Paul McCartney’s “Egypt Station” Now Available
Former Beatle Paul McCartney has returned with Egypt Station, which marks his 18th solo studio album. Recorded between Los Angeles, London, and Sussex, the album gets its name from one of the bassist’s paintings that also serves as the album artwork. It ties thematically ties the record together as the Fab Four did back in the day. “I liked the...
Superette: An Interview with Chris Lightcap
Chris Lightcap has an exquisite new album called Superette that takes his jazz-oriented music in a new direction. The album is named after his new all-electric ensemble featuring Jonathan Goldberger and Curtis Hasselbring on guitars and Dan Rieser on drums. An experiment in sounds, the group is described as exploring “the nexus of of harmolodics, surf, West African music, psychedelia...
Ronnie James Dio Bass Gear To Be Auctioned Sep 14-15
Most of us know the late Ronnie James Dio as the legendary lead vocalist for Dio, Rainbow, and Black Sabbath. Tracks like “Holy Diver” and “Rainbow In The Dark” are part of the fabric that makes heavy metal history. What many don’t realize is that he was also originally a bassist. Dio’s first bands, notably Elf, featured him on the...
EarthQuaker Devices Introduces the Aqueduct Vibrato Pedal
EarthQuaker Devices has introduced a new vibrato pedal called the Aqueduct that utilizes a short delay line with eight modulation modes for a wide palette of tones. The eight modes include sine, triangle, ramp, square, random, envelope-controlled depth, envelope-controlled rate, and envelope-controlled pitch. “Envelope-Controlled Pitch mode (Env P) is equipped with a wet/dry blend expanding the tonal possibilities beyond vibrato...
Nate Wood’s fOUR: Mysterious One
The insanely talented Nate Wood has released a new video of his unbelievable one-man project, fOUR. “Mysterious One” is the final track from his new album, X.IT, and has Wood playing bass, drums, singing, and synthesizer. Talk about a multi-instrumentalist!
New Tord Gustavsen Trio Album Features Bassist Sigurd Hole
After working in different band formats for the past decade, jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen has gotten back to the piano trio format. The Other Side features his longtime drummer Jarle Vespestad as well Sigurd Hole, who joins the band for the first time. A bandleader himself, the Norwegian bassist fits right into the trio’s sound by drawing on folk influences...
Meris Unveils the Enzo Multi-Voice Instrument Synthesizer Pedal
Meris has unveiled the Enzo, a multi-voice instrument synthesizer with four synth modes: mono for single lines, arp for arpeggiated sounds, poly for chords, and dry for disabling the synth. Each of these can be sculpted and dialed in with a deep set of knobs with alternate functions. Pitch changes the pitch of the Synth or Dry signal and has...
Bass of the Week: Ibanez ATK810E
There’s something so raw yet refined about the Ibanez ATK that has always caught my attention. This week we’re checking out the four-string Premium version of the model. “With the ATK, we took the traditional concept of the bass and turned it up to ’11,'” Ibanez writes. “The result is one of the most straightforward, versatile basses on the market....
Passenger Releases “Runaway”
UK singer/songwriter Passenger, AKA Mike Rosenberg, has released Runaway, an album that draws its sound from America. Rosenberg’s father was American and took him to the United States every summer while he grew up in Brighton, UK. “While some songs point to specific locations such as Yellowstone or Detroit, Mike imagined all the new songs unfolding against a backdrop of...
Fodera Adds Emperor-J 5 To Standard Classic Bass Series
Fodera has added a five-string version of their Emperor-J to the Standard Classic line. The retro-styled instrument can be ordered in two different layouts to represent the tones of different eras. “The Emperor-J 5 is available in either a 60’s jazz-style configuration of an Alder body/ Rosewood FB with its pickups in 60’s location or in a 70’s jazz-style configuration...
Alkaline Trio Releases “Is This Thing Cursed?”
Alkaline Trio has returned to release their first album in five years, entitled Is This Thing Cursed? The pop-punk band took a new direction by writing the album almost entirely in the studio, but it also draws a comparison to their 2000 album, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire. “The songwriting process is almost like what it was back in the day....
AC Guitars Unveils the Micro Krell Bass Guitar
AC Guitars has scaled down their Krell model with the new Micro Krell, a bass featuring a tiny 26.5-inch scale while still being tuned as a normal bass. Luthier Alan Cringean created the model out of a bit of exploration. “It started out as an experiment using a Krell guitar body I had in the workshop to find out just...