This is to make sure the iPhone update is working

They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to. All point to point hand-wired, hand-crafted, and aesthetically far superior. No computer chips, just hot glowing vacuum tubes (don’t even get me started on non tube guitar amps). Tubes forever!

Shirt: {DF} —– Fuck Me

Pants: Ibizarre —– Crinkle Zipper Leggings

Belt: [Atomic] —– Music Belt

Guitar: Gibson —– V Factor X

Gloves: [ akami ] —– Low Black Gloves

Shoes: UBU —– PornStar

Hair: >TRUTH< —– Grace

El nombre de “SG” proviene de “Solid Guitar” (Guitarra Sólida en español) y fue un modelo creado por la marca Gibson en los años 60. En un principio se creó como una variación de la mítica Les Paul pero, poco después de su creación, el propio Les Paul perdió el interés por este tipo de guitarras y pidió que se retirara su nombre de ellas. Fue entonces cuando pasó a llamarse SG. Por lo tanto, fue concebida como un tipo distinto de Les Paul y como tal la mayoría de las SG tienen una configuración muy similar a las Les Paul: las dos tienen doble pastilla humbucker, las dos están hechas de caoba ela mayoría de los casos, suelen tener las mismas electrónicas y ecualizador, etc. Hoy en día existen muchos tipos de SG (Deluxe, Goth…) y hasta se han sacado modelos de bajo con dicha forma de cuerpo (personalmente, estos bajos me parecen horribles).

Guitarra Angus SG de Gibson

Pero con un cambio tan radical en la forma del cuerpo no pueden ser todo similitudes. Quizás la mayor diferencia (y la más visible) entre las dos es el doble corte, arriba y abajo, del mastil. Estos cortes junto con sus delgados cuernos estuvieron pensados para hacer los trastes superiores más accesibles, lo cual se consiguió. Además el cuerpo y el mástil son mucho más delgados lo que supone una significativa reducción en el peso del instrumento y su manejabilidad. Como en esto de los instrumentos no hay cambio sin consecuencia, todo lo que se le hizo a la guitarra repercutió en un sonido bastante menos contundente que su pariente Les Paul. Además, y he aquí uno de los principales fallos de la SG, las guitarras tienen muy poco peso en el cuerpo y demasiado en el mástil lo que lleva a que la guitarra a girarse y ser algo incomoda de tocar en muchos casos.

Pese a todo, la SG se convirtió en un icono del rock y con el tiempo ha mantenido una potente supremacía en el mundo de las guitarras eléctricas. Gran parte de este éxito viene dado por que Angus Young, mítico guitarrista de AC/DC, eligió la SG como su modelo de guitarra favorito. Como podemos ver en el vídeo, las guitarras SG se suelen tocar bastante altas (me refiero a la altura del instrumento) para solventar ese problema de peso que tienen.

Ok, what are you doing?  Are you busy?  Are you comfy?  You’ll want to get comfy… and grab some snacks or a drink because, if I do this right, you could be here a while.

Before I lead us deep into the abyss, I must put up some collateral.  The following piece is a criticism of a band.  I have witnessed elsewhere on the web the kind of indignant fury criticising this band produces and will provide a link to it later, because that is part of the glory of what I’m about to write.  Right now though, I must lay out the names of artists/bands that I listen to and would defend as good music, because to criticise another person’s taste in music without exposing yourself is cowardice, and a coward I am not.

Some of the bands I like (listed alphabetically) and the year their most recent album was released (not including ‘best ofs’): Aquabats (2005), Beck (2008), Caesar’s Palace (2008), The Hives (2007), Queens of the Stone Age (2007), Soundgarden (1996), The Tallest Man On Earth (2008), Ween (2007).

These are not the only bands I like, but they are high on my rotation list and I own more then one of their albums.  Now, to battle!

