BR?AN

The Checklist

2006-12-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

Nels Cline of Wilco (et al.) has a tech talk section on his site that's been making the rounds on the guitar blogs. I guess its a bit peculiar that an artist expounds in detail on his pedal board (although John Frusciante did recently in GP Mag, listing each effect, song by song through the entirety of Stadium Arcadium ad naseum that had even me glazing over, and I like his solo albums and this sort of guitar geekery).

But I think some are missing Cline's point. Scroll down and check the Amp du Jour section to see how he fared touring without his own amp. He's definitely in the "plug in and play" camp and sees effects as gravy. Yummy, yummy gravy.

Axiom & Ableton

2006-09-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Picked up a new midi keyboard a few weeks back and have been exploring Ableton Live with it; running the tutorials and laying down some simple rhythm tracks and loops (or clips, should I say). It's brilliant. The touch of the keys and especially drum pads are phenomenal. And the inclusion of the (nearly) full featured Ableton Live Lite is a boon. I'm just thinking I should got the 49 or 61 key version and some piano lessons.

But I don't want to focus too much on the bleep-bloop music and take time away from the guitar rocking. As much as I like Radiohead, and The Chemical Brothers, and Aphex Twin, and ... where was I? Oh, yeah, guitars rock! But so do midi-keyboards and live-looping-beat-syncing DAWs.

Echo Drive

2006-08-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

I got asked recently about delay pedals, so here's my two cents.

I've been playing through the Big Green Monster for over a year and I still love the beast. Initially it was the looping function that sold me. Fourteen seconds so it says, but really it can do 28 when you record on half time. Not enough for a slow 12 bar blues but still adequate to get a nice rhythm line down. And the looping is dead easy to use, and has that nice fade out overdub thing. Check the manual to see how easy it is.

I thought once I got the Jamman I'd phase out the DL4 maybe sell it and replace it with a sweet analog delay. EH Deluxe Memory Man is the standard, used famously by the Edge (although you'd need two to get his sound, for one slow and one fast delay - or just one DL4 set to stereo). The Fulltone tape delay would be really ostentatious, but it was Diamond's Memory Lane that I thought was really sweet. Analog, but with tap tempo (I haven't found that anywhere else), and modulation depth and speed, to get the chorus like effects.

But I haven't turfed the DL4 yet, and don't know that I will. It's still really handy as a looper, nice to do something really quick, but also as an additional track on top of the Jamman's infinite overdub, but linear undo/redo capability. And also its a smorgasbord of delay flavors. Granted I'm not sure I can even tell the difference between four types of tube/tape delay, but they sound cool. And its the other functions that you can't really get without multiple pedals, to get say the Edge's stereo setup or the one I was playing with recently I liked, the auto-volume echo, for sweet sweeping swells.

Side note: if the looper is of no use to you (but frankly I'd find that hard to believe) you can get the Echo Drive scaled down version for a fraction of the cost. And check out the video demo and sound samples for a feel for its capabilities.

Evolution

2006-08-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

Dave Hunter's guitar book raved about Yamaha's SG 2000, what at first glance looks like a nice Les Paul/SG knockoff, but really is a rock machine, the progression and development of the instrument. Neck-thru body and a brass bridge sustain plate? Hellsyeah! Especially considering Gibson's lackluster quality in the late 70s and 80s, and the inflated price they demand, this axe is the shit.

And there's even one in 'Town. I wonder how it'd look with a gold Bigsby.

Blogosphere

2006-08-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a passing nod in a NY news montage (new cabinet for the 18watt looks great by the way), but my questions do get answered.

CDG

2006-07-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Only a couple weeks late, the Bluesfest higlight: The Chris Duarte Group. En route to a bland main event I got side tracked by a smaller stage and this guys mad howls from a ratty old Strat. Hendrix and SRV influences are obvious but Duarte has a sound all his own, and can live up to the praise. He's even got an instructional DVD.

The KR

2006-07-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

Guitar Player Mag has my number: tight-bottomed grind at lower settings (think of Keef on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?”) in the recent review of the Louis KR M12. Dammnit! How did they know I want to sound like the mummified father of an effete pirate? I've been outed!

Still, a Keith Richards signature boutique amp. Pretty sweet, if only it wasn't 40 watts with no effects loop. Its exactly what I don't need. But "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"? That is the tone.

DCFC gear update

2006-06-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Someone took some snaps of a recent show and posted it on guitargeek.

Notably cool: Chris Walla has a Malcolm Young Signature.

Holy Grail part II

2006-06-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Or there's the recent re-release of the London (Ontario) Power Studio. This is pretty sweet, and built a short drive away. So it should be affordable, right?

Its a rackmount all tube head with proprietary Power Scaling, presumably better than master volume or attenuator for reducing volume and keeping tone. But what's really cool is that nearly every major design decision an amp builder might make is tweakable. Cathode bias? Flip a switch. How much negative feedback? Twist a dial. Tubes? Take your pick. These are the things that give different amps their character and you get to modify the tone with these choices not just the limited pallete of any one amp design.

But as you might have guessed, it don't come cheap.

Matamp 1224

2006-06-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

This might just be the Holy Grail. One amp with four tubes configurable four ways (single ended, tubes 1&2 Class A, tubes 3&4 Class A/B, or all four) for two to thirty watts, plus pentode triode switching for more power options, without the necessity of a tone sucking attenuator, or worse master volume. There's a slew of preamp and boost settings, and it even has a send/return effects loop.

