The Witzard

About a week ago, I got an interesting email from a woman named Emma , which started out with "I saw you recently featured White Denim [on your blog], and thought you might find UBK's (Israel) new music video interesting." Down towards the bottom of the message, it also lists his music likely well-suited for fans of The Black Keys , Hanni el Khatib, The Black Angels , and Classic Rock super-group Cream . Uri Brauner Kinrot (UBK) previously toured the world with a Balkan surf guitar-tuba-drums power trio and an infamous New York Punk band; his debut solo album, Ouzo Bazooka , is a stylistic "mix of East and West, Martin and Morrison [that] sends you on a psychedelic high, a journey in time and space." Lead single "I Got You" is a scorchin' hot, down and dirty Rock "N" Roll romper with companion visuals directed by Guy J. Bolandi , which follows a gaggle of beautiful women performing post-apocalyptic ceremonies on the terribly obli...

Hanni el Khatib is the first natural-born American from a family of Palestinian and Filipino immigrants, who bravely heads up his own one-man band on a mission to revive 1950-60's era Rock "N" Roll , classic cars, Greaser chic, and straight razors. Khatib is a talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter/producer who's equally influenced by the stylings of Johnny Cash , Sam Cooke, Iggy & The Stooges , Black Sabbath, Johnny Burnette , etc. as well as Blues , Garage Rock, Soul , Folk, and Doo-Wop . Hanni el Khatib linked up with similarly-minded Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to record his second album, Head In The Dirt , which Innovative Leisure's putting out on April 30th. The pair recorded 11 tracks down in Nashville , soon after Khatib opted to "erase everything he'd become comfortable with and to make an album out of only raw instinct and inspiration." Head In The Dirt 's lead-off single, "Family" now has...