News - Page 252

Almost a year to the day after Jack Bruce’s death, musicians will gather at London’s Roundhouse to celebrate the music of the late, great bassist best known for his work with Cream. Bruce’s influence as a rock bassist and songwriter can’t be overestimated. He wrote Cream songs like “White Room,” and former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters once stated in...

Sonic Youth’s second full-length LP, 1985’s Bad Moon Rising, has been re-released. The new release features bonus tracks— “Flower,” “Halloween,” “Echo Canyon,” and “Satan is Boring.” The trio of songs are available via download card with the LP. With Kim Gordon on bass, the album’s American gothic sound, inspired by dissolution of hippie ideals in late 1960s Southern California, is...

Former Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook and his band, The Light, will conclude its short spring touring schedule with a May 18 performance of every track ever recorded by Joy Division. The date is significant in Joy Division history — it’s when, in 1980, lead singer Ian Curtis took his own life. The remainder of the band eventually became...

Melodic death metal band Soilwork has released a 2 CD/1 Blu-ray set documenting a March 21, 2014 show at Circus Club in Helsinki, Finland. Live in the Heart of Helsinki features bass work from Ola Flink, which, according to a review in Ghost Cult, is clearly heard in the mix. The show also hits on all the stages of the...

Gov’t Mule is celebrating its 20th anniversary with some archival releases, including the live Dub Side of the Mule, recorded on New Year’s Eve 2006 at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. The album features three hours of music, including a 45-minute reggae set from Toots Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals. It’s also a place to hear the...

Guitar great Steve Vai has released a DVD detailing an Oct. 12, 2012 in Los Angeles and featuring a video tour diary. The package is titled Stillness in Motion. The show occurred at the Club Nokia as part of Vai’s Story of Light world tour, which included Vai’s longtime bassist Philip Bynoe. Stillness in Motion is available on a ....

Brian Wilson’s 11th solo album, No Pier Pressure, features a wealth of guest vocalists and the bass talents of Don Was, who is also well known for his work as a producer, bandleader and record label president. Wilson, the primary songwriter for The Beach Boys during the group’s most prolific and influential years, recorded the album at Ocean Way Studios...

Primus will be hitting the road again this summer with a U.S. tour focusing on the East Coast and Midwest. Fronted by bassman Les Claypool, the trio will kick things off with an appearance at the All Good Festival before snaking their way to end up at the Sumtur Amphitheater in Papillion, Nebraska on August 7th. Primus is currently touring...

Drum-bass noise rock duo Lightning Bolt is back with its first full-length studio album in several years, Fantasy Empire. The record, being released duo’s 20th anniversary year, reflects the pair’s live sound, and utilizes live loops. Bassist Brian Gibson worked to achieve a clear, yet distorted bass sound on the album that continues the band’s aesthetic of making a meaningful...

Jazz bassist and composer Avishai Cohen and his trio, including pianist Nitai Hershkovits and drummer Daniel Dor, have released From Darkness. Cohen’s goal with the record, as it often is for him, is to reach toward purity of sound. He’s absolutely making his way there. Take a listen to the album’s “Lost Tribe” in the video below. From Darkness is...

Jazz bassist John Patitucci, known for his work with Chick Corea, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, and Wayne Shorter, lent his talents to vocalist José James’ latest, Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday. Released on Blue Note and produced by Blue Note President Don Was (also a bassist), the album also features pianist Jason Moran and...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (GYBE) has released Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress, the Canadian post-rock group’s first record since 2012’s Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! The group, with its two-bassist lineup of Thierry Amar (double bass, bass) and Mauro Pezzente (bass), has a sound marked by major unison riffage, noise/drones, and guitar/strings counterpoint. Just this one description from the record’s promotional...