But British workmanship don't come cheap in this country, and for the price you might be better off with several application specific amps. Especially considering the elegance of simplicity in circuits, keeping tonal paths clean, and the ease of repairs.

Rob's Back

2006-06-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is the smile of a man with a Marshall 18 Watt. Rob just finished his amp and is back to blogging. Sounds pretty good. Nicely done.

Tenuous Connection

2006-06-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

Tycho just referenced Lady Sovereign's Ch-Ching. This had nothing to do with that. In fact I know so little about UK hip-hop I can't tell her apart from the Streets or Kano much less M.I.A. But since I first heard Ch-Ching on a podcast alongside The Drones "Shark Fin Blues" I thought it fitting to give it a mention.

Lyrically reminiscent of a Decemberists see shanty sung by a doomed mariner as the ship sinks and the sharks circle, but with that brilliant Aussie garage-rock sound. The lead singer gives off an immediate Bob Dylan impression but as the song builds up it gives way to Shane McGowan. Some people may think neither of those guys can sing. I'm not one of those people. But its that rhythm guitar that slays me. Check it out.

WestFest

2006-06-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

And yeah, the previous post title is a reference to the Cash Brothers playing WestFest tommorow.

"Guitar Strings and Foolish Things"

2006-06-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back I tuned up my Tele. Cleaned up the fretboard with lem-oil and steel wool and replaced the strings. Here be the lesson: always find out what strings are on a guitar when you buy it. If you like 'em you can replace them identically and if not you know where not to begin the search.

I loved the tone I got from the old strings and the new D'Addario 10-46s did not match up. When they weren't buzzing they sounded tinny and nasal, but I thought I just needed a heavier gauge, and I was sure I had 10s originally, so I went to the fat bottom 10-52. How can they be thick and thin at the same time? Plinky leads and razzy low-end. At least they didn't buzz, but it felt like climbing a wall going from the thin G to the thick D, and they still sounded like crap.

So I email Capsule and Peter (the co-owner that spec'ed and assembled my Tele from choice parts to resemble a '62 Custom) got back to me in under five minutes, knowing exactly the guitar I asked about and informed me of the strings of choice: Ernie Ball Classic Pure Nickel .011s

From the Ernie, "In the early sixties I developed the first Custom Gauge guitar string sets for rock & roll. They were wound with pure nickel, producing a warm, rich sound. As rock entered the 1970's players wanted more brightness so Slinkys switched to a nickel plated steel winding. The 80's demanded even more cutting power, and we came out with a separate line of Slinky strings having a wrap of stainless steel. Now, many guitarists want to recapture that original pure nickel sound, so here is the Classic series original Slinky set"

Guitar Soft Synth Geekout

2006-05-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

Johnny Greenwood rocks out and geeks out with Max/MSP.

[via MusicThing]

Looping Pedal Roundup

2006-05-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

To follow up April's article on looping, GP Mag has a roundup of loopers. Noticeably absent is the new BOSS pedal just release at NAMM, or anything from Line 6, but I guess they really only have the DL4 delay modeller (which is hardly feature rich looping against this line up).

These options just made me want MIDI clock sync, all the more. They don't even mention it as lacking in the Jamman, but do say it doesn't do reverse. Reverse? Who cares. If you're Jimi Hendrix then you need reverse, once. But a drummer? Yeah, a rhythm section? Think I might like one of those.

Guitar Player TV

2006-05-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought it was safe to go back on the internet. Announcing GP TV.

Brad Sucks

2006-05-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

Brad has been in high blog rotation lately. Can't remember where I first read about him but there's a new interview at Garagespin. Anyway he makes music, and it doesn't suck.

And I wouldn't normally think this is cause for alarm but I have reason to believe he may be from Ottawa. Little things like mentioning Canadian dollars and the Barrymore's back drop behind him and his band tipped me off. But he never goes into the "where-from" in the about or contact pages. Which is sorta neat. Like some ubiquitous nationless meme.

Coolest 4th Year Workshop Ever!

2006-05-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

I vaguely remember 4th year. It was about coasting, or so I recall.

Some engineers from the University of Illinois take it up a notch, wiring up a mail order 5E3 kit with a few sensible modifications, AB compare it with their prof's original Tweed Deluxe and write a paper on it.

I especially like the noise reduction notes: star grounding, plastic washer for the input jack, and coax cable for early signal path. As my Tweed Princeton still gets Radio Mundo crystal clear, seems I need to heed their hints.

Tulip Festival

2006-05-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

Trews, Novaks, Cuff the Duke, Wintersleep, The John Henry's, The Dears ...

Evils of the Augmented 4th

2006-05-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Breaking news from the BBC: The Devil's Music.

Unfortunately only a passing mention of the blues, despite the importance of the Aug4. I mean it is the Blue Note.

[via Boing-Boing]

The ED

2006-05-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

Custom built single channel mid power all tube amps from Stoney Creek, with all the bells and whistles: trem, reverb, effects loop, and seperate gain and boost settings. Some nice sounds, too, but who ever heard of a 6BM8 tube?

Fuzz Plus

2006-04-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

I loaned out my Boss OC2 and Fulltone Ultimate Octave this weekend for a friends recording session, with some pretty cool results. But since the man works exclusively in Ableton anyway I thought I'd bring this free plug to his attention.

And if you like that, check out the other list of goodies, especially the Bi-Phase.

DIY: Apple Loops

2006-04-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

Nice little article/tutorial on using Apple's Soundtrack Loop Utility to make your own Apple Loops for GarageBand or Logic.

