T(s)DB Top Ten Albums of 2013

Year end top-ten lists are something I’ve done for every music-related publication I’ve ever contributed to and I’m sure not going to stop now. But first, some ground rules. This list merely reflects my opinion on my favorite albums of this year and doesn’t necessarily relate to the bass guitar performances on these records. So this isn’t really a “best bass-nerd albums of 2013” list, its simply the albums I liked the most. This is also confined to the limited listening that one does when they can’t afford to buy many records in a year, so there’s alot of good stuff that I’m sure I missed out on.

Here are some mentions that didn’t quite make the top ten that I still felt deserved some recognition. I’m ashamed at the lack of hip-hop, I still haven’t had time to listen to Deltron 3030’s Event 2 and I’m just now warming up to the awesomeness that is Death Grips’ The Money Store.

Native – Orthodox: These spunky math-punk kids grow up alot and find their footing on this solid, smart, and accessible post-hardcore statement.

Chelsea Wolfe – Pain is Beauty: I may not be thoroughly familiar with this gifted sing/songwriter yet, but it’s obvious through her more developed, brooding alt/pop work on this record that big things are in store for her.

Russian Circles – Memorial: Darker, heavier, yet somehow still as dynamic, cinematic, and contrasted as always. I don’t think it’s possible for this trio to put out a bad album. And as always, bassist Brian Cook (formerly of the un-touchable Botch) brings forth some of the most monstrous tones imaginable. Even when not playing “riffs” per se, Russian Circles can sure capture a mood.

Jaga Jazzist – Live with the Britten Sinfonia: I don’t normally put live albums on top ten lists although this one is good enough to have almost made it. Beautiful, non-denominational instrumental pieces brought together with the added symphonic backing of the Britten Sinfonia, along with Jaga’s already awe-inspiring array of sounds.

Tera Melos – X’ed Out: It’s not often in this day and age that a band can come along and truly fill you with a hope that punk rock may finally be moving along somewhere. On this record Tera Melos further carve out their freaky math-pop niche to be enjoyed equally by stompbox nerds and spazzy skater kids everywhere.

Grails – Black Tar Prophecies 5-8: This is one I’m ashamed to say I simply haven’t had a chance to really listen to yet, especially considering Deep Politics was one of my favorite albums of 2011 and Grails have yet to do anything sub-par. I’m sure I’ll love it.

And now, my year end picks for 2013.

10. East of the Wall – Redaction Artifacts

There are few bands that embody what I personally believe prog-metal should be. For what it’s worth, East of the Wall is one of them. For those of you who believe that prog metal can be more than djent kids who just discovered the polyrhythmic chug of Meshuggah three years ago and Dream Theater obsessed guitar nerds, you’ll be pleased to hear that these New-Jersey natives actually write good songs. Redaction Artifacts could be East of the Wall’s most accessible album yet in the sense that there are plenty of moments that bypass the heady musician tendecies that bands like this tend to have and go straight for the head-banging reflexes. That’s not to say that this is the year’s metal album of all metal albums that will please all pit-dwellers, but there’s still enough going on here that fans of prog, post-rock, sludge metal, and more will find something to latch onto. Although I still argue that their melodic moments shine the most. The vocals don’t tread on the normal cringe-worthy clean vocal metal stylings, and the crystal clear delay driven guitar fusion on “The Fractal Canopy” helps unfold the track into a beautiful panoramic view. There’s still plenty of chops there if you’re into that sort of thing, and former guitarist Chris Alfano gives an awesome bass performance on this record.

9. Flaming Lips – The Terror

I have a hard time understanding why critics were so hard on this one, maybe it wasn’t Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots or Soft Bulletin but it’s my belief that a band shouldn’t always be compared to their touchstone album whenever they decide to release something. This is actually the direction that I hoped to see The Flaming Lips go in after the aggro-psych trips of Embryonic, which strangely was more well received than this recent long-player. I’m not saying that I think The Terror is perfect, there are certain tracks that establish a mood well but aren’t going to jump out of your speakers and grab you by the ears. But the Lips’ new more melodic and cinematic song-craft works well with their newfound dedication to weirdness wherever possible and it makes for a well balanced result. “Try to Explain” builds up enough to almost bring them trying their hand at psychedelic post-rock to mind, and for me that’s A-OK.

