The Witzard

The Pathetx were a "transitional" Detroit-based Punk band originally, albeit briefly, active during the early 80's and were often credited with bridging the gap between Punk & Hardcore in its earliest aughts. The Pathetx 's core line-up consisted of frontman Mark Leavitt , lead guitarist Greg Kutcher , rhythm guitarist Tom McHenry , bassist Michael "Mick" Goldwater AKA Filthy McNasty , and drummer Ted Meek AKA Iggy Moon . The Pathetx quickly became infamous for their extremely fast-paced original compositions, zany covers, and spirited live shows, which were often filled with slam dancing, stage diving, and blood-drenched sweaty teens. The band frequented Nunzio's, as well as local venues, Bookie's Club 870, The Freezer Theater, and The Red Carpet. "The shows were fueled with blood and destruction. Bloodied faces, fists, broken guitars, cymbals, and limbs all became part of the show," boasts a recent Third Man Records press release...

united vizion by Gould '72 united vizion is the first release from the artist formerly known as all these fingers AKA âtƒ . Since 2008, the mysterious Detroit -based producer and beat-maker released 50 full-length projects, as well as various EP's, singles, etc. and worked with the likes of Bishop Nehru , Darko The Super, The Hell Hole Store , Hemlock Ernst, Infinity Frequencies , Jack Wilson, Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire , and Yzal The Praxis. Just this past March, all these fingers uploaded his 50TH and final release as âtƒ , 悪い受信 . Along with 悪い受信 's digital and cassette release, âtƒ shared an extremely heart-felt note to all of his fans and supporters, which you can read in-full at the bottom of this very post. Now, just a few mere months later, âtƒ has returned under a brand new recording alias, Gould '72 , with the aforementioned united vizion . When compared against his past work as all these fingers/âtƒ , Gould '72 is far more instrument-based than H...

J Dilla + Michael Jackson = Share My Bed by J.Rocc It's safe to say, I've been patiently awaiting J.Rocc 's J Dilla & Michael Jackson -blending mash-up project ever since Stones Throw posted: " Share My Bed=M.J. & Dilla 1st track "Player Has Butterflies" ... wait 4 the rest" nearly 10 years ago back in November 2009. Over the years, a handful of tracks have been sporadically leaked out from the project—alternatively, referred to as "Dil Jackson" —but every year, as Dilla Month (February) comes and goes, I've always wondered, if we would ever hear the entirety of J.Rocc 's Share My Bed . Even this year, J Dilla 's birthday, Feb. 7th (same as my dad's!) passed, as well as Feb. 10th, the 12th anniversary of his passing, and still, no signs of J.Rocc 's anxiously-awaited Dil Jackson project. However, just a few days ago, on Valentine's Day , J.Rocc quietly dropped Share My Bed on his Bandcamp , without any pr...

"I have a She's So Rad EP I am working on, dreamy Shoegaze stuff. I have a Leonard Charles Modern Funk [album] with a Lo-Fi Disco tint full-length record that is nearly complete, a Basement Funk record that will feature Wildchild , Guilty Simpson, Declaime AKA Dudley Perkins , Team Dynamite, and Georgia Anne Muldrow , and then, I still have a few things up my sleeve... but I gotta stay focused on these records, for now. I am easily distracted by amazing music and stupid plans!" Jeremy Toy AKA Leonard Charles replied when asked what he had planned following Basement Donuts . Basement Donuts is, of course, Toy's 2016 album-length debut as alter-ego " Leonard Charles ;" a Basement/Modern Funk album recorded in his basement as a 31-track tribute to Stones Throw /Instrumental Hip-Hop pioneer, producer, and rapper James "J Dilla" Yancey . During the interview prep leading up to our November 2016 The Witzard interview, Leonard Charles casually ...

"With the blessing of my Fool's Gold family by my side, I'm excited to be working with Warp [Records] on new material. They're music fans to the same high degree I am and I'm looking forward to breaking some rules together," frantic Detroit -bred emcee Danny Brown recounted within a brief statement released along with his latest single, "When It Rain." Nearly mere hours after its Tuesday night reveal, Brown appeared on revered Beats 1 Radio DJ Zane Lowe 's web-series; "it's actually even better! Shout out to [Mimi Cave] , man- she really just made my vision come to life... I really got the idea from this Talking Heads documentary that I saw and I was really into that, so I wanted ["When It Rain"] to look like that," Danny Brown divulged when Lowe inquired if Cave's video treatment came out like he had imagined. Brown continued that his still currently untitled album was heavily influenced by a book penned abo...

