The Witzard

Chesty Malone & The Slice 'em Ups - Torture Rock vinyl re-issue promotional cover artwork (CREDITS: Anthony Allen Begnal / Holly Neal Hawkins) Brooklyn's own Chesty Malone & The Slice 'em Ups are re-issuing their second album (originally released in 2011) on vinyl for the first time. Boise, Idaho's most evil record label, 1332 Records, is releasing Torture Rock on red/white and red/black splatter vinyl, along with classic black. The album, recorded back in the Fall of 2009 at Queens, New York studio Wild Arctic by engineer Shawn Kimon, also, features maniac drummer Angel Cotte ( Demolition Hammer ) who said recording Torture Rock was "the best experience of my life!!!" When it came out in 2011, it was only on CD and streaming, so the band is pretty excited about this release. "Torture Rock is finally coming out on vinyl, just like the devil intended!" singer Jaqueline Blownaparte said. The album's artwork was faithfully re-created fr...

INTRODUCTION: Maybe, it's in the gray hairs that I've started finding in my thinning hair. Maybe, it's that dreaded third decade of life that seems to have been rearing it's ugly face around every corner. Maybe, it's a quarter life crisis, but something has been keeping me up at night. I sometimes, stay awake into the early hours of the morning spinning records and fumbling with CD jackets from high school, grasping hold of my youth for dear life. I search out elusive first presses of albums I'd somehow, lost to time, hoping that they'll somehow, tighten the thread leading from middle school to adulthood. To be clear, I'm not fishing my torn band T-shirts or bondage pants from the depths of my closet, but as I make the transition into my 30's, shedding roommates and getting oil changes at regularly scheduled intervals, I can't help ruminating on where these albums came from and how they've shaped me. I can't help begging the question, ...

It's almost unfathomable to me, as both a home-grown music writer and music-buying all-American 20-something, to hear that musical luminaries Michael Jackson and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury once recorded a number of incomplete tracks together that have been sitting in a vault somewhere in "Neverland," collecting dust for nearly 30 years! Mercury supposedly brought the potentially über-fruitful 1983-84 sessions to a screeching halt after Jackson attempted to bring a llama into the recording studio. Head Stereogum writer, Tom Breihan basically conceptualized the whole mind-boggling scenario perfectly: "[it's] like finding a giant pile of money under the bed in your hotel room and deciding, what the Hell, you'll just leave it there" ha. But now, Grammy -winning producer and Madonna collaborator, William Orbit has gone back in and meticulously re-produced/mastered the long-lost Queen -backed track, "There Must Be More to Life Than This,...

"Their musical anarchy and constant attitude to disregard rules and forge their own path was inspirational to me. [The Clash] meant death to genres, music, and message above everything," Diplo lamented about collaborators Mick Jones & Paul Simonon in a pre-release statement. Following the track's initial announcement this past Friday, "HERO" was unleashed early Monday morning as part of Converse 's annual Three Artists, One Song collaborative campaign. It was presumably produced by Mad Decent founder Diplo and was one of five tracks recorded recently between London , Hawaii, and Los Angeles ; Basic tracks for "HERO" were recorded at Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn 's Studio 13 , whom Jones and Simonon had previously worked with on Plastic Beach (2010). Fans of the newly-forged super-group's past works with recognize familiar elements of Hip-Hop -infused R&B , 1980's Punk Rock , and Reggae-Fusion , but I wouldn't ...

Just a few days ahead of the one year anniversary of Adam "MCA" Yauch 's untimely death, Blank on Blank have released a newly unearthed 1985 Beastie Boys interview. While it only lasts about six minutes, animator Patrick Smith has created some great black-and-white animation to go along with it; He's really managed to capture The Beasties' pre- License to Ill righteous Punk Rock attitude(s) and even animated ABC News Radio interviewer Rocci Fisch and topic-appropriate graphics to go along with it. The cassette-taped audio itself originates from Washington, DC and covers everything from Madonna 's "Like a Virgin" Tour to what MCA dubs " Soul Hardcore B-Boy music." Ad-Rock, Mike D & MCA were only about 18-19 years old, at the time, and were barely even making Hip-Hop yet, having only released Polly Wog Stew EP , "Cooky Puss," "Rock Hard," and "She's On It/Slow and Low." The city of Br...