8. Bosnian Rainbows – Bosnian Rainbows

I knew good and well that I probaby wasn’t going to love Omar Rodgriguez-Lopez’ new project as much as I did the first two Mars Volta albums, so I kept my mind open and proceeded with cautious optimism when it came to listen to Bosnian Rainbows’ debut album. But it really doesn’t matter how this band compares because Omar has never been about repeating himself. Bosnian Rainbows is the first fully collaborative project he’s done since At the Drive-In, so until now he had been in the driver seat since 2002. You can hear each individual musician’s voice on this self-titled debut and theirin lies the album’s value. I wasn’t huge on the modern sounding synth pads at first but the album’s digital manipulation is endearing after a while, and like I said each individual “part” complements each other well enough to form a stronger “whole”. Danceable, yet still dark and provoking, this is a great record that’s likely to dissapoint only the six-stringers shaking their head in disbelief at the lack of wah-heavy solos.

7. Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing

I’ll occasionally mention my distaste for modern prog, mostly for it’s over-polished production, lack of creativity, and general lack of non-Dream Theater identity. Porcupine Tree have been a bit of an exception, yet I always suspected that they were capable of being more adventurous than they’ve led on in their 20+ year existence. What I wouldn’t have expected was that  a solo album by their frontman Steven Wilson would end up being the album I always hoped Porcupine Tree would make. Normally solo albums are excuses for stripped down, “I’m ready for my close-up” self-indulgence, but in this case Wilson brings forth a colorful cast of talented musicans to bring his even more ambitious ideas to life. It was actually my love affair with his collaboration with Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt (last year’s Storm Corrosion LP) that convinced me there was more to this Brit than I realized. The main reason this album is on this list is that the songwriting, while great, still needed to be presented in a varied sonic palette to be truly memorable, and thankfully it has that. You’ll hear flutes darting in an out, an array of organ/key/synth sounds, and Wilson’s mad-scientist style sound experimentation on any number of other instruments. Don’t get me wrong, this is still pretty accessible rock, but it’s a step in the right direction and succeeds in marrying some genuine classic prog with the modern.

6. Mouth of the Architect – Dawning

Mouth of the Architect had a tumultuous few years after the release of what I thought was one of the best non-Isis post-metal albums ever, 2006’s The Ties That Blind. After near band collapses, line-up changes, and some honestly underwhelming releases it was difficult to say where they would head next if anywhere. Their first LP in five years, Dawning, reflects that, and a sense of hope that comes with moving forward. The tumult is there as well, but Dawning‘s imperfections, such as the album’s drum sound that has been highly criticized since it’s release, can be a bit endearing. At it’s best this is ambient-sludge in top form, balancing heart-wrenching emotional and bone-crushing brutality. The album deserves recognition for “It Swarms” if nothing else. While the first half of the track seems business as usual, the second half contains one of the most powerful ascents I’ve heard in this style of music in many years. Post-metal may not be “cool” anymore, but Mouth of the Architect have proven that it still needs to be made, and that it can be made competently.

5. Palms – Palms

Ok so maybe this collaboration ended up sounding alot like what we should have expected from Chino Moreno of Deftones fame teaming up with 3/5 of Isis, but no one ever said that was a bad thing. As a matter of fact the Palms debut is the probably what latter era Isis fans have been having wet dreams about since 2010. As you could guess, the hypnotic, insterstellar atmosphere laid down By Aaron Harris, Jeff Caxide, and Bryant Clifford Meyer are pretty much a perfect pairing with Chino’s signature, lightly-drifting vocals. He also knows from his Deftones days, when to put a little more oomph behind the heavier moments that you’re sure to get when you get former members of Isis together. The end result is a dynamic album that unfolds beautifully in front of the listener, as these songs are much more than mere throwaway Wavering Radiant tracks. Of course I can’t go without mentioning the contribution of one of my favorite bass players, Jeff Caxide. Jeff’s ethereal minor key grooves occupy many different sonic spaces as always, and his tone is instantly recognizable with his brilliant reverb/delay work.