Will Hoge

2006-04-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

This be's blowin' my hair back the past few days. You can stream any and all of his CDs in the player in the bottom right corner. The Man Who Killed Love would be my album of choice - brings your right into a smoky Blues barroom. Very 70s Stones. A twangy rhythm Telecaster drives the bulk of the songs with notable other influences, Springsteen, Petty and George Harrison, and a voice that sometimes conjurs Elvis Costello's warble or Joe Cockers rasp.

If only his tour came by here.

Dylan Obsession

2006-04-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

I think it was Nick Hornby who best wrote about Bob Dylan fanatics. That you could own every LP he ever released and gone to see him live more than any other artist and really like his music and not really know the obsession. Not until you follow his tour like a remora and own literally hundreds of bootlegs, do you know Bob Dylan.

What I find particularly amusing about the detailing of every acoustic guitar the man ever played, is the brevity of the electric guitar section. Scroll down. Way down. That, to me, speaks volumes about the nature of obsession.

(Please note Dylan is not playing a D-28 or J-200 in the attached picture.)

UKRAINIA?

2006-04-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

I gotta learn to read the bold print. Andrew Vincent is playing the Whalebone this Monday and after being shut out due to sellout a couple months back I thought I'd pick up tix in advance. Smart, yeah? But what is this Ukrainia on the ticket? Huh, must be the event is part of some ethnic community festival, since isn't there the Ukranian Hall just arount the corner?

Yeah, no. Ukrainia! is the main event. A raucous old country assault on the ears via folk tunes transmogrified by Gibson SG and Hi-Watt stack. Beauty.

But where the hell are they gonna put a four peice rock band in the Whalebone?

Slow News Week

2006-04-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Greg MacPherson is rocking the Cafe Dekcuf tonight, with too many bands I've never heard of.

Concerts on NPR

2006-04-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Neko Case and New Pornographers (sans Neko Case) have concerts posted on NPR. Just the thing for a lonely drive to the ass end of nowhere, me thinks. Travel safe.

Lots more here.

Live

2006-04-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

The price of Boss's new looper got me rethinking about soft options. Notably Ableton Live. Here's a nice intro/tutorial from O'Reilly.

Loopers Delight

2006-04-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

Guitar Player Mag has an article on looping and the new batch of loopers at NAMM this year. BOSS has upped the ante vs. Digitech with its RC50 and the Electro Harmonix 2880 looks interesting too. And each of those new ones has MIDI clock sync (unlike my Jamman, sniffle).

Actually that RC50 looks pretty sweet: XLR with phantom power, sampled drum loops, and that all important MIDI clock sync. Anybody want to buy a Digitech Jamman?

Power Conditioning

2006-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

A new development in tone suck: FM interference. I'm actually picking up a radio station through my guitar amp. I'm thinking dirty power is to blame.

Having the amp overhauled and especially the grounding checked could be benificial, as would power conditioning. Any peice of wire can act as an antenae picking up all sorts of impurities around 100 MHz, but it shouldn't be too tough to filter out all but the 60Hz sine wave for power. Costs of typical power conditioners belie its simplicity. But this one seems reasonable.

Hosted by Alan Cross

2006-04-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

You can actually listen to the Ongoing History of New Music online now. Still no podcast, only streaming audio. But its something. OHNM Archives online, yeah.

Slight chance of overload

2006-03-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

Movin' house this week makes me happy I like low wattage amps and rocking out, quiet like. But just once I wouldn't mind wailing through this 8x10 wall of sound, Marty McFly-style.

Old is the new cool

2006-03-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Somehow my Frenzel/Leyland Tweed Princeton just doesn't eschew the cool anymore.

And yes, I'm aware of the irony of me touting "mythical vintage worship" immediately after railing against it. But to quote George Carlin: "My crap is stuff. Your stuff is crap." And this is an original 1959 Tweed Princeton.

And the hits just keep on coming

2006-03-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

I'm continually impressed by Peter Kirn's book Real World Digital Audio.

He articulated guitar amp mic'ing in a couple pages with a couple diagrams better than an entire (albeit crappy) book on the subject. Even citing the necessity of two mic's on a Leslie rotary. All without mythical vintage worship that annoyed me so much.

In a brief review of Garageband he mentions the critically important note, only version 2 supports simultaneous multi-channel recording. Something that I'd previously failed to confirm after an hour with a music store clerk and a Mac.

The book continues to reveal gems, and I suspect I'll have spent more money before I'm done (although informedly), but this is too much: the man's own blog just linked a sweet sounding Mac plugin, for free.

WTF?

2006-03-20T11:42:00.000-08:00

Raging uninformed debate over at MusicThing on what the hell The GO Team! guitarist Sam Dook has done to his Tele. What I do know is its an early Tele Plus (like Johnny Greenwood's of Radiohead not Stuart Braithwaite's of Mogwai), although I thought it a G&L ASAT at first due to the big lugs in the neck pickup. The second picture corrected that error, revealing the dual Lace sensor bridge pickups and Fender headstock.

And I thought he had one of these Analog Devices Hot Hand motion control sensors, but its just a bluish reflection on his knuckle.

So yeah, no idea.

Fender Players Club

2006-03-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Part online neighborhood/part lesson database/part guitar god fan site/part store, this site has it all. And despite the name, its surprisingly not devoid of Gibson players and mentions of other guitars in gear sections.

