HOUSE OF BEES VOL. 2 MIXED BY: BUDDY PRICE. Since then, B. Dolan & Sage Francis have been loosely collaborating together on-and-off as EPIC BEARD MEN with Dolan releasing countless solo albums on Francis' own label imprint, Strange Famous Records, as well. As recently as 2018, Sage & B. made it "official" releasing their first collaborative project together, Season 1 EP, which contained four Bonus Tracks meticulously tacked onto it's tail-end. Now, EPIC BEARD MEN have returned, exactly one year later, as promis...

'"I grew up on a mix of Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Electronic music, so there’s always all these different sounds in my head. Some sounds can be expressed on conventional instruments, some need machines and I've developed a hybrid set-up to facilitate all of that when I perform. Adding my own cultural story—allowing myself to reflect on and really show my ancestry and roots—feels like I've found the missing piece to my own identity and artistry." Heritage was recorded live at LA's Blue Whale Jazz club over three nights, as well as one day in a North Hollywood studio. Exactly where the live recording stops and the studio recording starts is all but impossible tell with Mark de Clive-Lowe editing the material to purposely blur that line. On Heritage, de Clive-Lowe is joined by a cast of world-class musicians: Josh Johnson (Leon Bridges/Esperanza Spalding,) Teodross Avery (Talib Kweli/Mos Def,) Brandon Eugene Owens (Terrace Martin/Robert Glasper,) Brandon Combs (Mo...

"My kitchen got more ZZ Top records in it than yours... Link to 5+ minutes of elite rhyming by my brother @yourolddroog in The Bio..." Edan (@edanexists) posted on his Instagram page yesterday afternoon. "Witch In The Kitchen" (Episode 1) is just the latest collaboration from reclusive, yet extremely prolific rapper/producer/DJ Edan and Brooklyn -bred Ukrainian-American emcee Your Old Droog . Edan previously produced/co-produced four tracks on Droog 's 2017 major label debut, PACKS for FatBeats . Edan , also, played guitar on the RTNC -produced title track from Your Old Droog & Wiki 's 2017 collaborative EP, What Happened To Fire? While the original track was produced by recent Bun B collaborator Statik Selektah , there's video online of Your Old Droog, Wiki & Edan rehearsing "Vigilantes" together before a June 2017 Red Bull Sound Select Presents performance at The Knitting Factory . However, it appears as though "Wi...

Milwaukee -based 91.7 WMSE 's Local Lunchbox segment fittingly describes Sahan Jayasuriya as "a Wisconsin native, who has served as drummer for a variety of Milwaukee bands over the last decade. His latest venture is a foray into sample-based beat-making under the name Cold Lunch , where he pulls from a variety of formats and music styles to create new works." Cold Lunch 's I Feel So Action "Side" of strata... is a bit more Blues/Jazz -based when compared against steel tipped dove 's I Steel of Radiance "Side." Cold Lunch 's production work throughout strata... honestly, reminds me a bit of s.al 's 2011 Soundcloud loosie, "Moanin' "—or "a throwback vibe to help the ladies and fellas start kickin' the jive"—which expertly samples Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' 1959 track of the same name. I Feel So Action fittingly ends with a smile-evoking Cold Lunch -produced track, of course, entitle...

DJ Nu-Mark is, likely, best know as being one of the in-house DJ's for critically-acclaimed/widely loved Los Angeles-based Hip-Hop crew Jurassic 5; although, Mark Potsic (affectionately known as "Uncle Nu") is also, a talented producer, turntablist, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and film composer, in his own right. In addition to Jurassic 5, Nu-Mark has spent time playing with groups 4 Player Co-Op, Blendcrafters with Pomo, TRDMRK with The Pharcyde founding member Slimkid3 & Austin Antoine, Rebels of Rhythm, and Afrika Bambaataa-helmed Zulu Nation. DJ Nu-Mark has either composed music for—both solo and with Jurassic 5—or appeared within a multitude of feature films and documentaries including Coachella: The Movie, Keepintime: A Live Recording, MacGruber, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Ride Along 1 & 2 starring Ice Cube & Kevin Hart, Rock The Bells: The Documentary, and the upcoming Shaft 2019 sequel/re-boot co-starring Samuel L. Jackson & Jessie T....

