The Witzard

ElectroBluesSociety are a Dutch -based " Organic Dance music" duo mixing electronics with raw, vintage live Blues -based sounds; self-described as "two guys and a bunch of junk with a broad taste and an open mind. Together, they are mixing modern technologies with 30+ years of live stage experience." ElectroBluesSociety (EBS) consists of drummer and bassist Jasper Mortier and guitarist and Black & Tan Records owner Jan Mittendorp . Mortier has worked with the likes of Paul Oscher , Preston Shannon, "Sax" Gordon Beadle , Philip Walker, and Boo Boo Davis , while Mittendorp has toured extensively across Europe & The US with artists such as Percy Strother , Smokey Wilson, Boo Boo Davis , Erskine Oglesby, and Roscoe Chenier . Jan Mittendorp personally, worked with American R&B singer and guitarist Roscoe Chenier for nearly 20 years and released two of his critically-acclaimed albums— Roscoe Style (1998) and Waiting for My Tomorrow (2006...

Despite the fact that London -based Electro-Dubstep producer "Jamie xx" Smith is just now getting around to putting out his "debut" album, In Colour , on Young Turks , he's already managed to release countless [read: "three"] non-album stand-alone 12" singles, produced a nearly flawless remix album for Gil Scott-Heron , and has worked with everyone from Florence + The Machine to Drake & Rihanna ; believe it or not, Florence Welch 's stripped down Drake cover, "Take Care" actually flipped Smith's own production work from Scott-Heron's We're New Here (2011), a full-length remix of his first album in some 16 years. One of the first times I ever heard Jamie xx 's music was actually on his string and marimba-laden xx -assisted "You've Got The Love" re-work from Florence + The Machine 's critically acclaimed debut, Lungs . " Young Thug did a whole version of the song and Popcaan did a w...

Aside from co-headlining Budweiser 's second annual Made In America Festival , Mrs. Carter recorded an interesting new track for what's poised to be one of Summer 2013's biggest blockbusters, The Great Gatsby . While Bryan Ferry Emile Sandé contributed a "Crazy In Love" cover, Beyoncé & André 3000 managed to conjure up their own unique re-make, "Back to Black" (2007). Needless to say, Bey & Dre have TOTALLY flipped Amy Winehouse 's breakout Neo-Soul hit; and from the sounds of this just-released 90-second snippet, "Back to Black" has been effectively turned into a modern day Electro-Funk jam. But with that said, it's pretty damn hard to judge an entire track off a brief 90-second preview! Almost every time André 3000 randomly spits a few sub-par bars like this, it just makes me want that long-rumored OutKast reunion album even more, which I'm beginning to question will ever really see the light of day. Beyo...

Sugar Tongue Slim (STS) is a criminally under-rated "Atlantadelphia" -bred rapper and honorary Roots Crew member. From what I can tell, his first recorded appearance was on The Roots' Indie Rock -tinged dark/light "concept album," How I Got Over (2010). STS additionally represents 1/5 of Money Making Jam Boys and his solo output [thusfar] includes: Demand More I-II , Sole Music EP , The Illustrious , and a gaggle of assorted Remixes & Indie Rock flips. After slowly leaking out short, weekly music videos over the course of the past few months, Sugar Tongue Slim finally unveiled his latest Starting Line-Up -produced mixtape effort earlier this morning: GOLD RUSH . It's basically a collection of 15 Top 40 flips (2009-11), which are often slightly re-appropriated with STS' unique storytelling and acute Boom-Bap flourishes. STS and his team of certified in-house gold diggers [producers] hand-selected singles from contemporary artists such as B...

Romy xx, Jamie xx & Oliver Sim are currently isolated - hard @ work on the untitled follow-up to their highly successful debut album, "xx" (2009). The xx plan to release the set ahead of a string of Summer 2012 festival appearances. Jamie xx has said that his production style is now inspired by Club music and is "party-motivated." Since bursting onto the UK music scene, Jamie xx has worked with [remixed] the likes of Florence + The Machine , Drake-Rihanna, Gil Scott-Heron, Adele ... Shakira, Kwes , and Gorillaz . Later on in 2009, second guitarist-keyboardist Baria Qureshi parted ways with The xx due to "personal differences;" Qureshi was one of the band's 4 founding members - All of whom met in 2005, while studying @ Elliott School (London) . The first demo from "xx2," "Open Eyes" was released over Christmas Holiday . A sparse, feedback-drenched piano/guitar-based piece, you can tell that "Open Eyes" is a...