Alex Goose is, to the best of my knowledge, the first (and likely last) Hip-Hop -loving Middle American producer who's been lucky enough to have worked with vastly different musicians like underground gran-wizard, prolific rapper-producer, and revered Jazz enthusiast Madlib AND hit-after-hit-penning Indie Rock mavens, Weezer ; aside from maybe only Uptown Funkateer and London -based producer and taste-maker Mark Ronson , who's recorded genre-blending material with everyone from Ol' Dirty Bastard to Doo-Wop revivalist Amy Winehouse . While he recently had the opportunity to remix Freddie Gibbs & Madlib 's critically-acclaimed Piñata with samples culled from Now-Again Records founder Egon 's storied re-issue vaults and back catalog, Goose has previously worked alongside the likes of Hip-Hop greenhorn emcees Kevin Gates , Jake Troth, Donnis , and Detroit -bred wordsmith Red Pill . "You may recognize the next Alex Goose -produced track from Silicon V...

"If my mother knew I was in show business now, she would worry herself just sick... she thinks I'm in Philadelphia sellin' dope," reads a comical Richard Pryor -esque bit from an unknown comic; it acts as the spoken-word intro to Guilty Simpson 's "Blunts In The Air," which dually serves as an unofficial mantra throughout Guilty 's hard-as-nails Katalyst -produced Detroit's Son . Guilty & Katalyst first met during the recording sessions that would ultimately yield Geoff Barrow 's 35-member Hip-Hop collective Quakers' self-titled Stones Throw debut (2012). Detroit's Son 's introductory track, "R.I.P." is actually a vocal version of Katalyst 's "R.I.P." instrumental lifted from Quakers , which seamlessly ties the two projects together right off the bat. Although it was initially billed as a "Guilty Simpson x Quakers" project upon the release of THE SIMPSON TAPE , Detroit's Son was...

While tough-as-nails emcees Guilty Simpson & Danny Brown don't seemingly have much in common (aside from mutual collaborator Black Milk ), the two like-minded lyrical wordsmiths are surprisingly cut from the same battle-worn "cloth." Simpson & Brown both just so happen to have unleashed newly-minted material yesterday, August 3rd: "Animal" produced by Quakers beatsmith Katalyst and "Worth It" produced by Lil B affiliate, Clams Casino , respectively. Late Monday afternoon, I curiously Tweeted @guiltysimpson , whom I recently had the opportunity to interview for this very site , inquiring if he and Mr. Brown had ever worked together; to which he quickly replied with a video still of Elzhi 's "Fire" Remix featuring Black Milk , GUILTY SIMPSON, Fatt Father , DANNY BROWN, and Fat Ray . Lest we forget, Guilty & Danny additionally teamed up way back in 2010 on Quelle -produced Detroit State of Mind 4 mixtape cut, "Mu...

THE SIMPSON TAPE is actually not Guilty Simpson & Oh No 's first collaborative project, contrary to popular belief; "This past year [2010], around the same time Madlib was creating his remix of Guilty Simpson 's Ode to The Ghetto for his Madlib Medicine Show #1 release, we had Oh No remix the tracks as well, using samples from the Now-Again catalog. Oh No 's collection, Ghettodes is not meant as as 'album', but you put [all] 14 tracks together, and you might as well call it that." Stones Throw quietly "leaked" a number of Ghettodes tracks out to savvy crate-diggers between 2008-10 including The Whitefield Brothers -sampling "American Nightmare," "Piglets," "Futuristic," "What to Do," "Y'all Scared," "Dreads," and "Killer." Just the other day, while I was perusing through Now-Again/Stones Throw 's Discogs label pages, I stumbled upon "Stones Thro...

"The Throwaway" was either lifted off an old mid-90's Beat CD or DAT, which might've come from J Dilla 's hometown storage locker that Jeff Bubeck infamously stumbled upon last April. After a little bit of Internet-fueled confusion, Dilla's personal effects were rightfully returned to his mother, Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey - This including: nearly 8,000 vinyl LP's, pieces of mail, Slum Village paperwork, hand-written notes, and a gaggle of cassette/Beat CD-R's, etc. "The Throwaway" is out first audio-file snippet from Delicious Vinyl 's upcoming Frank Nitt -orchestrated Yancey Boys album, "The Lost Scrolls" (2013). It's the fifth posthumous J Dilla release... right behind The Shining , Jay Love Japan EP, Jay Stay Paid , and Rebirth of Detroit. Frank Nitt and J Dilla 's little brother, Illa J , decided to cruise around LA and visit some of Dilla's favoutite sun-soaked landmarks, which Josh Polon e...