The lessons are especially good. PDF's detailed with backstory and instruction rife with links to mp3 sound clips, not streamed sound. And musical notation, plus tabs, plus recommended finger. Of course its just a sampling intended to sell you their books, but there's a lot to work on here.

Questionable Content

2006-03-15T08:25:00.000-08:00

Jeph Jacques has updated his recommended listening page. Superwolf to Wolf Parade, and everything in between.

Old-timey harmony thing with a guitar accom...

2006-03-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Taj Mahal
Thanks brother.

Sweet Mother of all Pedalboards

2006-03-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

A photo pictorial of David Gilmour's custom built pedalboard, built by Pete Cornish in time for the 2006 tour.

I think my favorite bit is the "Accessories": a picture of 5 Hi-Watt heads. Because 5 Hi-Watt heads are accessories to a pedalboard.

(via Analog Industries)

That was the last cookie

2006-03-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

An older Radio 3 podcast just turned me on to Toronto solo act mn-l. He loops his guitar with effected drum sequences reminiscent of Aphex Twin, at times jarring and envigorating, other times spacy and sedate.

Made me wish my Digitech Jamman had MIDI sync, so I could run an outboard drum machine or sequencer with it, like you could with the old Lexicon Jamman. I suspect mn-l's weapon of choice is Ableton Live, though.

BusinessWeek

2006-03-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

No really. They had a focus on digital music. Obviously their target audience isn't musicians, but instead investors. But its an interesting take on the slew of technical developments of late.

Shown here, the Fretlight Strat. The fretboard lights up to show you fingering.

(via Garagespin)

Syncronicity

2006-03-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

One of the smartest guys I know once told me that syncronicity has more to do with your awakedness and awareness level, than the actual random events. Its about you associating seemingly unrelated events. Or maybe its just coincidence.

From Fiction played Zaphods Wednesday. A clone of this sweet looking OD pedal showed up at Songbird this week, of which notable punk legend and producer Steve Albini is a fan. Steve Albini is producing From Fiction's first full length album.

Deja vu

2006-03-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

She looks familiar don't she? I actually went a bit snaky when I thought my stolen guitars had resurfaced at Retrotown. I know the neck and pickups are different, but that'd be the obvious way to mask the serial numbers and hide your trail. And that a 2004 Gibson SG Faded with ebony fretboard showed up the same day didn't help matters.

I went so far as to research contact info for stolen property department of the local police, and memorized the SG's serial number for a subtle inspection. I was pretty nervous when I went in to check them out. All for naught though. Binding on the Tele was front only, the couple of nicks I'm sure I'd recognize weren't there, and of course the SG's serial number doesn't match.

[sigh] I think I'd make an awesome undercover cop ... for about five seconds until I get shot for blowing my cover.

Hyper Cardioid

2006-02-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

Haven't yet had a chance to dive into the amazon delivery yet, but a couple online tutorials have caught my eye: iCompositions is a Mac/Garageband based community with a few basic guitar tutorial videos and MusicPlayers has a nice paper on recording electric guitar.

Musicians Weblogs

2006-02-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

Just Found a Metafilter thread for musicians weblogs, and immediately went to Radiohead. Note startled Johnny and his early era Tele Plus (mini-toggle is the giveaway). Is the Honda wing decal past the bridge a nod to McCartney's acoustics Detroit Red Wings decal? I think so.

Update: There's a sweet entry by Johnny Greenwood: "There is loads of great music out there that you’ll never have time to find out about. I’m always saying this - boring the arse off someone about this. Partly to make me sound like I know loads of great music that they don’t, and partly to justify why I’ve never heard a note of, say, the Stooges (though I really must, I know, I know...how can I claim to be a an Iggy Pop fan if I've never even heard 'I wanna be your dog'? etc. etc.)"

Wasn't "I wanna be your dog" just on the National Playlist?

MusicPlasma

2006-02-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

Pretty cool music (and now movie) search engine allows you to graphically navigate like genre'd bands. I'm not sure if sphere size represents influence or popularity though.

Coming to a (Canadian) City Near You

2006-02-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

Grant Lawrence of CBC Radio 3 is on tour. I'm not sure what that entails exactly other than local bands playing local gigs in local venues, locally. But still, Rhume and Fiftymen at Barrymore's next Tuesday Feb. 28.

"Only in Canada? Pity."

2006-02-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

The Stars rocked Winterlude Saturday night. It was something to behold. Fur rimmed parka hood bopping in time - on the guitarist. Maybe sound travels better through crisp air, or snowy embankments dampen unwanted reverberations, but the mix was near perfect. Only the trumpet was a hard to pinpoint.

And the bands admiration of the fans gave us warm glow, plus the thermos' of rye. Twenty below? Concert in the park.

No Title Required:

2006-02-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Toronto rocker Danko Jones has his own radio show, syndicated out of Stockholm. Whole shows dedicated to Sabbath, Preist, Maiden or Danzig. Yeah, I said OR. Raise your devil horns high. (Not for the faint of heart.)

Django Reinhardt Video

2006-02-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

via Boing-Boing:
Here's a great short film of the great Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and his Quintet of the Hot Club of France performing J'Attenndrai ("I Will Wait" - download video, 12 meg, Quicktime file) A newsreel-style announcer introduces the band as they lounge around a room, smoking and playing cards while a young Django and Stephane Grappelli lightly jam.

