The Witzard

Jumbled watering his pumpkins (SOURCE: John Bachman) So, by now, anyone who regularly reads this site should know we are long-time, supporters, and fans of anything our beat-making friend from Baltimore, John Bachman (otherwise known as Jumbled) creates and releases to the masses. With that said, Jumbled is back with his latest seasonal EP, Project 138. Yes, this is a project primarily featuring samples from New Jersey's own Horror Punk pioneers, The Misfits, and, maybe, even some Samhain & Danzig, too. It's hard to tell, though, because Jumbled layers samples and creates his beats so well, but Glenn Danzig and company are sampled throughout; Project 138, also, incorporates audio soundbites about The Misfits and their genre-altering rise to fame like bats out of Hell. Project 138 by Jumbled Bachman describes his inspirations behind creating the ghoulish project as, "there have been a few "inspired by..." Rap projects lately, but I feel like they haven...

Sorry I've been a bit absent from writing here lately... but helping raise a nearly 1-year-old baby, along with studying for my Drone Pilot Certification Test, has been A LOT these past few weeks! However, today, we're produd to present to you the new joint EP from Philly rapper Torito and Baltimore beat-maker Jumbled. Music for The Rapture is a project that came out of a year of isolation from The Pandemic and from the sense of impending doom that, unfortunately, grew all-too familiar during that time. Torito & Jumbled have only ever met once in-person when Torito's tour stop took him to a Baltimore Chinese restaurant for a show that kicked off with (guess what...?) a Jumbled beat set. Since then, the pair have tediously pieced together Music for The Rapture with the shared mindset and restricted pace of working parents with young children. While only amassing four tracks in just under 10 minutes, Music for The Rapture is brimming with Torito's layered lyricism a...

Monday morning, self-described "Rap singer, song-writer, beat-maker, and pal" Donovan "ialive" Phillips quietly announced he'll be releasing his fourth (fifth?) solo studio album, I'LL WAIT FOREVER , later this month. It will be his fourth consecutive release with Baltimore-based Cold Rhymes Records run and operated by Dan "Height" Keech & MISTER AKA Cool Guy Bry . We first heard about ialive through an interview posted by John "Jumbled" Bachman on his blog a few years back with both Donnie & Darko The Super , together, billed as The Hellhole Store . ialive 's Height Keech -produced TIMEWAVE ZERO (2017) and self-produced follow-up, DON'T DO NOTHING (2019) were, easily, two of our favorite Hip-Hop albums of the last few years. I'LL WAIT FOREVER is the direct follow-up to ialive 's Odds & Ends-style 2019 EP, ODD ORTS , which boasts remixes from both Juan Cosby & Unsung. Now, it appears as though this...

August Heat by Ialive John "Jumbled" Bachman was one of the many talented artists, writers, and Beastie Boys super-fans who contributed to our recent 3-part PB30 All-around Breakdown feature and now, he's returned with his second self-released full-length of 2019, AUGUST HEAT . Jumbled 's first long-form project since January 2019's Padre , AUGUST HEAT is just as it sounds: 17 tracks-worth of sweltering instrumental beats and emcee-assisted vocal tracks. "In early June, Jumbled compiled a list of his heat: heavy Boom-Bap beats that meshed together to create an album," explains a press release. John Bachman goes on to define "heat (noun)" as "1. hot beats / raps, 2. oppressively hot or humid weather, 3. pressure" and then, somehow, manages to reference a JAY-Z rhyme from "Light Up" alongside Drake: "Triple entendre, don't even ask me how." Although, originally conceived as a single-emcee affair, AUGUST...

Darko Save The Queen by Darko The Super Just since the top of 2018, Darko The Super has released a myriad of releases including Buzzy Linhart Changed My Life , Doc Heller's Or Do I Eat This Sandwich?! Bogus Poetry In The Dizzy Age , and Creative Casualty on U DONT DESERVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ART (UDDTBA) as well as Stories of a Made Up Year produced by Height Keech on Cold Rhymes Records , The Hell Hole Store's "I'll Take What I Can Get" Feat. Open Mike Eagle on Already Dead Tapes , and "Bike Spokes" as part of The Custodian of Records' Qwuickieleaks Challenge and a few more loosely released tracks. Now, a few months removed from it's initial release, Darko has decided to revisit a few tracks from Creative Casualty originally released on Pale Blue Records/UDDTBA back in April on limited edition 10-inch lathe-cut vinyl, as well as digital album; "Don't stop me now, buddy guy. The Summer of Darko continues! Darko Save The Queen 7-in...

