New Albums - Page 168

Electric bass and bassoon may seem like a strange duo setting, but OoN is proof that the instruments blend quite nicely. The group, which consists of the fabulous Ariane Cap on 6-string bass and bassoonist Paul Hanson, has released their debut album, . Named for the North Star, the album showcases a range of styles, from jazz to rock to...

Metal drone band Sunn O)))’s collaboration with Norwegian metal/heavy chamber group Ulver, , is summed up in this passage from Drowned in Sound: “This might be the closest you can get to ‘new age’ while remaining a heavily tattooed riff-worshipper.” Bassist Greg Anderson of Sunn O)))’s augmented bass feedback is featured on the “Western Horn” movement of the three-movement record....

Jazz fusion band The Funky Knuckles has a true Dallas sound, according to bassist and band leader Wes Stephenson. “It’s the feel for funk, hip-hop and gospel, to which we add the elements of jazz and improvisation,” Stephenson tells The Dallas Morning News. The second album from the group composed of seasoned music industry sidemen (Stephenson has performed with Erykah...

So what do you call a group with one bass, one guitar, and a beat provided by a tambourine-type thing? You’d call it Les Claypool’s Duo de Twang, composed of Primus leader/bass monster Claypool and guitarist Bryan Kehoe. It’s a departure from Primus’ freewheeling, iconoclastic funk — kind of. Duo de Twang’s first album , is, as you would imagine...

Silk-gloved bassist Etienne Mbappe’s album combines the Duala language of his native Cameroon, a huge groove and blazing bass. Mbappe, known for his work with legendary guitarist John McLaughlin, as well as his own solo music, is also the vocalist on the collection of joyous, danceable tunes. The groove on “Wondja” from Pater Noster is worth checking out, even if...

Norwegian jazz bass great Arild Andersen has produced a studio album of ballads with drummer Paolo Vinaccia and tenor sax player Tommy Smith – the same trio responsible for the Live at Belleville album. features mostly work written by Andersen, but it does include a cover of Burt Bacharach’s classic, “Alfie.” In an interview with Jazz Times reproduced on his...

The queen of African music and one of music’s most extraordinary bassists have joined forces. The record is Angelique Kidjo’s album, . She’s the queen, of course, and the bassist is Christian McBride, who has worked with everyone from Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock to pop/rock stars Sting and Don Henley. McBride is a longtime fan of Kidjo and he...

, Nashville Pussy’s first studio record since 2009’s From Hell to Texas, is being called the hard rockers’ band’s Back in Black by frontman Blaine Cartwright. Now, this record isn’t an album of mourning and rebirth following the death of a member like AC/DC’s classic album, but it is the first on-record appearance of bassist Bonnie Buitrago, who has been...

Periphery’s album is all about experimentation, with each of the metal band’s members controlling an individual track on the record, and an overture linking them all. “Extraneous” is the track handled by bassist Adam “Nolly” Getgood, and it’s one that impressed The Musical Melting Pot, prompting this description: “the bass lines in Extraneous sound like the Hulk twisting steel pipes...

Luke Appleton (former Fury UK bassist) is the latest in a long line of Iced Earth bassists, and after joining the power/thrash metal group back in 2012, he’s finally appearing with on a record with the group’s 11th studio album, . It’s the first album since the band’s acclaimed 2011 record, Dystopia, and bandleader Jon Schaffer says it’s one he’s...

If you dig on rockabilly sounds with plenty of old-school rock-and-roll double bass work, you’ll be thrilled by The Reverend Horton Heat’s . It’s the psychobilly outfit’s first album since 2009’s more country-oriented Laughin’ and Cryin’ with the Reverend Horton Heat. As the band’s records have since 1989, the album features the work of upright/electric bass player Jimbo Wallace, who...

Thumbscrew, a new modern jazz trio, composed of veterans from the scene, including double bassist Michael Formanek, has released its . Formanek, who has worked with everyone from Elvis Costello to Stan Getz, has joined forces with guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujwara to create Thumbscrew and its first album, which was recorded live in the studio. And while...