The Witzard

"We got something special for you today. ialive & The Custodian of Records teamed up to bring you this one-off gentle heat. Make it rain on the boys with half dollars," Cold Rhymes Records ecstatically posted on their Facebook page early Tuesday morning. ialive & The Custodian of Records' (TCOR) debut collaborative stand-alone single together, "INTERVALS," was quietly released late Monday night into Tuesday morning. It appears as though "INTERVALS" came to fruition rather organically, as ialive & The Custodian of Records are, simply, fans and mutual admirers of each other's work; "I believe, I reached out to ialive after peeping "THE OUGHTS" video and then, purchasing TIME WAVE ZERO and enjoying the album. He may have expressed interest in a possible collaboration, so I sent him a couple tracks and this is the one he chose," TCOR recently explained to The Witzard, via email. Intervals (prod. The Custod...

There's a Break In the Road / Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) by Night Owls Not to be confused with Rolled Gold's The Nite Owls, members of Los Angeles' The Lions & The Aggrolites have joined forces to form Night Owls . Blake Colie , Dan "Connie Price" Ubick & Dave Wilder from The Lions have linked up with kindred spirit, Roger Rivas from The Aggrolites . For Night Owls , Colie has stepped behind the drum kit, Ubick provides guitar/percussion, Wilder plays bass, and Rivas provides organ & piano duties. Night Owls' first collaborative offering stands as "There's A Break In The Road" & "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" 7-inch/digital single as part of F-Spot Records' ongoing Homage Series. "There's A Break In The Road" is an uptempo Reggae/Soul cover of Allen Touissant & Betty Harris' 1968-69 smash hit now featuring long-time Breakestra vocalist Afrodyete . Side B feature...

"Theme from Spider-Man" was originally written by Academy Award-winner Paul Francis Webster with music composed by Robert "Bob" Harris for the now-iconic 1967 Spider-Man animated TV series. "Spider-Man" was recorded at RCA Studios in Toronto, Canada featuring 12 CBC vocalists—including members of The Billy Van Singers & Laurie Bower Singers groups—who embellished the musical backing track supplied by RCA Studios, New York; according to a long-standing rumor, the song's bassline might have even been played by American Jazz heavy-weight Charles Mingus ... It's been 52 years since Webster & Harris' composition was originally released and there have been countless Spider-Man animated series and live-action TV shows, as well as several made-for-TV films since. Although, most fans are, likely, most familiar with the onslaught of Spider-Man films released since 2002, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 1-3 , T he Amazing Spider-Man 1...

Free is a New Jersey-based singer-songwriter that releases music under the name "4:44." He writes, records, and plays all of the instruments across his rapidly-released albums. July 25th, 2019 will mark 2 years since the initial release of his critically-acclaimed EP. 4:44 has put out a staggering 7 albums since 2015; each album encompasses a completely different genre. Since JAY-Z EP, Free has self-released 4 separate full-length albums as 4:44 - PARALLELEMENT, RECKONING, CREATURE, and DREAM-WAKE. The JAY-Z EP featured members of 4:44's live band (bassist Greg Mele, Jr. & drummer Zach Gormley) playing on the songs. 4:44's JAY-Z EP has been featured on the pages of Rolling Stone Brazil, Pigeons & Planes, The Daily Dot, and Philly's own The Key, who published the initial 2017 feature. 4:44's latest album is an Experimental Semi-dream Pop album called DREAM-WAKE. You can listen to it on Bandcamp & Soundcloud. You can still listen to the JAY-Z EP on ...

Hepnotherapy by The Hep Chaps The Hep Chaps are a 1930-40's Hot Jazz/Swing Revivalist act consisting of core members David Howarth & John Wallace. David & John first met each other in 1996 on The West End of London, while performing in a stage production of Good Rockin' Tonight. Since 2005, The Hep Chaps have dually function as a duo, a trio, a quartet, and a sextet with additional players including bassist John Day, guitarist Zac Zdravkovic, "vibe" specialist Roger Beajolais, and a mysterious drummer only known as "Damon." The Hep Chaps have, essentially, forged out their own unique style over the past 23 odd years; mingling together well-known Swing tunes from the 1930-40's with their own originals with "zany lyrics and punchy Swing rhythms" in the same classic style. Further details concerning The Hep Chaps are scarcer than expected across The Internets, but it appears as though an album called Swingin' On Nothing was released ...