The Rant

2006-02-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

So you hear a catchy song somewhere, but don't know what it is. Could be on the radio (its possible - there's that live reggae song on 88.5 that I never catch who its by - I want to say King Cobb Steelie, but that can't be right), or in a tv advert (pray to remember some lyrics - Galaxie 500's "Instrumental" & Nissan's "Driven by Passion" was torturous for me) or in that fresh new show on the WB, except they don't have a soundtrack list on the website (first season OC was similarly painful - try googling band name "South").

So you google the lyrics - except all those lyric sites are facing copyright infringement suits now - and if you're lucky you find the band. If the band is smart it'll have a googlable name and a decent website with a couple of downloads or streaming audio.

Now you could steal the music, but the band is small and you want to do the right thing - besides they hardly have a P2P presence anyway. So now you call the local shops but they're useless. Inde labels crossing the border must be problematic. But you just want the music anyway, so you could go to iTunes and download it for a buck or the album for $10, right? But why there? If you know the artist, why not from their website? Paypal and secure download (to a universal format that would allow you to play it on both iPod and PSP). Most every decent band already allows you to buy the CD from their site. What does iTunes offer to the customer except a central repository of not everything, and standard download/purchase method? What does it offer to the artist except for visibility and access - oops, except no visibility for the inde artist. You'll never be able to browse randomly to an inde artists music on iTunes. So if you don't know what you're looking for you wouldn't find it - and wouldn't you try google before an iTunes search?

This is the same basic question Wilco, in a roundabout way, asked of its label: what good are you? The band does recording and production on its own with a small bonus in its own studio. So the label just does promotion and distribution. But never did in the way of promotion except tell the band to go on tour. Then they didn't want to bother with distribution either. Enter the interwebs, and the band found a way to distribute Yankee Hotel Foxtrot themselves.

But iTunes is just like the delinquent label in this case. Its merely a venue for distribution, but need not be the de facto online standard. There is some smart competition (note universal mp3's with no DRM). The standard should be from the bands own site, which could become like LP cover art or music videos as the dominant visible representation of the band, giving access to purchase of goodies, CDs Ts and downloads, the bulk of the money going to the band, instead of 14 cents on the dollar through iTunes.

Further reading:
Washington Post
Analog Industries

Arrr, Matey!

2006-02-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

"Y'know, I've said it before I'll say it again: one of the most criminally underated performers in Canada; one of my favorite singers for his natural ability. You just believe what he's singing. That is Andrew Vincent from Ottawa, with a brand new song called Dianne" Grant Lawrence on CBC Radio 3 Podcast #38

Just before "Dianne" played on the podcast Grant does the first ever 90 second egg with a listener, ending with "What's your favorite Canadian band" and she replies Tegan & Sara, but narcissist that I am I think what would I reply given no chance to think about it. Hellsyeah, the AV (who was sadly sold out Monday - well sad for me), and as if he heard my thoughts (a week ago when it was recorded) AV's new track comes on, just for me.

You can take a listen here, too.

Book Club

2006-02-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

Just place a big order to Amazon. A couple guitar recording/digital audio technical books, but I'm also pretty excited about this one. I was sold when Andy Battaglia wrote "it addresses nothing short of the history of the universe through the scattered stories that pop music tells without even meaning to."

Robert Clothier in a Toque

2006-02-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Capsule is selling Nash relics.

I first read about these in ToneQuest Report. Billed as "Vintage goes affordable" they're new guitars which've undergone a considerable aging process, and still play and sound, well not like new, but like the classic its modelled on.

Nash explains that great care is taken to keep them completely operable, despite appearance, unlike the Fender custom shop. Still, it sorta reminds me of the designer ripped jeans fad which was just Macy's clerks with a pair of scissors. Aw, who'm I kidding, pre-aged jeans kick ass. And I can't keep from salivating over these Tele's. Although I think I'd opt for a less brazenly worked over model than the one shown here.

Empress Effects

2006-02-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

Since Mayfly threw in the towel and Lee Pattman hasn't ramped up amp production, Ottawa hasn't seen much in gear manufacturing. But there is a new effects company here in town.

At the moment just an A/B/Y switcher and some interesting custom mods, but tremolo and delay are in the works.

There's even a couple at Songbird now, but I wonder if it makes that nasty popping most passive mechanical switches make. Or could it be comparable to the noiseless Lehle switches at a bargain?

eMail Alert: Bishop Allen

2006-02-14T07:14:00.000-08:00

Got the best email solicitation this morning: Bishop Allen has a new CD EP. A year ago I was raving to all my friends how this little Ivy League coed quartet was gonna take over the world with their hooky jangle blues pop stylings, brilliant harmonies and especially literate lyrics. Didn't quite happen, although they did get on a Mandy Moore film soundtrack.

Anywho, they have some new material - a whole plan to release new material actually: one EP a month for a year. And you can download Carcasonne, er sorry I mean Corazon.

Update: Alright, the Britney Effect is toying with my perceptions of free will and the authenticity of my taste (via boing-boing). But damnit, I broke this story first.

My greatest fear

2006-02-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

I'm not very comfortable performing, which anyone who's craned in and concentrated to hear me sing (read: mumble along to a tune) can attest. In December I got a couple leads on a few groups of guys that get together to jam - but still haven't followed it up - instead just rocking out with the Jamman - safe, insular, masterbatory. Jeph Jaques has distilled my concerns.

Daniel Lanois

2006-02-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

He's interviewed in Guitar Player, and one quote jumped out at me: Because what we love about records is that they get us out of our skins and provide an opportunity to be elevated. Everyday life is sweet but humdrum, and what we love about art is that it gives us a chance to look at life in a different way.

