New GUITAR issue (May 09)

The new issue of GUITAR is out. Other than a lot of cool articles, TABs and lessons, it features my review of the new Mesa Boogie Mark V, two LTD guitars and a new episode of my “Talking Hands” series, this time dealing with the mixolydian scale and how to use it. So check it out!

Another NP-list

Yet another NP-list, stuff I currently am listening to a lot. As always, I added Amazon-links so you can listen to samples there or purchase the CD (some of them are available as digital downloads as well).

Derek Trucks Band- Already Free

The more I listen to it, the more I get into it. Derek is one of the most interesting players of the current generation of young players, I love his attitude (guitar straight into the amp), his slide-playing and how fresh and unpredictable his lines are. This is a very alive sounding album with lots of great playing, with a serious 70s vibe. Amazon-link

Wilson Hawk – The Road

Wilson Hawk is Richie Kotzen’s new band. Richie seems to focus more on Soul and R´n´B with this band… music he has always loved. I remember old interviews with him where he talked about how much he loved the Stevie Wonder albums from the 70s like “Talking Book”. Also, one of my favorite RK-performance is his singing on the song “I Don’t Wanna Be With Nobody But You” from Stevie Salas’ “Electric Pow Wow” (awesome album!!), very soulful. This album has great songs, great singing and some great guitar-playing. Perfect soundtrack for a nice spring! Amazon

Gov’t Mule – High & Mighty

I just rediscovered this album… great songs and some insanely tasteful playing by Warren Haynes and his band. I remember reading some rave reviews of this when it came out, and I checked it out and enjoyed it a lot. Just started listening to it again, and its just a great album especially for relaxing in spring- or summer weather. Amazon

Joe Bonamassa – You & Me

This is an older album by Joe… I enjoy pretty much every album he did, and I also listen to “Live From Nowhere In Particular” and “The Ballad Of John Henry” a lot too, but right now, I prefer this one. Great songs, and I love Joe’s playing and singing. Amazon

Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know

I was lucky enough to get a promo copy of this, and I find myself listening to it quite often. I didnt know what to expect, but as soon as I heard the opener, I loved it. You can tell its Dio, Iommi, Geezer Butler and Appice from the sound, but then again, they don’t sound outdated or whatever… its a very powerful-sounding production with some very cool, Sabbath-like riffs, not sounding old-fashioned at all… the guys sound as if they have a lot of fun. I think not only Sabbath- or Dio-fans will enjoy this one. Amazon-link

Off The Rails

I recently had a chance to read “Off The Rails” by Rudy Sarzo. It was quite a wonderful experience. As you probably know, Rudy was the bassist for Ozzy in the early 90s, starting in between the release of “Blizzard Of Ozz” and “Diary Of A Mad-Man”, and during the time when Randy passed away.
Rudy wrote about this time, starting with how he met Randy and Quiet Riot (Randy was still playing with them back then), to the phone call by Sharon, and then goes on to write about the audition, tour rehearals, the concerts and what the band did in between.
Of course there are some of those “Ozzy shocker stories” in there, told from Rudy’s perspective, but I think the important thing about this book is: not only does it show that Rudy is a really cool person (I hope I get to meet him some day) and its a heart-felt tribute to Randy.

Rudy wrote that it was almost as if Randy was back while he wrote the book, and that he dreaded getting to the chapter about the plane accident that killed Randy, he didnt wanna lose Randy again… very touching, and you can tell how much Rudy admired Randy.
THis is a great read not only for fans of Rudy or Ozzy, its a very special treat for fans of Randy, because it gives you an idea of what he was like off stage, as a person.

So if you are interested, check it out, HERE is a link to the amazon-page… I recommend this book very much

Radio updated!

Thanks to Dan, who “adopted” my blog radio and updated it, creating a new playlist, based on the original playlist. He removed all the broken links, added some new tracks based on my recent blog-posts (so you can i.e. hear tracks from the Sfogli-album I wrote about below) etc.
Just click the link to the left to open the player and start listening. I recommend to switch on the “shuffle”-mode, as the list is kinda sorted by artists. Its your choice. I hope you will enjoy listening! And THANK YOU, DAN!

Supergroups

Seems like it will be an exciting summer for rock-fans… on the cover of the most recent issue of Guitar World, you see Chickenfoot (a super-group feat. Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith), who are releasing their debut album in early June, and also, according to PaulGilbert.com, Mr. Big has reunited and will tour too!
Awesome, quite exciting, I cant wait to hear the album, and it would be great to see Mr. Big live again, saw them in the mid 90s, and love their classic line-up, especially the “Lean Into It”-era. So there’s a lot of great music headed our way!

Now Playing, April 2009

Hey everyone… time for another NP-list, stuff I am currently listening to. I added amazon-links to each entry, just click the cover of each album or the link at the end of the respective description to go to the Amazon-page for that album to listen to samples and/or purchase it (some of them, like the Sfogli-one, are available as MP3-downloads as well!)

“There’s Hope” – Marco Sfogli
I just rediscovered that album, I listened to it a lot about this time last year, too. Marco’s an amazing guitar-player from Italy, and you might have heard his very tasteful playing on the most recent solo-album by Dream Theater’s James LaBrie (I hear Marco will play on the next one too).
This is an all instrumental album with some amazing playing, combining taste, great melodies and amazing chops. Which makes sense, as Marco claims Kee Marcello (formerly the guitarist for Europe, check out the “Out Of This World” album) as a big influence, and Kee too was able to combine those factors as well.
I love Kee as well, so I know exactly what Marco likes about him.
Check out “Still Hurts” and “Sunset Lights”, those are my current two favorites on this album, just beautiful… insanely melodic! Amazon-link

“United States” – Paul Gilbert & Freddie Nelson
There’s no Amazon-link for this one yet, as its not available on Amazon-yet… it was only released in Japan so far, but should be out in other countries soon. Thanks, Marcus, for letting me hear it!

Freddie Nelson is a singer/songwriter/guitarist from Paul’s hometown, so now, they collaborated on an album, with Freddie singing and Paul focussing on the guitar-work, which absolutely rocks (as usual). Great stuff, a lot of fun to listen to!

“Soundscapes, Vol.2: A Blessing Of Tears”- Robert Fripp

This is part 2 in a series that Robert Fripp did a few years ago. As the name suggests, this is a very “soundscapey” album, very dreamy. It has a certain soundtrack-quality to it, like perfect music for a trip through space or something. Very atmospheric, lush, relaxed, mysterious-sounding. The perfect soundtrack to sit outside and look at the stars at night. Amazon link

Kind Of Blue – Miles Davis

Its been 50 years now since this album was released, and of course, its a total classic, probably the most successful jazz-album ever. For good reason too, because the playing on here is amazing, and the use of modes was quite trail-blazing for its time, kinda creating a new trend. I recently read a very good book about the making of the album, and reading that made me listen to it again. Even if you ignore the “theory” side of it, its a wonderful, relaxing album to listen to… I love to do so, closing my eyes, and can almost imagine watching the recordings in NYC back in the late 50s. Amazon-link

Mysterious Mountain – Alan Hovhaness, performed by the Seattle Symphony

I wasnt familiar with this composer before, but heard a bit of the “Mysterious Mountain” on classical radio. It was quite amazing, because the work sounds so mysterious and strange (in a very good way), a bit like a soundtrack, and you can easily imagine a huge, mysterious mountain with all its beauty and danger while listening to this. Amazon link
Well, that’s it for now, I hope you’ll like some of those choices!