4. Sigur Ros – Kveikur

There were a couple of things that made the new Sigur Ros LP Kveikur, finally hit home with me. The first was reading that the album was meant as a companion to last year’s Valtari, meant to show off the two opposing sides of the Icelandic group’s sound. That might not seem important, but it cleared up why they released another album so quickly, and why it’s so drastically different than Valtari. The second thing was hearing these songs in person, as a part of one of the greatest live music experiences I’ve ever had. And while I do believe that these songs will hold a greater place in your heart when experienced that way, that doesn’t mean you can’t love Kveikur for the great album that it is anyway. While it’s more aggressive, catchy, and rock than anything else they’ve done, Kveikur is still a Sigur Ros album. There may not be any hugely dramatic post-rock buildup like Takk… or the thoroughly atmospheric Valtari, but the trimmed-down presentation of this group’s emotional range has actually done them some good. Distorted, digital bass parts, shorter songs, and catchy vocal melodies are all things you’ll find to be pretty commonplace within this album. I’m not saying it’s their best, I’m just saying that it’s actually kind of refreshing to hear an album that almost sounds like it could have been a collaboration between Jonsi and Radiohead.

3. Deafheaven – Sunbather

And then there are times when you can believe the hype. With Sunbather, Deafheaven created something that I’m sure made a fair number of metal-heads cringe when read on paper, as their unique brand of metal owes as much to 90’s screamo as it does shoe-gaze and black metal. I’m sure the fact that they are from Portland probably doesn’t help their kvlt cred in certain circles either, but not only do I not care about that kind of thing, it’s impossible to deny that these guys made a hugely compelling and provocative album. Sunbather showed that there are still new things that can be done with black metal, and that a more full range of emotion doesn’t have to dampen a metal record. Normally melodic moments and cross-pollination can be tricky territory for a heavy band, but Sunbather touches on triumphant major key hopefulness, darkened despair, and plenty of ground in-between flawlessly. This album is good enough that a narrative feels present even if you can’t understand the lyrics, and the perfectly balanced production avoids garage-demo black metal quality just as well as it does over-produced modern polish. Believe the good things you’ve heard about this album, it’s an experience like none other.

2. Bibio – Silver Wilkinson

I had the good fortune of discovering Bibio in 2008 and since then, he (Stephen Wilkinson) has not put out anything less than stellar. The J-Dilla influence of 2009’s Ambivalence Avenue signaled a bit of a (brilliant) direction change for Bibio’s eclectic, self-described “folktronica”, but 2011’s Mind Bokeh leaned more towards dance music. While it was still great, I’m thankful that the ethereal Silver Wilkinson tones the danceability down a bit. This album continues to develop the folksy experiments of Bibio’s earlier work while still utilizing analogue electronics to create dreamy pop. There aren’t many songs one would describe as singles, it’s best experienced as a whole although there are still some standout moments. The Dilla-isms of DJ track “You” hearken back to Ambivalence Avenue while the old-school thump of a P-bass(?) in “A Tour a L’heure” help carry it as a perfect summer pop song. The production is hazy and probably meant to make you think of vintage recordings, with Stephen’s reverbed-out vocals drifting over each track. Nothing wrong with any of that I say, and Silver WIlkinson futhur instates the man can do no wrong.

1. Intronaut – Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones)

If you by chance read this site or know me personally this probably wasn’t a huge surprise. I’ve been pitching an ever growing tent for this band since 2008’s Prehistoricisms and it doesn’t look like it’s going down anytime soon. With each release since then, This LA group seems to incorporate more of what I love about music into what they do, so you might say I’m a bit biased since this album caters directly to me. Intronaut have transcended terms like “metal”, “progressive”, and post-whatever to find something truly their own. It’s something that revolves around groove, polyrhythm, aggression, ambience, tone, and an odd blend of western and eastern harmony that culminates in true ecstasy.