MF DOOM/DOOM die-hards will know, in addition to his plethora of officially released albums under his various aliases, side-projects, and producer-helmed albums, there's a gaggle of unofficial remixes, mash-ups, bootlegs, etc. Although, even as a self-professed DOOM super-fan, there's one particular release I—and I'm sure many villainous collectors—hadn't heard of until very, very recently: MF DOOM & Damu The Fudgemunk - "Coco Mango," Sliced & Diced . Parisian production duo Union (sometimes, referred to as "Union Analogtronics" ) quietly released the original version of "Coco Mango" on their 2012 FatBeats Records album, Analogtronics ; in addition to DOOM , Union 's OJ & GOLD , also, recruited the likes of Sly Johnson, Talib Kweli, Moka Only, eLZhi, Rapper Big Pooh (Little Brother,) Roc Marciano, and Guilty Simpson, amongst other Hip-Hop/Electronic artists. Those who KNOW, may know Union Analogtronics additionally put...

Many of our trusty readers/music "nerds" may well know Jonah Ray from either Mystery Science Theater 3,000 (MST3K) or The Nerdist Podcast or even his band, Pressers with Cody Votolato from The Blood Brothers/King Krule and Denver Dalley from Desaparecidos/Har Mar Superstar. Come to find out, Jonah is, also, a member of the esteemed Hawaiian Punk scene, which I didn't even know existed until writing this very sentence! Now, Jonah Ray has joined forces with Mike Park & Asian Man Records for his first ever solo musical release, You Can't Call Me Al . It's a collection of five "Weird" Al Yankovic classics paired with original music, in the vein of said Hawaiian Punk scene; "the result is a crazy mish-mash of Atom & His Package meets Jeff Rosenstock meets Weezer meets warmed hearts," reads an on-site Asian Man Records product description. Jonah Ray 's You Can't Call Me Al EP will feature charismatically Punk-ified rend...

Midwest Avengers (MWA) are a self-described "Hip-Hop/Rock/Rap/Metal/Punk/Funk" band hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, often times, billed as "Headbanger Hip-Hop." MWA celebrated their 25th anniversary as a genre-eschewing band back in 2017 with their latest effort, Midwest Avengers 25th Anniversary Edition AKA Year 25 . Originally formed in 1992 as a straight-up Rap crew, Midwest Avengers has evolved into a live music band, in a similar vein to The Roots, Bad Brains, or Jurassic 5; primary emcee John "BC" Harrington is, however, the only remaining member from the original '92 MWA line-up. Midwest Avengers current iteration additionally consists of fellow emcee James "So'n'So" Coleman , guitarists Joe "That Guy Joe" Caratachea & Mason "Mace The Kidd" Caratachea , drummer Alonzo "Zo Prophet" Jamison , and bassist Shawn "Moses" Moses . MWA 's Facebook page readily lists Black Flag...

Hammer Hulls are a Washington, D.C./harDCore -adjacent band I've been hearing rumblings about for at least a year or so now; I always knew it involved Alec MacKaye —younger brother of Minor Threat & Fugazi frontman, Ian MacKaye —but wasn't exactly sure who else, but knew they had been playing shows both in and around the D.C. area. It has now been revealed that, in addition to MacKaye, HAMMERED HULLS , also, consists of bassist Mary "T$" Timony , guitarist Mark Cisneros , and drummer Chris Wilson . Hammered Hulls' members either are or were once active as part of bands such as Acquaintances , American Hearts, Autoclave , Chain & The Gang, Deathfix , Des Demonas, Ex Hex , The Faith, The Firebird Suite , Green 4, Helium , Hound, Ignition , KID CONGO & THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS, Led Byrd , THE MAKE UP, The Mary Timony Band , Medications, Mind Science of The Mind , Open City, Shake Ray Turbine , The Spells, Titus Andronicus , Ted Leo / Pharmacists, The Wa...

ETT - 072 - Urin - Incydent EP by Urin URIN are a newly-minted Swedish-style Hardcore/Punk band based out of Berlin, Germany. Well, they're located in Berlin, wherein they regularly play and rehearse, but originally came from all over the world; URIN currently consists of Karolina (ex-Rock,) Per (ex-P!SS,) David "Suckles" (C__troaches,) and Corey Evans (VEXX, ex-G.L.O.S.S.) URIN —not to be confused with P!SS —play a very specific regional style of 1980-90's Swedish D-beat Hardcore/Punk first popularized by SH*TLICKERS AKA Skitslickers and upon their 1982 break-up, eventually, turned into, Anti Cimex until about 1993. While Karolina, Per, David & Corey previously self-released their 2018 DEMO EP on VOICE FROM INSIDE TAPES last May, their most recent effort, INCYDENT EP , is, technically, their "debut" release. Honestly, the only vaguely Swedish Hardcore/Punk I'm, personally, similar with comes from Refused 's seminal album, The Shape...