Justin Timberlake makes the kind of music that's supposed to help you get laid; Let's call it "baby-making music," for lack of a better term. But JT has spent the bulk of last 6-7 years since his last album, Future Sex/Love Sounds (2006) doing damn-near everything besides writing/recording music: re-launching MySpace , sharpening his acting chops, launched a designer clothing line, recorded a few seriously good comedy tracks, and just being charming in general. During his time off, Justin Timberlake managed to record vocals for a gaggle of hits and misses for his musical friends' albums, too... 50 Cent , Jimmy Fallon, [The] Game , Ciara, The Lonely Island , T.I. Madonna , Timbaland, Duran Duran , Diddy-Dirty Money, Talib Kweli , Rihanna, and Chris Cornell ? Timberlake finally took the plunge and "wifed up" his long-time on-again-off-again girlfriend, Jessica Biel @ a private ceremony back in October 2012. Following nearly a solid week's-wor...

Peanut Butter Lovesicle are a band made up of 2 Jersey -bred brothers, Jake & Mike D'Arc , and their cousin, Timmy Miller who somehow effortlessly manage to combine the Classic Rock bravado of Led Zeppelin with Cage The Elephant 's brand of Country-Rock SWAG. "In The Zone" 's opening riff reminds me a little bit of The Cars' smash hit, "Good Times Roll" (1979); While the lead track was just released to the masses yesterday, Peanut Butter Lovesicle plan to liberate it's companion EP, Dirty Pride nation-wide on Sept. 25th. The band's new EP was "recorded in an 1869-built church in Hudson, NY using 2-inch tape, few overdubs, and minimal digital." Production work was handled by Henry Hirsch , who's previously worked with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Mick Jagger , and Madonna , and the tracks were then engineered by Rachel Alina . Featured below is Peanut Butter Lovesicle 's [other] Blues -drenched, Gossip Girl-s...

I was pretty bummed out yesterday afternoon when I first heard about the sudden passing of Adam "MCA" Yauch , after three years of fighting cancer. Growing up with four older cousins (I was born in 1987), I've been a huge Beastie Boys fan since I was 10-12... enjoying their music for as long as I can remember! They were the first to do a lot of things: NYC Punk , massive sampling on Paul's Boutique , being the first white Jewish rappers, intricate Pop Culture -referencing rhyme schemes, making music for both frat dudes and Punks , etc. Those of you who just know "Brass Monkey" and "Fight for Your Right" —now, come on, let's get real; The Beastie Boys were so much more than that and those radio hits are merely just the tip of the iceberg! All the teenage debauchery aside, gruff-voiced MCA really seemed to grow into a fine young man, post- License to Ill . Earnestly standing up for what his heart believed in: women's rights, Tibetan ...

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...

Let me do my best to try and preface this here post a little bit for clarity's sake: I first got in touch with Vex Ruffin (Twitter) last October while on vacation in Ocean City, MD after an EPIC FAILed night out at beach-side bar/club Seacrets ... Anyways, Vex and I exchanged email addresses, talked for a bit, and then suddenly fell out of touch. It was really no one's fault, but I still managed to pay semi-close attention to Vex Ruffin's rising career with Stones Throw . Fast-forward to roughly 2 weeks ago (March 2012): I decided to go out on a "limb" and hit Vex up again on Twitter . Fresh on the heels of Eulogy EP and V.E.X. Lamina Radio (Vol. 1) , I figured I'd ask Vex Ruffin if he'd be willing to curate a custom playlist for "The Witzard." And a few messages/just as many days latter, here it is - Crash Course EP (Inspirations) Playlist. It plays out like an amateur mix CD from a guy who grew up listening to DMX and The Cure : Shou...

While I honestly can't say that I physically own any of her 3 critically-acclaimed CD's... I can however admit that I've thoroughly enjoyed and loved what visual artist-turned musician, Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam has been able to do for both Pop Culture and humanity since 2000-05. I'm just gonna go ahead and go out on a limb, cause we're all "friends" here - Right? There isn't very much ACTUAL news to report on here... But I'm just gonna give it my best shot! While M.I.A. 's latest Romain Gavras -directed music video was debuted online Friday afternoon, along with that new Nicki Minaj -featuring Madonna track, "Bad Girls" is far from BRAND SPANKIN' NEW; It originally appeared on M.I.A. 's post- /\/\ /\ Y /\ odds-and-ends mixtape, Vicki Leekx (2010) and was produced by Timbaland -associate, Danja . M.I.A. performed [a segment of] "Give Me All Your Luvin'" alongside Nicki Minaj, Cee-Lo , and LMFA...