New Albums - Page 156

Robert Plant reevaluates his British roots on . With the band, the Sensational Shape Shifters, featuring longtime Bristol, England-based electric and upright bassist Billy Fuller, Plant has created music somewhat inspired by the landscape in which he called home during childhood and the beginnings of a long and storied career. The former Led Zeppelin frontman’s work with the Sensational Shape...

Swedish metal band In Flames has released its 11th studio album, . The group, which features Peter Iwers on bass, is known for its evolution from its melodic death metal beginnings to a sound that in recent years, has incorporated more alternative and metalcore elements. Siren Charms is available on , and as a digital download ( and ). Hear...

Love 1950s’-style “cool” jazz? You’re in good company. Renowned bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) and his famed keyboardist brother Pete (Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter) have always adored it, too, and now the pair have recorded their first album together as a duo, because of their affection for it. As Tony, who also plays cello...

Let a bassist break down why Big Star was so important. The bassist, by the way, is R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, who penned liner notes for the reissues of two of the power pop trailblazers/originators’ albums — its 1972 debut, and its 1974 followup . Big Star was a band “who made records that sounded like rock and roll bands should...

If you missed out on the Avishai Cohen Trio’s Gently Disturbed when it came out in 2008, or you just always wanted a vinyl version of the record, . The work, from the trio featuring the innovative Cohen on bass, Mark Guiliana on drums and Shai Maestro on piano, received a host of accolades for its near-redefinition of jazz. You...

Swedish progressive metal band Opeth has released the follow-up to its acclaimed 2011 album, Heritage. , featuring the bass work of Martín Méndez, is the 11th album from the group, which originated as a death metal outfit. Méndez and vocalist-guitarist-producer Mikael Åkerfeldt wrote all the songs on the album, which Åkerfeldt says found the group focusing on melodies more than...

The July 2010 High Voltage Festival in London marked the first time Asia performed its multiplatinum 1982 debut album in full in Europe. Four years later, that show is now available in a . The performance featured the original band lineup (including singer, songwriter and bassist John Wetton), hits like “Heat of the Moment” and “Only Time Will Tell” and...

Progressive bluegrass singer and bassist John Cowan has assembled a who’s who of roots music for his latest album, . Cowan, who also plays bass in The Doobie Brothers, is known for his work with New Grass Revival, Sam Bush, The Sky Kings and his own John Cowan Band, as well his abilities as a session player and vocalist. And...

Royal Blood, which has been generating buzz in the music press and online for almost a year, now has its . The U.K duo creates a massive rock vibe, even though the only instrumentation comes from vocalist Mike Kerr’s bass and Ben Thatcher’s drums. In our interview with Kerr, he said the group’s epic sound came “more [from] curiosity than...

The Bad Plus, on the heels of releasing its take on The Rite of Spring earlier this year, has now released its first album of original music since 2012’s Made Possible. is an album “rich with mystery,” according to the website for the leaderless avant-jazz piano-bass-drums trio. The group is devoted to exploring musical forms birthed from jazz, and those...

Motörhead has added something extra to its 2013 Aftershock album — a live CD. The package, called , features not only the original album, but also the bonus material, culled from the band’s mini Best of the West Coast Tour earlier this year. The live recording features Aftershock tunes and Motörhead classics, like “Ace of Spades.” Fronted by bassist, singer...

It’s all about the rhythm for Rodney Whitaker, the double bassist and head of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University who has released his eighth album, . The record features five originals and six arrangements of others’ work. But in the latter case, even standards become new when a different kind of rhythm is employed, Whitaker says in a short...