Ubik MCDXCII is a mysterious London-based Avant Hip-Hop/musical artist and analog photographer. His second full-form project, Blackout Blinds was recently released on French tape label, Solium Records ; Yoan at Solium , also, very recently released a double-tape dubbed SLAB attributed to Elyria Sequence , AKA CURTA, 4-Digit & Brotherhood of Machines . The Witzard recently premiered an exclusive offering from Cindy Bluray & CURTA called "N0153_W45H" and now, it appears as though, Bluray has mixed "Mythologies" from Ubik MCDXCII 's Blackout Blinds . Otherwise, the rest of the record was tediously mixed by Riccardo "Rico" Gamondi of Italian Experimental Hip-Hop group, Uochi Toki . "This is a boisterous record. The ever-present clamor making life in London claustrophobic lifestyles, the Orwellian high-tech modernity clashing with an ancient past, the parenting of an Autistic child in an autistic society; these are all important themes...

Leeroy Stagger is an Alternative Country singer/song-writer hailing from Victoria, British Columbia/Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Stagger has been steadily recording and releasing music since 2002's Six Tales of Danger EP and has toured with everyone from Hot Hot Heat to The Pixies, Modest Mouse to The Lemonheads' frontman Evan Dando. Leeroy Stagger has previosuly released music under the umbrellas of Easton Stagger Phillips , Leeroy Stagger & The Wildflowers, Leeroy Stagger & His Band , Leeroy Stagger & The Sinking Hearts, and most recently, Leeroy Stagger & The Rebeltone Sound . 2017's critically-acclaimed Love Versus was touted as a "re-emergence after a years-long fog of anxiety and depression" and featured contributions from drummer Pete Thomas , guitarist Paul Rigby , keyboardist Geoff Hilhorst , and Stagger's long-time bassist Tyson Maiko . Now, Leeroy Stagger has returned with the announcement of his second album of 2019, Strange P...

Eddie X Murphy / Steven Seagal by Eddie X Murphy It appears as though Grindcore/Noisecore 's popularity truly spans from coast to coast, ocean to ocean across the globe; today's particular Noise -making specimens are Italian Harsh Noisecore band Eddie x Murphy (AKA E x M ) and Chilean Noisecore band Steven Seagal . Yes, there are, in fact Grind/Noisecore bands named after two of America's most beloved Comedy/Action actors—watch out, The Mr. T Experience & The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza! E x M currently consists of players Alex D. Luca Scaglie Di Rumore , and Tommy Deaf , while Steven Seagal are a self-proclaimed "a$$hole duo, who make Noisecore ." For their latest collaborative release, E x M & Steven Seagal have joined forces with Italian imprint SPUTO RECORDS for a 9-song digital split. "Simply, Eddie X Murphy likes Steven Seagal 's Noisecore and we asked him to do a split," E x M 's Alex D. explained how said split o...

Last we heard from Long Island emcee, Experimental Hip-Hop lyricist, performance poet, singer/song-writer, author, and beat-boxer Bruce "AllOne" Pandolfo , he had just released his Dusty Dossiers EP as part of Fake Four Inc. 's month-long FREECEMBER 2017 initiative. Dusty Dossiers was inspired by both producer Dope KNife 's Jazzy, dusty beats, as well as AllOne 's own submissions for Local Gems Poetry Press' 30 Poems In 30 Days contest and esteemed True Crime podcast, CRIMINAL . AllOne has since continued his weekly Spontaneous Sundays freestyle video series and issued a poetry collection entitled "THIS IS CRIMINAL" (30 TRUE CRIME POEMS IN 30 DAYS.) Now, AllOne has returned with his first compilation of new material since Dusty Dossiers , aside from last June's one-off single, "Sloth," entitled WHOLE > SUM PARTS . It's a 13-track collection of demos, snippets, unfinished, unreleased, and other odds-and-ends-style compos...

"New @bruceleeband coming soon. Even made an [Instagram] page which means this is serious stuff, so please Follow. This photo was taken about 20 [minutes] ago in San Jose in front of @districtrecording I ❤️ San Jose," Mike Park (@mikeparkmusic) mysteriously posted on his Instagram page over the weekend. The Bruce Lee Band has existed in various incarnations since 1995, while the "Bruce Lee" name itself was adopted as a pseudo-nickname by Mike Park during his time spent playing saxophone and singing with Skankin' Pickle from 1989-96. Although, the band is, often, officially known as "The B. Lee Band" because, supposedly, following the release of The Bruce/B. Lee Band 's 1995 self-titled debut, "Lee's brother, Robert, who happened to be the manager of the CD manufacturing plant responsible for pressing the album, contacted Park to give him a friendly word of caution that Bruce Lee's name and likeness were copyrighted." Mik...