Burgers & Sliders by DJ Ragz & Unown Coast-to-coast DJ super-duo Brian Ragonese & Richard Patterson have returned with their second food-themed collaborative project as DJ Ragz & Unown . Burgers & Sliders is, of course, the second all-you-can-eat instrumental follow-up to Unown & Ragz 's 2018 Common Good Records release, Pasta & Wings . "It's a take on the LA burger scene capturing a moment of time from the golden era of G-Funk Rap . We had a blast recording this project!" DJ Ragz writes on his YouTube channel, along with the juicy video for "Plump At All The Time$." Burgers & Sliders finds the duo back in their respective kitchens, with Unown handling the beat duties on his coveted MPC and DJ Ragz meticulously cutting up the meat of these beats on his turntables. DJ Ragz is a world-renown event DJ, instructor, seasoned studio musician, and producer in his own right, who was born and raised Roseville, California ...

Run It Back is one of the more infrequently published "recurring" columns here at The Witzard : honestly, I don't even know when we published one of these last... but what I do know is that the column title is inspired by a Nottz Raw -produced Asher Roth track of the same name, which expertly samples The Misfits' "Return of The Fly." Minor Threat were East Coast Straight-Edge Hardcore/Punk contemporaries of both The Misfits and Glenn Danzig 's next band, Horror Punk pioneers Samhain , which even briefly featured Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar . For me, personally, Black Flag , Minor Threat, Fugazi , The Misfits, and Samhain were my bread and butter while exploring Hardcore/Punk as an angsty 15/16-year-old during the age of Napster and P2P sites. Now, I know Minor Threat/Fugazi frontman and DC -based Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye —like most well-traveled Punk/Hardcore musicians—has always been part of a slew of short-lived b...

Going To The Garden by Mega Ran Let's just go ahead and deem this what it's organically become already: it's unofficially "Official" WrestleMania 35/WWE Monday Night RAW Week here at The Witzard !!! So, to continue the frantic festivities, we have a new track from wrestling aficionado and sharp-tongued Philly -based emcee Mega Ran ! "GOING TO THE GARDEN" was commissioned by Ring of Honor (ROH) and produced by frequent Ray Strife collaborator iLL-Omega , whom Ran initially got in touch with through his friend Eric at NERDS Clothing . "It was hard, fast-paced, and unlike anything I'd ever done before. I wanted to flex some chops and rap a little faster than I normally would on it, to fully capture the excitement of the moment," Mega Ran said on his approach to iLL-Omega 's beat for "GOING TO THE GARDEN." Mega Ran has previously released, at least, three wrestling-themed/ Wrestle Rap albums between 2016-18: Mat Mania:...

Mighty Jabronis by The Mighty Jabronis It's the week after WrestleMania 35/Monday Night RAW , so we're just gonna keep this "unofficial" wrestling theme going... Punk/Hardcore and pro-wrestling have always seemed to go hand-in-hand; as far back as 90's Redwood City -based Powerviolence/Hardcore band SPAZZ to Indie wrestler turned Hardcore frontman Ultramantis Black to pre- Pissed Jeans Powerviolence group The Ultimate Warriors to Straight Edge pro wrestler Brody King 's band God's Hate to Iron Chic to F*CKED UP frontman Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham 's Turned Out A Punk off-shoot Clobberin' Time Podcast with fellow wrestling fanatic Tom Breihan . All of this brings us to Nashville, Tennessee 's very own wrestling-themed Garage Rock/Punk band, The Mighty Jabronis . The frantic foursome includes frontman "Cool" Cat Taylor , bassist "Beautiful" Bobby Hazzard , guitarist The "Brawling" Blood Don...

"Hathaway comes to the Performance Center after a successful tenure as a manager and a wrestler on the indies. Although, trained for the ring, Hathaway gained a reputation in recent years for wheeling-and-dealing on behalf of other wrestlers. The notoriously outspoken Hathaway has represented clients in several promotions throughout The US, from EVOLVE Wrestling to the New England-based Beyond Wrestling. He hails from New York City," reads a recent WWE Performance Center press statement. They're, of course, talking about Independent wrestler and manager Stokely Hathaway, who recently signed a deal with WWE NXT/Performance Center. Hathaway has previously wrestled and managed talent for EVOLVE Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and Major League Wrestling (MLW) and has gone by a variety stage names, including Chuck Taylor, Ramon, and most recently, Court Moore for NXT. Stokely is the self-proclaimed 1996 Source Awards Winner & Former Editor of XXL Magazine. ...