Archive for April 2015 - Page 6

Buckle up your seat belts, because Erlend Caspersen’s latest playthrough is bound to knock you out of your seat. This time he shows how to play Spawn of Possession’s “The Evangelist” from the Swedish death metal band’s third album, Incurso. Caspersen delivers unrelenting riffs over the nearly ten minute song that will make you question the laws of physics. He...

Gov’t Mule is celebrating its 20th anniversary with some archival releases, including the live Dub Side of the Mule, recorded on New Year’s Eve 2006 at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. The album features three hours of music, including a 45-minute reggae set from Toots Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals. It’s also a place to hear the...

This is one huge edition of the Weekly Top 10. This week, readers really enjoyed how-to columns by Dr. D and Damian Erskine on both taking a melody-first approach to soloing, to overcoming struggles while learning theory and harmony. It gets bigger: two top 10 lists made the list… the top 10 videos and the top 10 gear stories for...

Aguilar Amplification is bringing two of their bass pickup models together to create the AG 4M/J-HC and AG 5M/J-HC pickup sets. Calibrated together, the sets include one of the company’s 4M or 5M humbuckers in the bridge position and their AG 4J-HC or 5J-HC in the neck position. The company explains the 4M and 5M humbuckers are wired in parallel...

Until now, Zander Zon’s videos have featured him as a solo bassist. Here’s Zander in his first ever collaboration video with singing duo, KJC. The trio takes on Kodaline’s “All I Want”, with some remarkable playing by Zander equally matched by the vocalists.

Guitar great Steve Vai has released a DVD detailing an Oct. 12, 2012 in Los Angeles and featuring a video tour diary. The package is titled Stillness in Motion. The show occurred at the Club Nokia as part of Vai’s Story of Light world tour, which included Vai’s longtime bassist Philip Bynoe. Stillness in Motion is available on a ....

If you’ve ever played “Watching the Detectives,” you know it’s one of those songs that’s just fun to groove on. Originally heard on Elvis Costello’s My Aim is True, the reggae-rock tune features a mellow bass line that lays nicely on the instrument. Here’s a clip of Costello and the Attractions featuring bassist Bruce Thomas performing it live on the...

Brian Wilson’s 11th solo album, No Pier Pressure, features a wealth of guest vocalists and the bass talents of Don Was, who is also well known for his work as a producer, bandleader and record label president. Wilson, the primary songwriter for The Beach Boys during the group’s most prolific and influential years, recorded the album at Ocean Way Studios...

Primus will be hitting the road again this summer with a U.S. tour focusing on the East Coast and Midwest. Fronted by bassman Les Claypool, the trio will kick things off with an appearance at the All Good Festival before snaking their way to end up at the Sumtur Amphitheater in Papillion, Nebraska on August 7th. Primus is currently touring...

Amplification guru James Demeter was at NAMM this year to introduce the prototype of the Bass 400-D bass amp. Based on last year’s VTBP-M-800D, the 400-D matches Demeter’s classic VTBP-201 tube preamp circuitry with a 400-watt class D power amplifier. The amp starts with a quarter-inch input and active/passive switch to match the preamplifer to your bass’s output. Its tone...

It’s always a good day when Vulfpeck sends us a new video. The creative quartet decided to tackle the classic standard “Poinciana” with some influences and a twist. “[It’s a] minimal rendition,” Jack Stratton tells us. “The Four Freshmen were one of the first vocal groups to not sing the root in the harmony. All it needs is someone holding...

Drum-bass noise rock duo Lightning Bolt is back with its first full-length studio album in several years, Fantasy Empire. The record, being released duo’s 20th anniversary year, reflects the pair’s live sound, and utilizes live loops. Bassist Brian Gibson worked to achieve a clear, yet distorted bass sound on the album that continues the band’s aesthetic of making a meaningful...