The Witzard

First and foremost, Steely Dan are great, but I can assure you, you've never heard them like this before! Here, we have a remotely-recorded Heavy Metal-tinged cover of Steely Dan 's infectious 1973 single, "Reelin' In The Years" from their debut album, Can't Buy A Thrill (1972.) It was all orchestrated from self-quarantine by Two Minutes to Late Night 's own Jordan Olds AKA Gwarsenio Hall/Doctor Mayor and Drew "Hollywood" Kaufman AKA Diet Hellboy . Two Minutes to Late Night 's Facebook page describes the how as "a Heavy Metal-themed talk show featuring a corpse-painted host and the world's best House Band, Mutoid Man !" According to Stereogum Senior Editor Tom Breihan , Mutoid Man 's Stephen Brodsky , also, leads Cave In and drummer Ben Koller plays with Converge & All Pigs Must Die . Last month, when these self-quarantine recommendations first started happening, Two Minutes to Late Night (2M2LN) and some mus...

Needless to say, "Bitter Bug" (Pyramid Vritra Remix) isn't exactly rapper-producer Hal Williams' first time re-imagining a track by fellow Stones Throw labelmates The Stepkids ; Williams previously remixed Troubadour album track "Desert In The Dark" with Odd Future shoot-off, The Jet Age of Tomorrow . While working on his upcoming 2014 Stones Throw debut, Pyramid Vritra managed to conjure up a heavily Funk -laden, Hip-Hop -infused remix of "Bitter Bug," which was originally released as a play-able postcard 45. North of the 4-minute mark, as the track slowly draws to a close, Williams effectively chops-n-screws the Hell out of "Bitter Bug." The Stepkids seem to have already been flirting with the idea of a semi- Hip-Hop crossover; previously working with Pharoahe Monch , Homeboy Sandman , and now one of Stones Throw 's newest signees, Pyramid Vritra . That's one area in which Stones Throw seems to be consistently la...

Rising comedian Kyle Mooney is one of the latest additions to a recently-gutted SNL , after a few long-time cast members made their final departure(s) last season; Director Henry Demaio recently pre-cast Mooney in his latest music video creation, "Moving Pictures," which itself is pulled from The Stepkids' second album recorded for Stones Throw , Troubadour (Sept. 9-10th). It's a mildly trippy affair, fittingly outfitted with plenty of real-life moving pictures, as the cameraman slowly pans across various scenarios. The Stepkids seemingly used green screens to their full advantage and were able yo "travel" to sun-soaked beaches, an awkward house-party with a kiddie pool, various city streets and sidewalks, an ever-changing trendy beach/desert party, and a giant-joint rolling super-science lab. Now, on a purely sonic level, "Moving Pictures" is really what we've grown to expect from The Stepkids : a seamless hybrid of cheesy Yacht Rock...

The Stepkids are kinda like a Hip-Hop -infused modern day version of Steely Dan ; equal parts sleaze, cheese, and white-bred Funk-Soul ! In-between The Stepkids (2011) and it's upcoming follow-up, Troubadour the band leaked a string of Jazzed up cover tunes: Daft Punk , Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake . Last year, Stones Throw even teamed them up with sharp-tongued emcees Homeboy Sandman , Percee P, and Pharoahe Monch for an all too short-lived remix project. The Stepkids' latest Funk -drenched concoction is "The Lottery" a freshly tracked video-single preceding Troubadour , which hits shelves nation-wide Sept. 10th. Guitarist Jeff Gitelman described the album's creation as "deep musically, there are whole sides to us [that] we haven't really explored yet." Gitelman further laments that The Stepkids haven't even discovered some of their "most exciting stuff" thusfar. "The Lottery" co-stars trombone dancer Jonathan...

Jai Paul is a mysterious London -based singer-songwriter & producer who basically has one sole, albeit wide-spread claim to fame: "BTSTU" (2012). Upon it's initial XL Recordings -fueled release, the track quickly blasted atop many online music blogs' year-end lists; Paul's melodies were even sampled by a few popular artists: Drake , Beyoncé, XV, Pusha-T , and Intuition . When I contacted Holly @ Air Force London ("other shit") back on 11/8-11/2011, she simply replied saying that " Jai [Paul] will be releasing his next single in the New Year and the album will some sometime after, please stay tuned." The Indie blog community as a whole, I included, has yet to hear a peep from either Jai Paul or Air Force London since "BTSTU." But man, that all changed late yesterday afternoon, right as the weekend was beginning to start... seemingly out of nowhere, Jai Paul uploaded a BRAND NEW [demo] track, "Jasmine" to XL Rec...

I must admit that I've kept in contact with Topher Mohr since our last featured article (2010)... he's parted ways with Mayer Hawthorne & The County , recorded a second full-length album, and is currently shopping new material around to major labels. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of said album, Phlotilla and I must admit: What a varied, cleanly-produced piece of work we have here! 4 of it's 11 tracks previously appeared on Topher Mohr 's self-released Ruthless EP in slightly altered form(s). As a whole, I think it'd be safe to categorize Phlotilla as "Soft Rock;" Sonically reminiscent of Steely Dan, Hall & Oates , and The Beach Boys with touches of Reggae and Funk-Soul . Friends and frequent collaborators: Quentin Joseph, Alex Elena , and Quincy McCrary added unique musical flourishes [backing] to the record's 11 original compositions. "Forever Yours" -- one of the newly-penned, unreleased tracks of the bunch --...

Amy Winehouse was not unlike the late-great Ol' Dirty Bastard : Wildly talented, mildly deranged - A genuinely tortured soul. Winehouse's last known batch of proper recordings was recently collected and released as Lioness: Hidden Treasures . The Jolly Boys consists of 3 laid-back 70-something gentlemen: Albert Minott, Derrick "Johnny" Henry , and Joseph "Powder" Bennett . Utilizing sparse instrumentation -- acoustic guitar, 'rumba box [bass sub.] and maracas -- The Jolly Boys create a distinct brand of "Mento" music... a centuries-old style of Jamaican Folk not generally known outside of the island region. Legend has it that The Jolly Boys' up-beat riddims were the soundtrack to many of [actor] Errol Flynn 's infamous "never-ending" yacht parties. "Powder" & "Johnny" were 2 of The Jolly Boys founding members, upon it's formation back in The Roaring 50's. Albert Minott seems to be the ...