The Witzard

"The wait is over, Return to The 37th Chamber is El Michels Affair's (EMA's) highly anticipated follow-up to 2009's underground cult classic Enter: The 37th Chamber . Churning out classic records since then for the likes of Lee Fields, The Arcs, Chicano Batman, The Shacks, and tons more, it is clear that EMA's signature sound is stronger & sharper than ever. El Michels Affair will release Return to The 37th Chamber on April 14th, via Big Crown Records. This time, in addition to re-interpreting the Wu compositions for a live band, EMA pays homage to the production and sonic fog that makes a RZA beat so recognizable. Producer and bandleader Leon Michels recorded the album completely analog, sometimes hitting six generations of tape before it was ready for mixing, giving the Return to The 37th Chamber it’s own hazy sound. Adding to the unique fidelity, the record is laced with Psychedelic flourishes, "John Carpenter" synths, Heavy Metal guitars, tri...

"I don't know how y'all see it, but when it comes to the children... Wu-Tang is for the children! We teach the children! You know what I mean? Puffy is good, but WU-TANG IS THE BEST!" sharp-tongued Shaolin prince Ol' Dirty Bastard (ODB) once proclaimed during an impromptu 1998 GRAMMY's acceptance "speech" during Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal 's "Sunny Came Home" Song of The Year win. It also appears that Wu-Tang is for aging 40-something suburban Hip-Hop heads that can still hang; as is the case with El Michels Affair 's forthcoming Jazz/Funk/Soul -tinged Wu-Tang Clan covers collection, Return to The 37th Chamber —otherwise known as the pseudo-follow-up to their critically-acclaimed Enter: The 37th Chamber (2009). El Michels Affair is fronted by multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, founder of newly-formed Big Crown Records , and former alumni of Soul Fire , Misty/Daptone Records , and now-defunct Truth & Soul , ...

"After repeatedly being visited by a strange messenger in his dreams while on tour in the islands of Greece, Toby Pazner became consumed with a vision to tell the stories of The Olympians through music. Chosen by the gods as a messenger for not only his musical gifts, but for his unique position at the center of the Daptone family, Toby built a home studio from scratch and employed some of the top Soul musicians in the world to help him breath life into this album," reads a fragmented chunk of The Olympians' on-site Bandcamp press release. Tobias "Toby" Pazner's musical journey with the Daptone/Truth & Soul/Big Crown Records-affiliated family dates back as far as 2005 and his piano-vibraphone credits include records by Lee Fields & The Expressions, Lady, El Michels Affair, Lady Wray, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band, Aloe Blacc, Bronx River Parkway & Candela All-Stars, Ultimate Breaks & Beats, and The Bushwick Philharmo...

"After repeatedly being visited by a strange messenger in his dreams while on tour in the islands of Greece , Toby Pazner became consumed with a vision to tell the stories of The Olympians through music. Chosen by the gods as a messenger for not only his musical gifts, but for his unique position at the center of the Daptone family, Toby built a home studio from scratch and employed some of the top Soul musicians in the world to help him breath life into this album," reads a fragmented chunk of The Olympians' on-site Bandcamp press release. Tobias "Toby" Pazner 's musical journey with the Daptone/Truth & Soul/Big Crown Records -affiliated family dates back as far as 2005 and his piano-vibraphone credits include records by Lee Fields & The Expressions , Lady, El Michels Affair , Lady Wray, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings , Menahan Street Band, Aloe Blacc , Bronx River Parkway & Candela All-Stars, Ultimate Breaks & Beats , and The Bus...

Daptone Records' own revered Soul-Funk crooner The Screamin' Eagle of Soul , better known as 67-year-old Charles Bradley , a former James Brown impersonator who once went by "Black Velvet," is hearing up to unleash his third studio album this upcoming April 1st, 2016, Changes . Bradley's Menahan Street Band , The Budos Band, and The Bullets -assisted album is the proper follow-up to 2013's Victim of Love , and his debut No Time for Dreaming two short years prior, Changes takes its name and overall running theme from a similarly-titled Black Sabbath Vol. 4 track, which Daptone exclusively released as a Record Store Day 7-inch back in 2013. Interestingly enough, Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach 's recently-premiered Psych-Rock side project The Arcs features three rotating members of The Menahan Street Band – Nick Movshon , Homer Steinweiss , and El Michels Affair founder Leon Michels – who spearheaded a retro-futuristic Funk -leaning sound, w...

"Now accepting all reasonable offers for Nick's Honda . Contact The Arcs or Eddie Huang . Oh yeah... and new Arcs video drops this Tuesday... Go get the album too!! Bump it in your new Honda ?" Dan Auerbach 's The Arcs wrote on Facebook Saturday accompanying a brief 30-second trailer advertising their then-forthcoming "Outta My Mind" music video, as well as director Nick Walker 's Honda . It would appear to be a purposely lo-fi, back seat-shot clip in which two unspecified Arcs members discuss the prospect of the brief hybrid trailer-web ad, which Walker commissioned that "might help save us;" anyone interested in buying Nick Walker 's Honda can either contact The Arcs directly or apparent Dan Auerbach affiliate and Fresh Off The Boat creator, Eddie Huang . "These are people that I either met in the studio, or was a fan of the records that they made before I even met them... Richard Swift , I met him six years ago; we made a...

"I've spent enough time thinking about [making songs for radio] with The Black Keys , not that we ever wrote songs just for radio. I just don't want to ever think about that stuff again. With The Arcs , we were just trying to make music that loves up to the kinds of standards that we love: old soul records, Captain Beefheart , newer Hip-Hop records. The songs are really experimental, but not over your head," Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach recently told Rolling Stone . Auerbach unleashed The Arcs' debut boxing-inspired single, "Stay In My Corner," back on May 2nd to coincide with Mayweather & Pacquiao 's monumental prize fight; in addition to all-female Brooklyn mariachi band Mariachi Flor de Toloache , The Arcs additionally showcases the musical talents of long-time studio buddies Leon Michels , Richard Swift, Homer Steinweiss, Nick Movshon , and Kenny Vaughan . Initially billed as a Dan Auerbach "solo" album, the newly-assemb...