Archive for December 2013 - Page 6

If you’ve heard the music of Aaron Gibson, you’ll know why he’s one of our favorite bassists here at No Treble HQ. Here’s Aaron performing his original composition, “Love”. The song is also available on .

Melodic/hardcore band Evergreen Terrace (named after the street where The Simpsons live) has dropped , its first album since the 2012 return of bassist Jason Southwell, who stepped away from the group back in 2009. It’s also the band’s first release on Rise Records. The group severed its connection with Metal Blade in 2012. Two songs — the title track...

Bakithi Kumalo and Kala Brand Music have teamed up to released the Bakithi Kumalo Signature U-Bass. Kumalo, who first made his mark on Paul Simon’s Graceland album, has been a U-Bass endorser for several years and helped to create the new signature model. The B.K. U-Bass is solid-body fretless four-string with a 21″ scale. It’s built with a select ash...

There’s something very satisfying about the combination of bass and kalimba. Olivier Babaz plays both simultaneously (not to mention a foot shaker) in this chilled out rendition of the Jaco Pastorius tune “Teen Town.” Talk about coordination!

Nathan Vonnahme has released Teüna, a chromatic tuner app for iPhone, iPad and iPad Touch. The app draws on historical aesthetic for its design. “I started looking at these pocket watches from the 17th century, and I realized, these were the iPhone of their day,” Vonnahme explains. “This was the object that every gentleman and many ladies would whip out...

This week we check out the Ronin Prætorian, a bass built with the environment in mind. Central to the instrument is its “Salvaged Old Growth Redwood” (or S.O.G.R.) body, which the company reclaims from old barns, wineries, and agricultural buildings. Each piece is selected for a tight quarter-sawn grain structure, which the company explains offers improved sound transfer and acoustic...

During Vulfpeck’s tour, they had the night off in Tulsa. But a night off doesn’t stop these guys from getting funky. Joined by Cory Wong on guitar, the band put together one epic jam. As usual, bassist Joe Dart delivers big time. Jack Stratton told me they were “going for a Bernard Edwards tone”. Oh yeah.

, post-rock outfit Caspian’s first release since the August death of bassist Chris Friedrich, is a six-song EP featuring new music as well as remixes of two songs from the band’s last full-length LP, Waking Season. Both “Procellous” and “Halls of the Summer” from Waking Season receive the remix treatment. Another Waking Season track, “High Lonesome,” appears here in demo...

Q: I’ve applied to audition for a band. My problem is that I’m not actually convinced about their music. The reason that I still want to try it is because they play gigs that are a higher level than mine, plus the fact that they play, because I haven’t been doing much lately. I have never been great at networking,...

Back in July, Flemming shared an incredible video of an incredible tune by Kenneth Dahl Knudsen. I didn’t make it through halfway through that video before I bought Kenneth’s album, Clockstopper. Here’s another great song and performance filmed during the same concert. “Beautify” is harder hitting than “Tucked In”, but just as great.

The Velvet Underground’s original White Light/White Heat release in 1968 included just six songs, including the iconic title track and legendary “Sister Ray.” Raw, loud, and avant-garde for the time, it became a rock classic. Decades later, the of the record features three CDs (one of the CDs is a live show recorded in 1967 in New York) and 30...

We first heard about bassist Patrick Rowling when we covered the news of his novel Funk Machine back in August. Now we get the story behind this musician and author. His story of how he started on bass is one of the most entertaining ones we’ve read in a while. Patrick is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight for the...