The lack of extreme vocals might get to some, but personally I think the sort of stoned, Aaron Turner reminiscent clean singing is a great contrast to the heaviness of some of these riffs. While this album is certainly Intronaut’s most melodic material yet, it isn’t without dissonance and experimentation. Take the vocal harmonies of “Steps” for instance, which seem to dodge a recognizable western mode just enough to establish a feeling that most bands would be afraid to attempt. Genres like jazz, sludge, and space-rock don’t rear their heads here as much as they meld together fluidly, Intronaut are not a multi-genre band desperately looking for admiration from other musicians.  Joe Lester’s bass tone/performance is stupefying as always, with his ability to both rhythmically and melodically give riffs a greater context and carry the song. The ear candy of his fretless Zon five-string has plenty of punch too. Danny Walker’s drumming is brilliant as always, and whether coaxing out adventurous chords with gorgeous delay tones or laying down smoky, down-tuned crunch, the guitar work of Sacha Dunable and Dave Timnick shine brightly.

While I would certainly say that tags like prog, metal, post-rock, and sludge shouldn’t scare away those of you who don’t listen to those genres, I will also say that Habitual Levitations is not for everyone. As the name implies it’s an unearthly adventure, one that you’ll be continually rewarded again and again for taking.

Interview: Stuart Sclater of Astra

It’s an honor to be able to pick the brain of Stuart Sclater of renowned San Diego based progressive/psychedelic rock band Astra. Astra are without a doubt one of the most exciting bands I’ve discovered over the past several years and since I heard their Rise Above debut The Weirding back in 2009, they’ve been a constant reference point in musical discussions on how I think this style of music should be done. When I first heard The Weirding I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I was listening to a modern band. Never until now had one not only gotten close, but completely managed to capture the essence of the other-worldly sonic territories that so many important prog/psych bands in the late 60’s and early 70’s were practicing in and being defined through.

In my opinion prog was never supposed to be about pure self-indulgence and a constant sense of one-up-manship as so many musicians who have flown that banner seemed to think, but rather the phrase should represent transcendent aural journies unachievable through conventional avenues. Astra don’t just stay rooted in times gone past in their sound, their songwriting is also solid enough to stand toe to toe with classic prog greats like King Crimson, Camel, Eloy, and Van Der Graaf Generator, escuing indulgence for cinematic songs that unfold steadily and always stay interesting. In other words, there are actual memorable melodies and riffs here, something often left wanting in progressive and psychedelic music.

True to the band’s hazy production and vintage, analogue leaning instrumentation, Stuart’s tone is warm and pulsating, a finger-plucked anchor that steadies the music with harmony and interesting, yet simple-grooving melodies. He never plays anything that isn’t essential, true to his bandmate’s take on composition there are no flashy runs or over-excessive flourishes. Astra have been touring off their excellent sophomore LP The Black Chord (Metal Blade) and Stuart was nice enough to answer some questions I had for him here

How did you become a member of Astra? Were you in other bands with any of the members?

SS: Yes. I started playing in a band called Silver Sunshine with Richard Vaughn and Conor Riley. Sort of a pop psych act reminiscent of British bands from the late sixties. My brother Iain played drums at the time but ended up leaving to become a screen writer. This of course ended the Sunshine. I think we were about ready to call it quits but along came Dave Hurley bringing a completely different sound to what we were doing before. After some song writing and gigging Dave introduced us to Brian Elis giving the band a stronger lead guitar. That’s how it started.

For a band with such a defined sound and approach there must have been an idea present in the beginning that you all strove for, would you say this is the case or did Astra’s sound and songwriting style develop more naturally and without discussion?