Truth Be Told by Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson Guilty Simpson & Apollo Brown are quite arguably the most downright Funky , brutally honest Detroit natives since Smokey Robinson & The Miracles ! Fresh on the heels of a few solid 2010-11 joint albums , Apollo Brown successfully flipped a smooth crooning [ghostly] sample of "Awe, baby, it's been so-ooo looong" that's perfectly suited for a few introspective Guilty Simpson verses. Generally mis-labelled as an "Underground MC," Simpson has been actively rapping ever since 1991... released his Stones Throw debut, Ode to The Ghetto in 2008, and has worked with everyone from J Dilla to Geoff Barrow (Portishead). "Truth Be Told" is the first taste/lead single to whet our appetites for Dice Game , which is currently slated for a Nov. 13th release. Guilty Simpson & Apollo Brown managed to rope in a set of top-notch feature guest verses from Torae and Planet Asia , too. "S...

Purity Ring - "Belispeak II" (Danny Brown) While Danny Brown has already worked with non- Hip-Hop cats like The Big Pink and The Streets The D.O.T. , he recently Tweeted : "Everybody I wanna work with don't wanna work with me, so I gave up on asking people to do songs with me a long time ago." Mr. Brown then proceeded to list The Weeknd and Purity Ring amongst his dream collaborators. Nearly 1 month later @ 12 midnight Oct. 9-10th, Purity Ring quietly debuted "Belispeak II" online, which just so happens to feature Danny Brown ! Back in August, Corin Roddick mentioned to Pitchfork that his production work's influenced by Soulja Boy, Justin Timberlake, Clams Casino , and that he'd "really like to get into producing for Hip-Hop and R&B artists." " [Danny] Brown , who first saw Purity Ring on their summer tour, expressed interest in wanting to work with the band via Twitter and the two then exchanged ide...

James Franco , a true "Renaissance Man" has now added Doo Wop musician to his long list of credentials, which also includes: method actor, college student, performance artist, "soap star," director, award show host, author-poet, etc. On top of all that, Franco recently somehow managed to find time to form Daddy with his old college buddy, Tim O'Keefe while on the Oz: The Great & Powerful set. Daddy 's Motown -inspired debut effort, MotorCity EP was released online roughly 2 weeks ago on Sept. 25th; There's been no specific record label mentioned for it's release/promotion, but I guess, who really needs label backing when you're James Franco ha. Franco's scantily-clad co-stars from his upcoming Indie film Spring Breakers , including Selena Gomez & Vanessa Hudgens , are strewn across MotorCity EP 's Instagrammed album cover... "If it was four unknowns on that cover, maybe it'd just be purely this sexual thing. But w...

Danny Brown is most likely far from your average rapper; Granted he regularly brags about "drinking & smoking," but he's been somewhat weirdly well-received by Indie Rock blogs and endearing fans alike. Maybe it's Brown's affinity for non- Hip-Hop beats, stark realism, cutting-edge threads, outsider appearance... or that Trent Reznor -reminiscent side-swoop haircut. Whatever the reasoning behind it, ex- Pitchfork contributor Eavvon O'Neal felt compelled to shadow and film Danny Brown for a few days back in February. The final edit has been dubbed Detroit State of Mind , a mini-documentary which Brown himself simply describes as, "really like a movie/reality show pilot or some shit ... you laugh, u cry and someone dies at the end lol." Overall, Eavvon O'Neal 's filmed account is a candid 20-minute look into Danny Brown's everyday life. Un-charistically "normal" happenings include: hanging out with family, getting a ...

Throughout it's opening scenes, native Detroiters Daniel Zott & Joshua Epstein can be seen driving around familiar Motor City streets in a big green van while wearing Detroit Tigers jackets; Andrew Smart [director] then pans across various hard-working townspeople singing along with "We almost lost Detroit this time." Filmed over 3.5 days @ some 26 locations, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jr. have skillfully morphed Gil Scott-Heron's vivid re-telling of near nuclear destruction (1977) into a story of "progress. About setting things right. Coming together as people and moving forward." Since including "We Almost Lost Detroit" on the tail-end of their debut album, It's a Corporate World , the track has almost become an anthem of sorts for both Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jr. and working class America . Glimpses of quite a few popular Detroit "hot spots" can be seen within "We Almost Lost Detroit:" Burn Rubber, Supino Pizzeria , a...

