Evan Brewer: Entheos “Primal” Playthrough
Ever since Evan Brewer joined Entheos at the beginning of the year, I’ve been eager to check the band out. The technical death metal band’s Primal EP dropped this month and proved the wait was worth it. Brewer joins drummer Navene Koperweis, guitarist Frank Costa, and vocalist Chaney Crabb to lay down some brutally heavy beats. Here’s a clip of...
Bass of the Week: Anastasio Fasanaro Contrabasso
This week we take a look at Italian luthier Anastasio Fasanaro’s Contrabasso model, but this is no ordinary double bass. The unique 1/4 size bass features low profile sides for a slim body and a highly figured, bookmatched curly Italian poplar top. Fasanaro gave it a dark finish for a smoky, elegant aesthetic. The Contrabasso is fitted with K&K pickups...
Gheorghe Postoronca: Lullaby to the Sea
Solo bassist Gheorghe Postoronca‘s latest video is guaranteed to chill you out. Like many of his songs, “Lullaby to the Sea” utilizes a chordal fingerstyle to create a spellbinding musical journey. Postoronca performs the song in front of the sea to use the crashing waves as an ambient backdrop. Check out his innovative use of a capo over the lower...
Fender Introduces Deluxe Active Okoume Basses
Fender had a lot of new gear at NAMM this year including the Deluxe Active Okoume series. The basses, which feature okoume bodies with a natural finish, come in Jazz Bass, Jazz Bass V, and Precision Bass Special versions. Fender explains that okoume is a reddish-brown African hardwood with a straight grain that gives the bass a pronounced low end....
Now Vs Now: Ancient Alien, Live
Here’s a killer video of Now Vs Now performing “Ancient Alien” from their album Earth Analog, live at Relix. The song features the electro space groove travelers throwing down with a massive, futuristic soundscape. The band consists keyboardist Jason Linder, drummer Justin Tyson, and bassist Panagiotis Andreou, who utilizes some crazy effects to bolster the bottom end. He switches to...
Gear Review: Accuracy Basses Matisse Deluxe 5-String
Like any craft, the art of building basses takes finesse and attention to detail. Each contour is carefully considered and carved into the bass as a painter would add a stroke to his painting, so it’s only fitting that Accuracy Basses named their doublecut model the Matisse Deluxe after the French artist. Accuracy is a small bass building company based...
Alex Canion: Voyager’s “The Domination Game” Playthrough
Here’s another one for heavy music fans. Alex Canion sent us this playthrough of “The Domination Game” from his band Voyager’s album, V, and it’s got some serious weight to it. Canion uses slap and fingerstyle to pull a fat, gritty sound out of his bass that fills out the low end of the mix. Besides the finger-busting riffs, it’s...
Ashdown Introduces Retroglide 800 Bass Amp
One of the many new products Ashdown introduced at NAMM this year was the Retroglide-800, an amp head built in their custom shop. The company describes the amp as a throwback to the ’80s with founder Mark Gooday saying, “[it] takes me back to my roots as a bass player [with] pure, simple tone at your fingertips.” The Retroglide revolves...
Hammer and Tongs: An Interview with Frankie Poullain
Nearly three years after their last release, over-the-top rock band The Darkness has announced that their fourth album, Last of Our Kind, will be dropping on June 1st. The record sees the band return in epic fashion with ten new songs filled with tales of battle, love, and struggle. Of course, the whole album is tied together by the massive,...
Willy González Trio: La Saladita
I love hearing music from around the world, especially when it features the bass. Here’s a fantastic clip of Argentinian bassist Willy González and his Trio performing “La Saladita” from their latest album, Tamocomoqueremo. González, who started as a jazz musician, has been reimagining traditional Latin American styles on his six-string bass. “La Saladita” is in the vein of Cueca,...
Rami Lakkis & Gene Lake: Insomnia
Shapeshifter Lab is a great venue in Brooklyn that hosts innovative artists to explore musical boundaries, and since it’s co-owned by Matt Garrison, you can bet that it’s very bass-friendly. Here’s a great clip of bassist Rami Lakkis with drummer Gene Lake performing “Insomnia” at Shapeshifter last year. The song is an original composition by Lakkis that fuses electronica and...
In Memoriam: Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser, bassist and founding member of the ’60s rock band Free, has passed away at 62. Although a cause of death has not been released, Fraser had recently been battling AIDS and cancer. Fraser was born in London in 1952 and began music studies on piano at the tender age of five. He switched to guitar when he was...