NOGAF by Felipe Pupo Genre-eschewing Philly rapper, producer, and graphic designer Erik "E." Grizzly has returned with the latest single from his self-described "Synth-Calypso-Punk" experiment-turned-band, Felipe Pupo . "NOGAF" seamlessly blends Afrobeat , Punk, Hip-Hop , Calypso, Hardcore , and other miscellaneous genres that don't generally, belong together, much like E. Grizzly 's 2016 Felipe Pupo full-length. First, started out as a Scott Labenski -produced solo project from E. Grizzly , Felipe Pupo has now, morphed into a proper genre-less quartet featuring E. Grizzly on vocals and keys, along with Labenski on guitar, bassist Aaron Gross , and drummer Carl "Sha'ron" Scott . E. Grizzly 's A-Ha! Records has joined forces with Darko The Super 's U DONT DESERVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ART (UDDTBA) imprint to release Felipe Pupo 's new EP and first as a full-fledged band, ORISHAS . "NOGAF," which stands for ...

"Nice Rhymes. Leather Bull Mask," is how Torito fittingly describes his musical approach within his Facebook About Me section; a full-time baker by day and masked emcee by night, Torito harnesses the ferocity of "a bull in a china shop." His latest single, "Glowing Clothes" is the third teaser from his upcoming self-produced album, Fabric Scraps , which will likely be released on rapper-producer Darko The Super 's label imprint, U DONT DESERVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ART , at the top of 2018. "The beat is a little sample from "This Is Sally Hatchet" by Father John Misty , plus, me playing guitar and keys. It starts with a news [report] of a wild story about a bull that escaped from a Philadelphia slaughterhouse," Torito wrote via email, describing "Glowing Clothes." His frequent collaborator and Philly -based producer Johann Sebastian helped "beef up the drums a bit and offered some production guidance" and is...

Timewave Zero by ialive / Height Keech The Witzard regulars should almost instantly recognize the names "Height Keech" and "ialive," but for those who might not be familiar, here's a quick refresher: Height is a seasoned Underground Hip-Hop rapper-producer, Cold Rhymes Records founder, and 1/3 of Shark Tank , while Donovan "ialive" is a self-proclaimed "rap-singer-songwriter" who's affiliated with fellow Philadelphians Darko The Super (The Hell Hole Store) and Cody Cody Jones (Four to The Floor.) I'm sure ialive & Height 's paths have previously crossed within their various East Coast -based Underground Punk-Rap circles and now, they've teamed up for a proper full-length on Height 's Cold Rhymes Records ; quite simply put, TIMEWAVE ZERO is ialive 's rhymes over Height 's beats and marks the first time the latter has produced a whole project for someone, aside from himself. Height Keech has been co...

A C U R A (back in my bag) by ialive "I was feeling a little overwhelmed and burnt out with doing shows and being a wack promoter, so I decided to sit down at my funk machine and do a jam; this is the result. I did all of this in a few hours—beat, rhymes, record, and mix. It's all about the music and it always has been about the music. THANK YOU! kidDEAD and I leave for a short run of shows this Thursday," Philly beat-maker, emcee, Rap-singer /song-writer ialive wrote within a recent Facebook post. ialive is of course, one half of The Hell Hole Store with fellow rapper-producer buddy Darko The Super and his latest single, "A C U R A (back in my bag)" is his first since April 2016's The Jelly EP . ialive further details that he doesn't tour as much a some of his road dog friends, but steadily maintaining a 40-hour a week schedule at his day job, booking shows for his rapper friends throughout Philly , and upkeeping a somewhat regular existence,...

"Whoopsy daisy never lazy, so I heave-ho / Whippin' sh*t like DEVO , whip it good (That thang!) / Whippin' sh*t like Elmer Fudd and Mr. Fudd slang / Listen to my guitar twang as I sang," Zev Love X tactfully rhymed on KMD 's "Constipated Monkey" from their shelved 1993 album, Bl_ck B_st_rds . The Witzard 's favorite demented beat-maker Darko The Super sampled a bit of Zev Love X 's "Constipated Monkey" verse for appropriately-titled "Whippin' Sh*t Like DEVO" from his landmark 55th album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Darko! but I'll let him explain the rest: " Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Darko! samples and is inspired by my favorite New Wave band, DEVO . My dad was the one who got me into DEVO , which is his favorite band. He has their debut Q: Are We Not Men? album cover tattooed on his leg. The album cover I chose to make parodies the original and utilizes the #2 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft , Darko ...