Simply Having by Black Milk & Melanie Rutherford " Black Milk chops up one of his favorite Christmas songs and links up with Melanie Rutherford for the re-make. Check the artwork, I guess Charlie Brown & company's fighting skills are on point as they each have a pair of [Jordan] Concords . *shrugs... I never understood this shoe fetish people have. Dah well? [Here's a Merry Christmas to all you 2dopeboyz & girls out there!!"] - Shake

A$AP Rocky 's involvement with fellow up-and-comer, Danny Brown 's BRAND NEW "Blunt After Blunt" music video has been long-rumored. While the final cut has finally been liberated, additional rumored friends/collaborators that were set to appear [ Kendrick Lamar , Dave Chappelle , and Mos Def Yasiin Bey ] are noticeably absent. A$AP Rocky's directorial debut is executed surprisingly well: Dark undertones, vivid color use-age, simplicity! "Blunt After Blunt" is without a doubt one of the darker and more effective cuts on XXX - Thanks to SKYWLKR 's lush, dirty production style. Danny Brown is all about repping his hometown of Detroit ... collaborating with as many link-minded D-based artists as possible: Random Axe , Black Milk , SKYWLKR, Dilla (R.I.P.), House Shoes, Rosalinda Ruiz, hexmurda , etc. Both Danny Brown and A$AP Rocky have a few solid outputs currently on the market: Black & Brown EP, XXX , and LIVELOVEA$AP - respectively. A r...

Spent this past Columbus Day Weekend in Ocean City, MD with some friends; (W)reckless, little mini-vacation! Saw a fair share of sweet-ass classic cars, Hooters girls, Yuenglings , food dishes, surfshops , delectable legs, etc. While nestled away with 8 comapdres in a "3-person hotel room," [sans computer] I was still able to research a few solid leads... receive an advance zip file, random Indie Hip-Hop track, and learned about "what the kids are listening to." Without a doubt, a weekend for the books, if I do say so myself! One of those formative [rough] stories: Black Noi$e & SKYWLKR - "exexmilitary." For all intensive purposes, a Detroit -fueled Remix CD version of Death Grips' mixtape (Ex-military) . Making good use of Flat-Lander, Zach Hill , and MC Ride 's recently supplied Black Google stems, the Straight-Edge Rocker and Bruiser Brigade beatsmith created this here 8-track EP... often re-arranging, tweaking, chopping, extendin...

Live instrumentation is essentially the elementary basis for nearly any and all Hip-Hop compositions; Whether it be sample source(d) material or the interpolation [re-creation] of said raw audio. During a time period in which Hip-Hop was proclaimed "dead" (2006-10), groups like Will Sessions have since re-invigorated a sense of new-found life into the genre as a whole. Will Sessions are an 8-10 musician deep Detroit crew fronted by trumpeter, Sam Beaubien . Making good use of a full-bodied "throwback" sound, which features drums, bass, guitar... in addition to trumpet, keys, sax, trombone, and percussion. Since forming as a solo endeavor in 2007, Will Sessions has progressively morphed into something much larger and greater. Live in concert, they've moonlighted as The Guilty Simpson, Black Milk , and Phat Kat Big Band(s) ... Plus having separately logged studio-time with the likes of Elzhi , Mayer Hawthorne , Slum Village, 14K, Black Milk , and Buff1 . R...

"I'm On Everything" is the newest track unveiled from Eminem and Royce da 5'9" (Slaughterhouse) - Collectively known as "Bad Meets Evil." The Detroit natives/recently reconciled friends were originally active from 1998-2002... and essentially re-grouped when Slaughterhouse recently signed to Marshalls' Shady Records . June 14's Hell: The Sequel EP will be the first legitimate release from the "Motor City" team, as they had previously only appeared together on featured tracks in their first incarnation. The second track released from the collection, "I'm On Everything" appears to be a homage to The Hangover [2] 's hard-partying ways. It features production from Mr. Porter (D12's very own Kon Artis ) and a sampled bit/"hook" from stand-up comedian, Mike Epps - "Black Doug." Be on the look-out for the Syndrome -directed "Fast Lane" music video, which will reportedly be unlea...