Definitely natural. I’d say joining up with a drummer like Dave Hurley contributed to our sound quite a bit but mostly it had to do with what we each brought to the table musically at the time. We all enjoyed bands like Aphrodite’s Child, Freedoms Children, Mahavishnu Orchestra, King Crimson, and PFM..etc. We were all into this stuff but I feel each of us gravitated to a particular genre early on which came out in the writing and playing styles. Hard rock coming from me, psych and singer song writer stuff from Rich and Conor, and the prog/jazz stuff from Dave and Brian. That being the recipe for our first record The Weirding. Think of it like having John Lennon, Francis Rossi, Geezer Butler, John Mclaughlin, and Billy Cobham all in a band together. Don’t take that the wrong way! I’m not matching us with this incredible talent but just trying to make a point that our individual influences contributed mostly to our sound in the beginning. Hope that came out all right haha.

Yea I got you. As I understand it you all use vintage gear. As a musician who lives on a strict budget the thought of a band somehow being able to manage this is in the beginning hard to imagine, how were you able to pull off getting together such an enviable array of instruments and amps?

Well it’s just a preference. I personally don’t care if the gears old but I do gravitate towards a more vintage sound with keys specifically. Most of the gear we own is new anyway. Easier to gig that way cause the gears more reliable. I think if you’re running around with all vintage gear you’re either a 3 piece, know how to fix your shit, or have money. We are none of these.

Do you have any advice for musicians on a budget who are trying to get vintage gear or go for a certain sound?

Well I can’t really add anything if it’s just to collect. Not my thing really. Move around too much. Hmmm… just know what you want and put your feelers out there. It will come. But don’t get too caught up in achieving a specific sound. Just go with what feels right to you which could be that you just can’t afford to be picky. That’s ok. It’s not the tool it’s the talent.

Let’s talk about the gear you’re using. What bass and amp are you currently playing right now?

Fender P and an Ampeg SVT solid state with Ampeg 4×10 cabinet.

Why do you prefer that bass/amp?

I don’t. That’s just what I have right now. If I had my druthers it would be tube all the way. I’ve been looking to change out my gear to Orange. I had an opportunity to use an Orange amp during one of our European tours. Loved the tone. Bass really stands out with Orange stuff.

Did you use these on the recording of The Black Chord and The Weirding?

Weirding was my gear but I was able to borrow a tube SVT for the Black Chord. But I don’t think that had much to do with the quality difference between the 2 albums. The Black chord is by far a better recording and that has everything to do with the engineer Ian Lehrfeld. He was a real pro.

What effects do you take with you when you play live? Do they differ from what you use recording? Do you have any cool studio tricks you’d like to share?

I don’t use any effects pedals but I used to use the Russian EH Big Muff which was pretty rad. I think it broke so I stopped using it. Sometimes I use the newer EH Big Muff but not with Astra. I do recommend the MXR DI for both live and recording. It makes a big difference with boost when going direct in case you have a tendency to add that in post production. Has great distortion too. That’s my recommendation for the DIY recording artist.

How does Astra’s songwriting process usually work? How do you develop your basslines?

Either stuffs brought to the table or discovered while jamming. Sometimes we’re piecing parts together that were scratched from earlier work. We have this song called Quake Meat which used to be 20 minutes long with tons of parts. We ended up cutting it down for the album but the extra material will always be in our archive. We are super picky though. There is such a thing as too proggy. Everything we use has to feel like Astra. As far as bass goes I really just sit back and listen for the melody. Sometimes I have something worked out that I can adjust to fit what’s being played. I don’t like doodly bass playing though. Too many notes can kill the energy for me. I like bass to be simple but groove.

Is there a thriving scene in San Diego for psychedelic or progressive  music?

Mostly heavy psych bands like Earthless, Joy, Sacro Monti, Harsh Toke, Red Octopus, Radio Moscow, Tar Halos. All awesome bands and great guys. There is this new prog group Psicomagia that’s fucking amazing!!! Highly recommend picking up that album. But the one band I’m jealous of is The Lumps which is straight up punk rock. The great thing about San Diego is that bands have a tendency to stay together longer. And I don’t think we all have “making it” on our minds when we write or play out. It’s all about the music so if we’re having a good time, if our friends are digging it, and if we’re setting up good shows then that’s all that matters.