He'll be playing Winterlude February 17 as well.

Shows

2006-02-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a quiet few months. Capitol Music Hall closed its doors, but I never thought much of that venue anyways. The other night Scott at Songbird (inset, drinking) mentioned how he hadn't gigged in 3 months, too busy working and recording.

But it seems thats all about to change. Besides The Stars at Winterlude and NIN at months end, there's a couple more little shows that could be good:

Saturday Feb. 11 Rhume & Flecton @ Avant Garde Bar
Monday Feb. 13 Andrew Vincent (solo) and The Recoilers @ Whalesbone
Friday Feb. 17 As The Poets Affirm & the Hi Lo Trons

C'mon. You know you want to see Jon Bartlett freak out in his blue velvet fleur de lis jumper.

"One was named Laurie, that’s what the story said next week in the Guardian."

2006-02-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

Robot Mark recently posted about Okkervil River and damn if For Real ain't a catchy tune, even if I'm sure I've heard it before recently (Radio 3 or Zoe Radio?).

But it was good enough to send me to their site, digging through the sample singles they've offered up, and one of the older ones really caught my attention. Westfall is a first person narrative of a young murderer, imprisoned, recalling the events that lead to his incarceration. So it begs to be compared to Springsteen's Nebraska, but it stands on its own, starts spare and dark with an acoustic guitar then the mandolin, oh yeah, and evokes its own sense of pathos. Yeah, I dig the dark country ballad.

Canadian Shoegazing

2006-02-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Been meaning to post these bands for a bit. Some pretty good introspective melody driven inde-rock. In-Flight Safety just had a CD release at Zaphods, and October Guard and Raised by Swans were both just on CBC Radio 3.

You can stream each on New Music Canada as well: In-flight Safety, October Guard, Raised by Swans

It's a HEMI!

2006-02-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

This is pretty interesting but I suspect using a traditional guitar amp would blow the speakers, as they were designed for car stereo not guitar amps. (And I've recently learned something about blowing up your kit, as I fried my Fulltone Fulldrive II last night. Verdict: it sucks.)

If you were to use it as a monitor for a software amp modeller, however, I'd be interested in checking it out. Especially if you had those piezo electric pickups to do that acoustic modelling, then this speaker would eminate radially just like the real thing.

Or you could just play an acoustic guitar.

(via createdigitalmusic)

... make the rockin' world go round

2006-01-31T07:34:00.000-08:00

Seems there are two types of guitar players. Those who like knobs and those who, well ... no wait that's crap. Everybody likes knobs. Knobs are good. You get to twiddle them and experiment with sounds. Its why you buy pedals. More knobs.

So what the hell is this? This is a statement saying Queen acheived perfect tone sometime during the 70s and every song I ever play should be with that tone.

VOX is forgetting that Brian May was a bit of a tweaker and circuit bender though. He acheived his tone with a top boost pedal in front of the AC30 (which they've encorporated into the design, but don't allow you to control). And before that the knobs he was given were so inadequate, to acheive his desired tone he built amps out of car radios.

I'm not saying I'm switching over to computer based amp modelling, but less isn't necessarily more.

Low Wattage Combo Roundup

2006-01-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

Guitar Player Magazine has a new collection of reviews on high end point to point hand wired low wattage combo amps. Nary a PCB to be seen anywhere:

DST Engineering U84-TNT
Cornford Harlequin
Carr Mercury
Mojave Coyote
Dr. Z Mini-Z

As great as I suspect these amps are (I've only played the Mini-Z and a different Carr model) I was dissappointed to see a lack of real criticism. Somehow I'm reminded of food critic Homer Simpson fattening Springfield. Maybe these magazines might like to set the bar a little higher.

In case you had any doubts about the high end guitar market getting out of control, MSN money can tell you how to invest in a vintage axe.

62' Reissue

2006-01-26T09:42:00.000-08:00

She so p'urdy.

The very thought of twins!

Yeah, I think I have a problem.

Mandolins RAWK!

2006-01-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

OK, maybe not "rawk" but "alt-country" doesn't make for a good verb. Check out 100 Damned Guns. Especially if you like Cuff the Duke or The John Henrys.

"Roads left in both of our shoes"

2006-01-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

In addition to creating the great battle of the bands story arc I've recently posted, John A. has done the great service of introducing Natasha Allegri, webcomic artist and Death Cab fan.

Harmonica Lessons

2006-01-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

This tutorial is a little more obvious: harmonica lessons at www.harmonicalessons.com. It appears you can come by some basic technique before signing up though.

Back to School

2006-01-24T07:38:00.000-08:00

My favorite Seattle based guitar teacher has recommended an online tutorial: 70s punk band Television's Richard Lloyd. The text is fascinating, starting with Pythagorus and frequency analysis creating the chromatic scale, but also practical learned muscle memory technique where you ignore any musicality to train your hands to perform physically.

Why doesn't this guy have a book?

NAMM

2006-01-21T11:01:00.000-08:00

Found some pics (go to NAMM->winter->2006) of a lot of synths and a few new ZVex pedals: Box of Rock distortion pedal; Ringtone and Tremorama look like a ring modulator and a modified and Seek-Trem.

You're a handsome devil ...

2006-01-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

... what's your name?

Now normally I'm all about the rosewood fretboards. In my opinion they just feel better, and I read somewhere that the tonal differences are a myth based on 50s era bridges (before rosewood was introduced due to cosmetic reasons - people didn't like the visible wear and stains on maple) being higher off the body and away from the p'ups, hence brighter.