Last we heard from Dan "Height" Keech , he was prepping his 2018 E-40 & B-Legit-style double-mic sonic assault, Computer Rocker , on his very own imprint, Cold Rhymes Records , with partner-in-rhyme, MISTER as a "Featured Emcee" throughout." Prior to Computer Rocker , Height and his crew unleashed THERE ISN'T VERY MICH TIME: 14 ICE-COLD DEVASTATORS FROM COLD RHYMES RECORDS , which boasted choice cuts from their 2018 release schedule: Height -produced Stories of A Made Up Year from Darko The Super , Speak N' Eye's Cypher At The Gates of Dawn, and Kate Ferencz 's What Was The World , as well as Param Anand Singh's Psychic Arpeggiator, 808's & Milkshakes from Desperate Band Appreciation Society (Darko & Harvey Cliff MC,) Vans_Westly 's Bubble Boy , HEIGHT KEECH 1000: The Tightest Songs 2000-2018, ialive 's Don't Do Nothing —one of our personal Favorite Albums of 2018—Year of The Darko Hosted By: Height Keech, ...

Inner Space - side B taster by Tom Caruana Remix Projects Many of our readers may unknowingly know Tom Caruana from his work on genre-shaping remix/mash-up albums, such as Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles - Enter: The Magical Mystery Chambers , Black Gold - Jimi Hendrix vs. The Wu-Tang Clan, and An Adventure to Pepperland Through Rhyme & Space . Caruana has, also, received critical acclaim (especially, here on The Witzard ) for his band, Son of Sam 's 2017 album, CINDER HILL , Black Gold: Spare Nuggets 2xLP, and 2018 self-titled EP with Detroit emcee Boog Brown . I've been frequently emailing back-and-forth with Tom Caruana and it appears as though, he has a handful of as-yet-unannounced/unreleased projects currently in-the-works or nearing completion; although, until very recently, I had not personally heard a peep about Carauana's latest project, Inner Space . It will artfully incorporate and remix samples culled from iconic Krautrock/Prog-Rock band Can 's storied dis...

Refused is a Swedish Hardcore Punk/Post-Hardcore band, which was, originally, active from 1991-98; during their brief 7-year initial run, Refused released three full-length albums, two compilations, and multiple EP's, culminating with their genre-shaping '98 album, The Shape of Punk to Come . Refused have been effectively re-formed since 2012 and their current line-up consists of frontman Dennis Lyxzén , drummer David Sandström , guitarist Kristofer Steen , and bassist Magnus "Flagge" Björklund . Refused 's members, during their two iterations, multiple hiatuses, and break-ups, have, also, functioned within a number of currently active and inactive solo projects, side-bands, etc. including, but not limited to: Abhinanda , AC4, Brainsquashed Puppies , David Sandström Overdrive, Final Exit , The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Instängd , INVSN/The Lost Patrol, and most recently, Fake Names with members of Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Embrace, SAVAK & Girls...

Brutalligators are a Post-Youth/Indie Punk band hailing from South East UK. The band consists of members Luke Murphy-Wearmouth, Paul Wade, Rhys Kirkman & Simon Lee , who readily list Dikembe, Death Cab for Cutie, Smith Street Band, The Hard Aches, The Mountain Goats, Foxing, and American Football amongst "Artists We Also Like." Brutalligators' Facebook page lists their Genres as "Punk, Alt. Indie, Indie, Pop Rock, Emo, Post-Emo, Bed Wetting, and Musicals" and somewhat eerily admit they "have a penchant for long walks on the beach and severed limbs." It appears as though Luke, Paul, Rhys & Simon formed Brutalligators around July 2017 prior to the release of their debut EP, Animals I Wish I'd Seen ; through 2018-19, they self-released covers of both Frightened Rabbit 's "My Backwards Walk" and Blink-182 's "Going Away for (to) College," as well as a 2018 holiday single, "Christmas In July." Now, Br...

Rollerskating Jam named "Sundays" by Nautilus "So, I asked Toshi[yuki Sasaki] from Nautilus because of his creative Jazz style and singer Fleur Earth , who I had in mind as the voice for this version to [fully] realize it for me. And yes, there will be another cool re-interpretation of a classic tune... I'll keep you updated," DJ Oonops told The Witzard roughly two years ago. He was talking about Nautilus & Fleur Earth 's Beastie Boys "Root Down" cover from Oopops Drops Vol. 1 ; at the time, the part about "another cool re-interpretation of a classic tune..." was largely irrelevant, but now, all of a sudden, it has become relevant! DJ Oonops is currently assembling Oopops Drops Vol. 2 for a September release on Hanover, Germany-based Agogo Records —an "extensive compilation covering genres from Dub, Jazz, Funk, Soul to Beats & Hip Hop"—and has unleashed "another cool re-interpretation." This time, Oono...