High on Fire Releases “Electric Messiah”
High on Fire has released Electric Messiah, an album inspired by the late metal bass god Lemmy Kilmister. The band’s frontman, Matt Pike, wrote the title track after a dream. “When Lemmy was still alive I always got compared to Lemmy, so I had this dream where he got pissed at me,” says Pike. “He gave me a bunch of...
Smashing Pumpkins Announce New Tour Dates
The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a handful of tour dates to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Beginning in Madison, Wisconsin on November 29th, the dates will include an already sold-out stop in their hometown of Chicago before heading south to end in Arizona on December 7th. The tour will be in support of a new album entitled Shiny and Oh So...
Ibanez Reintroduces Artcore AFB200 and AGB200 Basses
Ibanez has reintroduced their Artcore series bass models with the AFB200 and the AGB200. The hollow body, short-scale basses each carry an old school vibe with a different tonal palette to separate them. “The AFB200 is geared towards the traditionalist; the player after a huge, warm bass tone perfect for Jazz, Blues, or acoustic sets,” Ibanez explains. “The AGB200 is...
Ben Allison’s “Quiet Revolution” Gets Wide Release
Previously only available on vinyl, Ben Allison’s 2016 release, Quiet Revolution, is now available on CD and digital formats. The trio album features guitarist Steve Cardenas and saxophonist/clarinetist Ted Nash in a subtle setting that pays homage to the work of jazz greats Jim Hall and Jimmy Giuffre. “Those records were made in the late ’50s, through the ’60s and...
Bass of the Week: The Swedish Harp Bass
From the mind of Joel Illerhag comes one of the most incredible, dreamlike instruments I’ve ever seen. The Swedish Harp Bass is a double bass fitted with a 3D-printed carbon fiber structure to add 39 sympathetic strings and electromagnets that help to make the strings sound. “The aim of this project is to produce acoustic sound from a musical instrument...
Hawktail: Live at Reverb Sessions
Paul Kowert is best known as the bassist for the Punch Brothers, but he took his band Hawktail to the Reverb.com studios to play a couple tunes. The performances of “Say Old Man, Can You Play The Fiddle?” and “In the Kitchen” display the bassist’s virtuosity in a beautiful bluegrass setting. “Through both tunes, Paul deploys a masterful breadth of...
Phronesis Releases “We Are All”
Jazz trio Phronesis has released their eighth album, entitled We Are All. The band, which was formed by bassist Jasper Høiby, dig deep to create expressive textures with a unified sense of melody. We Are All is a continuation of their unique instrumental sound, but it also leans on the message of togetherness. “More than ever before, we feel we...
Dave Schools Shares “Bass Godz” Playlist
If you’re looking for some bass-heavy tunes featuring some of the greatest players to ever pick up our instrument, Dave Schools has you covered. The Widespread Panic bassist curated a Spotify playlist of 21 songs with bass lines that “influenced and perplexed” him as a young player. “It is not meant to be a Top-21 list of greatest bassists but...
Electro-Harmonix Announces the Mod Rex Polyrhythmic Modulator Pedal
Electro-Harmonix has unveiled the Mod Rex polyrhythmic modulator pedal featuring four independent modulation sections synced in time. Each of the sections can be tweaked to create unique sounds. “MOD delivers vibrato, flanger, chorus or phaser. TREM features tremolo. PAN modulates between left and right in stereo operation and FILTER offers a choice of a modulated LPF, HPF or BPF,” EHX...
Dunlop Introduces New BMF Guitar Straps
Dunlop has expanded their BMF line of guitar straps with two new options. The first is a strap made from belt leather, which the company says get better with age. They come in brown and black. “Comfortable on your shoulder from the start, Belt Leather Straps become even softer as you wear them in, and they develop a patina that...
Rush to Issue 40th Anniversary Edition of “Hemispheres”
Rush’s seminal album Hemispheres will be getting a 40th anniversary reissue on November 16th, the band revealed. The new release will come in four packages: a super deluxe edition, a two-CD deluxe edition, a 3-LP deluxe edition, and a deluxe digital edition. Released in 1978, Hemispheres cemented the more progressive sonic approach that Rush started in A Farewell To Kings....
Beyond Creation: “Entre Suffrage Et Mirage” Studio Playthrough
I always love a good metal playthrough video, and Beyond Creation never disappoints. Here’s the entire band playing through the song “Entre Suffrage Et Mirage” from their upcoming album, Algorythm. Bassist Hugo Doyon-Karout absolutely shreds throughout the clip with some sweet bass melodies thrown in at the end. Keep in mind he’s playing a fretless six-string!