But you gotta admit this Tele looks slick. 70s era Custom with the neckbucker and bridge single coil, in the one finish that wasn't replicated by the Japanese (decent) or Mexican (crappy) reissues. And that maple fretboard matches the finish perfectly. Pure Keef.

But if I ever find an original or Japanese sunburst with rosewood, she will be mine.

Esther de Groot is in a band

2006-01-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

An all-girl-punk-goth-type-band by the looks of it.

To further blur the lines of web-comic-fictional-music-critique and the delicious taste of comic artists, here's Jeph Jacques recommended listening and Kean Soo listens to some great music too.

Update: Milford has a Jaguar and just like Paul Frank, three chords. "SPLANG, WONG, CHANG!"

Winterlude Concerts

2006-01-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

I have it on good authority that The Stars will be playing Winterlude on February 18, although I can't find anything about it with the NCC.

And yeah, that appears to be Ben Gibbard with The Stars, and he seems to be singing into an imaginary microphone (I hope).

Now Start a Band

2006-01-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

Contrary to Seth Coen's Paul Frank T-shirt ethos (yes, lifted from authentic punk, and Bob Dylan before that), here's an article on why you might want to go to college for guitar. It's both informative and well written, quite a feat for an ultimate-guitar post.

This is Zoe. She's 15. This is her radio show.

2006-01-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

What was I doing when I was 15? Oh yeah, listening to metal and puking out the windows of moving cars.

But Zoe has her own radio show.

"Bad Kitty! Mom! Kitty's being a dildo!"

2006-01-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

Capsule just got a new Bad Cat Cub II. Pretty sweet little Class A 15W combo. And Brody Dalle (scroll down) seems to like them.

Rarified Semi-Hollow Coil Taps

2006-01-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

The other day I tripped upon the little known Gibson semi-hollow ES-369, I don't even remember where. It wasn't here. It's notable for the dirty fingers and a coil tap, but otherwise its a 335.

It's pretty nice, but its rarity and Gibsons known lacking manufacturing practises mean you'd be paying extra for a substandard product.

But I think I should've looked closer at the Yamaha in Songbird only a couple months ago. The Japanese have a sneaky way of hiding nice features without disturbing the visual aesthetic of the instrument they copy. Damn.

FYR Amps

2006-01-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

You know how Porsche sometimes has some promotion where you buy a 911 and they send you to Germany to see it roll of the line, then drive it on the Autobahn and some race tracks for a week, before they pack it up and send it home with you?

Well I'm going to Finland for a fucking amp. Damn!

Online guitar lessons

2006-01-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

Most instruction on the web I've come across is either haphazardly organized and contributed by random readers with varying degrees of quality (no, uniformly poor) or it only hints at tutelage before trying to sell you something.

This is different.

Radio3's Year End Roundup

2006-01-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Grant Lawrence, CBC Radio 3's DJ came up with his top 14 singles of the year - all new, all Canadian, and all pretty damn good. Some familiar names, like Joel Plaskett and Great Lake Swimmers, and of course Wolf Parade and The New Pornographers, but lots of great stuff I've never heard before, too.

Charlottetown's Two Hours Traffic definitely heeds investigation.

Laura Veirs

2006-01-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

Strangely, she made neither the AV Clubs nor John Allison's year end list. But damn its good. Worth more than a listen.

Cajones

2006-01-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

New Years at a wintery cottage would've been fine with just a couple amateurish guitar players, but when the talent showed up with a neat toy, it hit a new level.

Shelley's Year End Top 20

2005-12-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

She might be drawn with a pencil (or Wacom Tablet Stylus, as the case may be) but damn she compiles a compelling list. Also she has red hair and an Eggbert t-shirt, and you know that's hot.

So you wanna be a rock'n'roll star ...

2005-12-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

These two recent additions to Capsule's inventory are so ideally suited together in my mind that I can't help but come up with all sorts of stories - but not just the "if I bought these I would insantly turn into a ROCK GOD and command legions of fans in huge stadiums with some wicked virtuoso playing" type typical stories, but sad Christmas Gift of the Magi sort of stories.

A down on his luck wannabe rockstar who actually has the chops, but can't catch a break, fails to eke out even a modest living playing gin soaked taverns - blah, blah, blah ... so he gives up and pawns his rig to buy his girlfriend a present. You know how it goes. He wakes to find his newly bald girlfriend bought him a rhinestone studded guitar strap or some other kick in the nuts crap.

That'd be really sad for him, but check out my legions of fans! Woo-hoo!

INXS in Guitar Player

2005-12-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't been much of a fan of their stuff since KICK. But I noted that Tim was a devotee of Tokai's a while back, both the Tele knockoffs and the weird aluminum body Talbo's. I'm guessing its a commonwealth thing - only illegal in the States, but reasonably popular in UK, Canada and Australia. But I happen to concur. You don't need a Fender or Gibson decal on your headstock to make you a better guitar player.

The Baffler!

2005-12-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

This is neat: acoustic shields to surround and overpowering amp, suitable for playing smaller venues or studios, while still being able to crank your amp for that sweet overdriven tone.

Bandwagon

2005-12-19T07:55:00.000-08:00

Despite instant rabid fandom of the Black Keys as soon as I heard "Set You Free" on KEXP last week, I didn't post this right away, recalling some unspecific buzz I was sure everyone else already knew about these guys, except me. (I'm not entirely wrong: please note the Babylon logo behind the band from a show a year ago October.)