What are Astra’s future plans? I know you guys have toured the west coast and done some European touring but any plans for a full U.S. tour?

Yes. We might be doing a US tour coming up in 2014. It will be a first for us in the States so we’re super excited. Thanks for letting me ramble!

I want to thank Stuart and encourage everyone to check Astra out here:

http://www.metalblade.com/astra/

Show Review: Tera Melos, Zorch, and Onawa

Tera Melos show:

Like I said in my Intronaut show review from this past summer, there’s something special about witnessing scarcely recognized art when it’s being performed in front of you and small group of other people. Which is why I’m glad that I dragged myself out to Asheville to see Tera Melos and Zorch play at the newly opened Isis Music Hall. I became a Tera Melos fan in 2009, since then I’ve rarely seen then come close to my neck of the woods and I knew Asheville would be about as close as they would get, but it was really giving their new record X’ed Out a chance that convinced me that I needed to be there. You see, one can only take so much mind-bending math rock, and I wasn’t hip to the fact that Tera Melos had begun carving out their own niche as of their past couple of releases that would set them apart from a scene that basically exists to try and top what Hella already more or less perfected. X’ed Out, and Patagonian Rats for that matter, are not “math-rock” per se, they are the next step forward for punk. Falling somewhere between pop, surf-punk, math, and sheer unbridled effect experimentation and noise, Tera Melos are now one of the few bands out there I can think of that isn’t having to borrow from anyone else. But enough buttering these guys up, Let’s get to how awesome this show was.

When we arrived at the very nice and surprisingly spacious Isis Music Hall on Asheville’s west end a band called Onawa was opening. I was initially under the impression that these guys were on the same tour, as it’s rare that I see a local band that I haven’t heard or done a show with in this area (Zorch later revealed that they were not on tour with them). Strangely enough, even after looking to the internet I still don’t know where the hell these guys are from, which is a shame because they were actually really good. I tend to have an affinity for bands that are hard to pigeon-hole into a genre, if the band is good of course, and these guys were a refreshing blend of groove and psych-rock that seemed to pull from alot of different areas like electronica, dub, and indie-rock. Trust me, it was better than it sounds. The huge arrays of effects along with the keys and powerful drumming brought Zechs Marquise to mind, and the bassist locked into a loud, fuzzed out repetitive groove that carried their last song well as he hammered away at a Fender jazz.

We decided that the balcony was the best seat in the house before Zorch played, not only were there chairs but no one was up there to block our view. I counted around 40 people in attendance, so it’s not like we had to worry too much about any of that. The only thing I knew about Zorch prior to this show was that they were on Sargent House, which is usually a good sign. What I know about them now is; holy crap, Zorch puts on an awesome show. As soon as I heard an erratic array of synthesizer beeps and blips while bizarre, nearly inexplicable visuals came up on the projector screen (controlled by someone in the front of the stage with a tablet) during the Austin duo’s warm-up I knew that something was about to happen to help make my $12 well spent. I’m a sucker for a good visual show, and this one proved that as long one captures the spirit of the band’s music that it need not be something extravagant. This one was obviously made by someone who was friends with the band, or maybe a band-member themselves as it displayed a better visual representation for Zorch’s colorful, pixie-stick snorting synth-pop on crack than anything I could possibly describe or come up with. Certain parts of it had me and my friends howling. particularly a 32-bit sprite of Cyclops from X-Men raving with girls in bikinis under a disco ball and skeletons having sex on a computer. Believe it or not, that wasn’t as weird as it got.

You kind of need a video to get it, but here’s where I dropped the ball as a music journalist because unfortunately my video recording equipment is out of commission, which is why my Sigur Ros review had half good and bad quality videos. Enter my smartphone; the only thing I had on me to document the show, although I did get some pretty good pictures I apologize for the poor quality videos. I also had limited memory to work with, hence the short videos. My only criticism of Zorch lies with the redundancy of the vocal melodies, which at length all started to sound similar to me. Still, the manic drum and synth duo banged out a thoroughly entertaining set, although by the time they were done I was ready for the main event.