A while ago I was exposed to an awful Australian band called “Short Stack”.  They were, and still are, a little pop-punk outfit (though they call themselves something else entirely) with the most ridiculous hair I have ever seen.  Now, ridiculous hair, on its own, is fine.  Everyone does silly things (such as write blogs for no good reason) and, in time, they learn the error of their ways and chuckle about it later.  So while Short Stack’s sense of fashion crossed the border into Retarded and did a little victory dance in its own excrement, I was not overly bothered by it.  Fashion was not their only problem however… but it was a pretty big part.  Checkit:

My first exposure to Short Stack was on some live “Top of the Pops” style show.  They serenaded me with an original track and then, after explaining why they chose to do it (they grew up listening to it), covered a song by Blink 182.  Now, Tom DeLonge never had the best voice in the world, but he could hold a tune.  These kids could not provide a tuneful rendition of a Blink 182 song.  This I could not abide by.  Also, if you watch that video (which is not the one I saw originally) you’ll notice that they have session musicians supporting the band… playing stuff that they can’t play.  While I’m sure the “We’ve never rehearsed this” was said tongue in cheek, the opening riff to Dammit is left to the session player.  Blink 182 could play the song as a three piece… what’s up?

So they had caught my attention.  I peered at them longer, searching for some sort of explanation as to why these Muppets were playing to an audience who were positively wetting themselves with the experience of being so close to the band.  It was sick.  My peering lead me to check out their instruments, as I usually would; it’s like window shopping.  These teens were ‘rocking out’ on Gibson gear.  Teenagers can’t afford Gibson gear.  Newly discovered, hot property bands can’t afford Gibson gear.  It all became so clear to me.

Now, before you dismiss this as some sort of conspiracy theory rant – it’s not.  It’s a theory, to be sure, but a well founded one.  The theory is this:

Short Stack are a record executive’s cynical music project.  They were created to prove that teenagers have absolutely no good sense whatsoever and will swallow any bullshit that they’re fed.

The evidence:

1. As I have mentioned (and you’ve seen), Short Stack’s hair is ridiculous, and so are their outfits.  Their appearance is so ridiculous that you’d have to have to be on Ketamine to not realise how awfully stupid they look.

2. Short Stack’s rise to popularity has been incredibly short.  The Wikipedia page about them explains that in (late) 2005 they couldn’t even pass the first round of a battle of the bands.  However, by 2008 they were the darlings of MySpace and YouTube.  If we were generous, and said that they had three years to gain popularity, that’d still be rushing it.  The fact is – these guys came from nowhere, and they came with Gibson gear.

3. A Gibson Les Paul costs upward of 3K and so will a Gibson Thunderbird.  Now, while living with your parents rent-free affords you the opportunity to save for those deluxe items.  I’m not buying that these lads had the desire to scrimp and save for the same brand instruments.

4. They have a legion of mostly female, early teens fans and they’ve been on the cover of TV Hits twice.

The whole thing stinks to high heaven if you ask me.

Now, I know that musical taste is highly subjective, but, we need to be honest here; Short Stack’s music isn’t even close to special.  There is absolutely nothing about Short Stack’s songs that makes you say “wow, that’s different.  It’s not even possible to say “they really took genre X and made it their own”.  Objectively Short Stack aren’t a decent band.  The only thing about them that really captures anyone’s attention is their look.  Underneath all that stupid hair and fucking idiotic make up are some slightly better than average looking boys… I just looked at a photo of theirs to inspire me to continue… I want to punch them in their stupid faces.

The Short Stack gimmick, as was aptly pointed out by my wife, is that they’ve taken the Eskimo Joe dress sense and amplified it into the ridiculous.  While Eskimo Joe play dress-ups slightly and look pseudo-arty, Eskimo Joe still have different styles to each other.  It is clear that ‘The Joe’ dress themselves and make their own poor decisions.  ‘The Stack’ dress exactly the same as each other.  Which is not to say they all wear boiler outfits, what I mean is, the ideas are exactly the same, and you get them impression that they’ve been dressed by the head of Sunday Morning Records (their label).

