The Witzard

It's Bandcamp Friday once more and like many of you, we woke up to about a hundred new Bandcamp Release Notification emails this morning. Honestly, there are far to many releases out today (and every Bandcamp Friday, for that matter) to spotlight here. Although, there are definitely ways to find and support music from your favorite underground artists, who will be recieving 100% of their total sales today, on Bandcamp today. We're quickly just gonna spotlight two of our personal favorite releases today, which both just go happen to be beat tapes. Run is a new 12-minute mini-beat tape from Baltimore beat-maker Jumbled. Jumbled says, "this project is a showcase of new beats loosely tied together with sound clips from videos and songs releated to The Super Mario [Bros.] This project may disappear down a Warp Pipe in the near future..." Jumbled had been noticing a lot of Super Mario references in songs he's heard recently and wanted to tie them together with som...

School is back in session across the Nation and our favorite teacher, husband, father, beat-maker, and dish-washer, John "Jumbled" Bachman has shared a new 7-track EP for your communte to and from work/school. Bachman is back with JUMBLED'S JUKEBOX, a collection of Doo-Wop inspired Hip-Hop. Jumbled describes it as "a project inspired by Tuesday night trips to the grocery store—jumping in the car and hearing the Doo-Wop radio show on 90.5 WKHS, out of Kent County, Maryland." JUMBLED'S JUKEBOX makes good use of "songs that have been long-forgotten by most, but are still cherished by some." It showcases a selection of vocalists over Jumbled's bare-bones instrumentation that harken back to simpler, times. This brief collection contains a varied assortment of beats with Jumbled choosing to not just sample Doo-Wop harmonies, but, also, include songs (samples? beats?) that maintain that vibe, as well. Jumbled's Jukebox by Jumbled Guests hear...

We've been repping Jumbled AKA John Bachman here at The Witzard ever since his 2018 release, [I wish it was longer] or simply, WIWL . Self-described as "somewhere between Madlib & Mike Watt," the teacher, husband, father, beat-maker, dish-washer has been nothing short of productive these last four years. Bachman is a huge component in both the Baltimore and East Coast Hip-Hop music scenes and has, personally, been a great ally here at The Witzard. Jumbled has released action shots ep, The Ghost of Len Bias with UllNevaNo , THE INSULT with Dwell as Bully Preston, Merry Christmess, YOU DON'T KNOW?!, You Best Not Miss with Lace Berriez , Padre, and August Heat all on his own imprint, Harford & Reckord Tapes since WIWL . His latest effort, ORSULAK , definitely doesn't disappoint either; here, Jumbled has joined forces once more with his long-time friend and collaborator, Eben Dennis , for something that's a little more Mike Watt-leaning than his t...

Padre by Jumbled It's been an exciting year and a half for John Bachman AKA Baltimore -based beat-maker Jumbled and his wife, Rachel . One day, The Bachmans got a call about potentially, adopting a little girl, so they immediately drove to Upstate New York and their lives, as they knew it, instantly changed forever. Upon their return back home to Baltimore with baby Lucy (LB) just a few short weeks later, Jumbled happily moved his records and equipment from Lucy 's new bedroom and into the home's guestroom. Thus, entering his aptly-named "Green Room" phase, which chronologically, started with YOU BEST NOT MISS EP with DC emcee, Lace Berriez from late last year. Padre consists of a barrage of beats Jumbled has painstakingly created and fine-tuned within the last 12 months or so in The "Green Room." Its content were primarily recorded during the early morning hours before LB would wake up or on the rare occasion Mrs. Bachman would go out...

December Boys by Soft Peaks "It’s been a little while, but Baltimore ’s Soft Peaks are back with another EP! Three songs that were recorded a while ago, but sometimes life gets in the way. Band members went back to school, started families, and trying to find time to practice, in between dinner and putting the kids to bed," reads a rather quaint email I received from Baltimore 's Soft Peaks early Sunday morning. Its core members include lead guitarist and vocalist Jonathan Moore , second guitarist and vocalist Eben Dennis , and drummer, engineering teacher, and Hip-Hop producer John "Jumbled" Bachman , bassist Tim St. Clair , and keyboard and accordion player Michael Lambright . I've previously worked with Bachman on a number of occasions for this various publication, including a recent Scratching The Surface interview; although, to my surprise, he had never once mentioned he played drums in his own self-described "Power Pop" band during an...