Even still, it seems less people are in the know than I expected, and in learning a little about guitarist Dan Auerbach, I thought I'd like to write it down. He uses a fingerstyle reminiscent of the first generation of recorded blues masters, like Robbie Johnson, but overdriven and fuzzed to the point of erruption. And his gear is beyond reproach.

Stripped down and simplified balls to the wall blues-rock from a guitar and drums two piece. Hell yeah.

'tis the season of year end lists

2005-12-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

But this is the only one that matters. For years now this group of reviewers has informed my purchases, and taste. Before Moby's Play had every track in a tv spot; when tech stocks soared like pterydactyls and boys bands roamed the earth - how long ago is that?

Anywho, I better get to reading it.

Update: some required reading, or a trip down memory lane, depending ...
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

CBC Radio 3 Satellite

2005-12-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

Exploring the VHS vs Betamax options of todays satellite radio technology for a friends Christmas gift, I came across some interesting info for Canadians. Seems Sirius has partnered with the CBC to give us 6 CBC produced channels - and one of them is all Radio 3 all the time.

Am7sus4add9

2005-12-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

This might be a leap of synchronicity, but I had my first guitar lesson in quite a while yesterday. In fact snow might've been flying the last time I played with Brendan. One of the key things we worked on was some more complex chords, especially with adjacent tones, such as having both B (2nd) & C (3rd) in an A minor chord.

And Analog Industries cited some sweet gear in a studio just a couple blocks away from me, actually neighboring a friends (very different) studio.

But they name their studio 'The Twelfth Root' after exactly that frequency ratio between two consecutive notes on a chromatic scale.

Muppets getting their groove on

2005-11-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well of course they use a Roland Space Echo.

Distortion that Rocks

2005-11-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

This is not just an excuse to throw up another picture of a Telecaster ... really.

I just tripped across a great guitar blog. I'm instantly smitten upon seeing the most recent entry of a 70s era Custom. Of course he's a little harsh on it - calling it a Les Paul ripoff - which, with the high mounted pup toggle, a humbucker and two tone and volume knobs, yeah, it sorta is. But he says nothing of its favour with Keef. Or just that its just a great all around axe.

The Arcade Fire and American Analog Set in the "What we're listening to" are nice touches, too.

"Hello, uh, Springfield!"

2005-11-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

Fender has a prototype of an internet enabled Telecaster with a tablet PC built in the back. So I guess you can surf for tablature between songs, or maybe have it play an mp3 for you to jam along with.

Still, have these guys never seen buckle rash?

Science Fiction Music

2005-11-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

Ottawa being as small as it is, its hardly surprising that I've been doubly informed of this event. Hi Lo Trons are a neo New Wave band - lots of poppy synth and a jangly Jazzmaster. Science Fiction Music was on CBC Radio 3 ages ago and I was pretty excited to find out they were local.

I'm a rocker. I rock out.

2005-11-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

iPod tuner/metronome/chord chart/scale chart/jam mate: iRocker

Sadly, not for 1st generation iPods. Really who thought my iPod would last 4 years?

Moment of weakness

2005-11-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

How could I not pick up this mag? Guitars? Yes! Titties? Hell yes! Despite being reminded of some minor backlash at Ampitube for its incredibly sexist marketing campaign, sadly effective to the typical metalhead music shop denizen.

The magazine was baggied to keep me from flipping through it, (which would've quickly saved me the purchase) but the mysteries it held inside had me entranced. Unfortunately it turned out to be less of a review and more of a wholesale endorsement of consumerism. Everything is "awesomely great". Buy everything and you too can sound like Eddie Van Halen. Cuz thats how he got good.

Worse still is that they're obviously pandering to certain companies, or just a certain low end price point or mass market - where everything sounds like the same: crappy hi-gain hi-compression nu-metal shit.

BOSS and Digitech slog it out in this arena - and of the one peice of kit I might like from either of them - a looper pedal such as the RC20-XL or Jamman - they extol the virtues of the much inferior but equally priced BOSS pedal.

Standing in the rain

2005-11-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

This post may initially seem divergent with the musical theme of this blog, but bare with me. Shown here is the corner store where I buy my milk. Its also where I get accosted by hookers when I buy my milk. I really don't live in a bad neighborhood, but it just happens to be where the sketchy drug addled needle trailed tranny street walkers shop their wares. Head to Dalhousie for some slightly higher class tail.

Right. So what does this have to do with anything? Watch this. About halfway through you may recognize the shop. How's that for some cinema verite?

Everybody in Ottawa knows the Rolling Stones filmed their new vid at the small inde bar Zaphods the day after their concert in August. The clubs walls probably heard a Stones song for the first time that night. But they also shot some other footage around the city to fill out a narrative besides wrinkly Mick and mummified Keef strutting on what they likely mockingly refer to as a stage. I've read its supposed to be about a heartbroken guy and his hooker girlfriend. I'm just glad they didn't use one of the "girls" from my corner shop.

Off the rails ...

2005-11-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Why, oh why wasn't this available at Capsule when I was there two weeks back? (And why does it have white pups? Really, its all about the look - you got a pickup selector trigger and a top mounted volume knob for authenticity, but you couldn't find black humbuckers?)

Analog Industries is mocking a similarly ridiculous item.

But seriously, one of those bad boys might help with my Randy Rhodes rhythm lines. I actually developed a blister yesterday goin off the rails on a crazy train. That's some tough shit.