I should address that very quickly.  Sunday Morning Records is, apparently, an indie label.  According to Short Stack’s own biography, even though they played a terrible show in 2006, the label saw potential in them and signed them.  Some may argue that, because Short Stack are signed to an “indie” label, they can’t possibly be an engineered entity.  To this is say “bollocks”.  Independent labels are just as capable of seeing marketing potential as any large label and, if they want to make some money, they are just as capable of exploiting it.  Also, just quickly, I’ll say it before anyone else does: The Hives and another group I like called Devo (look them up kids) dress exactly alike.  Not just similar style, but exactly, like a uniform.  The two bands do it for different reasons, but unlike Short Stack isn’t that they are lackeys.  Short Stack are lackeys.  They dress how they dress because they are fools.

If you haven’t just eaten, you could read through their biography for a chuckle-and-heave.  I mean, aside from knowing that it is someone’s job to make them sound like they’re awesome, it really is full of shit.  It begins “2009 has been Short Stack’s year”, which I would beg to differ on.  While they may have done exceedingly well for such a mediocre product, a simple look at ARIA award nominations (Australian music industry awards) shows that it has not really been Short Stack’s year at all.  If it had, we might see them being listed as a nominee in “Highest selling Australian Single” or “Highest selling Australian album”.  “But, John”, you say, “that’s asking a bit much of a new band”.  Perhaps you’re right.  I guess I’ll have to check the nominees for “Breakthrough Artist – Album” or “Breakthrough Artist – Single”… hrrmm… no, not there either.  Apparently there are at least 5 artists in every category that the Australian music industry thinks is having a better 2009 than Short Stack.  A real kick in the guts is that Jessica Mauboy, an Australian Idol runner up, is considered more worthy of a Breakthrough Artist nomination (in both categories) than Short Stack.

To their credit, and my dismay, Short Stack’s album “Stack is the New Black” reached number one on the Australian charts.  I don’t know how long it stayed there, but I will point out that their highest selling single “Sway, Sway, Baby!” reached number 2 on the charts, but only lasted one week.  The next week it dropped 25 places.  Flash in the pan, anyone?  If the title of that single, or that album, caused you to choke on your Wheaties, please permit me to compromise your windpipe some more.  The titles of their other singles have been “Princess”, “Shimmy a Go Go” and “Ladies & Gentlemen”.  The last title isn’t so insipid, so I’ll subject you to its opening verse:

Ladies and gentlemen can I,
Say this story seems alive away from you
We’ll hope for love on hotel floors
And write a history for teens with dreamer’s truths

I’ll give you some of Princess too:

This incentive represents this dimly lit room just a minute in
my heart beat beat climbs in sync with captivate me as you shed your skin

Crave more?  Here’s Shimmy a Go Go:

Oh! Can I catch your eye tonight
(I’m so beside myself tonight; so beside myself tonight)
we could live forever
one line at a time
so let’s sway!

Let’s go all the way tonight!  Sway Sway Baby!:

Reach for the stars kid, I’ve been wondering,
Heaven’s not too far kid, we’ve been tumbling,
Down down baby, you’re so audio
But I’m a gentleman, I’m such a gentleman,
We keep in time kid, you’re so into it
But if you were mine kid, we’d be intimate
These razors ain’t your roses
But I’m a gentleman, (I’m such a gentleman)

Yessir, we’ve got a real progressive band here.  What I like about them is the way they’ve mixed singing about girls together with angst.  If you watch some of their video clips, you also get to see how fun-loving and quirky they are.  It’s super.  Even in their video clips you can tell that Lead Vocalist, Shaun Diviney, can’t sing.  I think autotune is one of the most abhorrent and over-used ‘techniques’ producers have these days, but by god do I wish they’d use it on him.  I don’t even think he’s trying.  I think he’s going for the “If I squeeze the song out through tensed vocal cords, it’ll sound emotional” attitude.  He does not carry off that style well.  But, maybe music isn’t at the front of their minds, maybe it’s more about their image?  Perhaps I should let the bands bio page speak to this –

“The final ingredient that’s ensured Short Stack has become Australia’s most exciting new band? Everything they do is delivered with a cheeky, don’t give a fuck attitude.”