First off, the pedal-dancing of Nick Reinhart is something that absolutely needs to be experienced by well, I’m going to say everyone. You’ve probably heard countless derivative one man band musicians stack loops but you’ve never heard anything like what this guy does. To hear someone use sampling/looping in a unique way is inspiring to begin with, but to hear the glitchy, yet highly musical layers of madness that Nick can conjure with just a Squier guitar and his pedalboard is something that should fill any musician with inspiration and hope. His bandmates certainly aren’t slouches either, Their bassist Nathan Latona relied on two pedalboards and aggressive playing that was downright scary (in a good way) and not being a drummer I cannot possibly try and explain how complex John Clardy’s percussion work is and yet, how tight the band is with him in the midst of the most schizophrenic of meters.

All the pedalboards consisted heavily of Earthquaker Devices’ awesome products, but also plenty of cheaper and more worn-out pedals. Nathan was playing a Gibson Ripper with an Aguilar Tonehammer 500 through an 8×10 cabinet. I was surprised to find that the Tonehammer was solid state, the tone was monstrous and plenty loud although he filled me in on a secret in the form of a pedal he had called the Rusty Box that he said boosts his gain to ridiculous levels. He held things together with a prog player’s precision and a punk player’s abrasion. You’ll hear what I mean, the video here hilariously and accurately displays the inability of my smart phone at capturing the room-rattling bass volume, not helping was the fact I was directly in front of the 8×10 cab’s trajectory.

Tera Melos pulled heavily from X’ed Out of course, songs like Weird Circles and Snakebite were really good even with my original vantage/listening point being so unbalanced. The beauty of this venue was getting to watch/listen from different parts of the room, and I returned to the balcony before they went back to Drugs to the Dear Youth for a couple of songs. While I might not prefer the more technical material these days it was still mind-boggling to witness. The future pop-punk of “Sunburn” came later, as did their Polaris cover. “Skin Surf” was a superb set-ender, with plenty of improvised effect-freakouts nestled in the middle of a great pop song. My first live Tera Melos experience was worth the wait, and after getting some tone secrets I walked away desperately hoping I would remember the name “Rusty Box”.

Gear Spotlight: Caroline Guitar Company

Ok so that was a longer break than I expected. Sorry about my silence, but I have another show review coming up soon and some interviews that I’m really excited about, one of which you guys will get to see before the year’s end.

Today I wanted to give some props to an awesome pedal manufacturer coming out of my home state; Columbia SC’s Caroline Guitar Company. Caroline Guitar Company has begun building a sterling reputation nationwide upon their small, yet unique product line, and their signature pedal, the Wave Cannon. The thing I like about them is that even though their product line doesn’t contain every effect known to man, they specialize in unique pedals that will do their job unlike any other that you’ll find. The Wave Cannon can be used as a practical distortion/drive pedal or it can get some pretty wild sounds thanks to its havoc mode. With the gain cranked in Havoc mode, the sound almost reminds me of oscillation coupled with fuzz, you can actually get some really cool distorted synth sounds out of this thing.

With the company being local-ish I happened upon them pretty early, I don’t consider myself up on gear enough to really keep up with new products so this is probably one of the only times that will happen. I walked into a locally owned music store in 2009 and the owner was trying out the Wave Cannon that Caroline sent him, having fun with some crazy high-gain madness in the havoc mode. While I haven’t managed to find many videos demonstrating it with bass, the one I have features Juan Alderate and Jonathan Hischke of the awesome http://www.pedalsandeffects.com so you know you’re in good hands there.

I’m also a big fan of their Kilobyte analog delay, I don’t own one but I hope they continue to make this one because it’s awesome. While it’s plenty useful for practical delay situations I really love the low-fi, almost 8-bit reminiscent delay tapers this pedal also offers. Actually, this video explains it way better than I ever could.

Make sure to check out Caroline Guitar Company here:

http://carolineguitar.com/