Aren’t they just so damn audio!?  They’re so real.  I love how they’re just so gosh-darn good looking, fashionable, masters of the lyrical arts and rebels.  I bet whatever boy they end up dating is real special.

If you checkout their “Sway Sway Baby” video clip you’ll get to see just how zany these guys can be.  What I’ll also ask you to observe is the shots of the band on stage performing to screaming fans.  I have it from a reliable source that that crowd is comprised of their MySpace fans.  The word is that they put out a call on MySpace for fans to show up to appear in their video.  Apparently the line of adoring fans was massive; not everyone was going to fit.  It wasn’t first come first served, however.  Apparently for their blind allegiance to this atrocity, only the prettiest of girls were picked to be in the video clip.  How much of them can you see?  Well, let’s just say that I, for one, am glad I didn’t see any fat or ugly arms in that clip; it might have made me puke.

I’m going to wrap this up here.  In my next instalment I’m going to talk about the furore that someone’s “Tweet” about Short Stack’s poor performance on Rove created.  It’s truly epic.  I’ll leave you now with Short Stack’s plans for things to come:

“We want to give a large majority of Australia a chance to have seen us live by the end of 2010, so playing shows is going to take up a big portion of the year,” Bradie says. “If you haven’t seen us yet, you can expect loud, loud music, fun and most importantly, the band of the future.”

The future is indeed bleak.  Just be thankful that if they’re touring, they aren’t recording.

One last look at the tools

It’s like the old saying goes, “Ya gotta crawl, before ya walk.”.  While I’m not an absolute beginner with the guitar, it has been a while, and in the past I’ve played around with guitars, rather than trying to become a guitar player.  However, I plan on changing that in the weeks, months and years to come, and it all starts with getting a decent guitar on which to learn.  Based on reputation and price, I’ve chosen a Yamaha F325 Dreadnaught acoustic, picture here:

The way I see it, if I can develop smooth, quick scales and chord changes on something like this, then the fingers will fly on a good electric.  In addition, most of the songs and styles I want to learn at first are best suited for the acoustic guitar.  But, once I’ve gotten to such a level — basic chords and chord changes done correctly and smoothly, and 2-3 different types of scales down pat — then I’ll get a decent electric to play.  The one I have my eye on at this point is the Epiphone SG Special in the next pic.

A lot of notable guitarists have used the (Gibson) SG over the years:  Most notably Angus Young of AC/DC, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, KK Downing and Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest, and even Duane Allman, among others.  The one time I ever sat and played one of these guitars I immediately wanted one.  It played very easily, had excellent tone, and the owner said he’d never sell it at any price because of his fondness for it.  That, along with a storied history of professional guitar virtuosos having preferred it, brought me to my decision.  However, an electric guitar without an amp is akin to a gun without ammo;  there’s no punch.  So, I shopped around and came up with the little gem pictured next:  The Peavey Vypyr 15w 1×8.

I’ll let the description from musiciansfriend.com do the talking here:

“With double the processing power, models and effects of competitive modeling amplifiers, the VYPYR dramatically redefines the power and scope of modern guitar amplification. VYPYR amplifiers are based on powerful 32-bit, floating-point SHARC processors that enable highly detailed, accurate modeling as well as vastly enhanced flexibility and features than ever before available in guitar amplification.  Featuring 24 amp channel models-both the clean and distorted channels of 12 popular amps for the first time anywhere—11 editable post-amp “rack” effects with dual-parameter control. The entire six-model VYPYR Series features the easy-to-use Peavey WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface.

Peavey Vypyr 15 15W 1×8 Guitar Combo Amp Features:

• 15 watts
• 4 channels with 3-band EQ, master volume and pre- and post-gain controls
• 11 editable rack effects
• 8″ custom-voiced modeling speaker
• Onboard chromatic tuner
• Tap Tempo
• Studio quality headphone and record out
• MP3/CD/Aux input
• Patented TransTube technology in preamp and power amp”

Seems to me there’s no need for any other effects pedals at this point.  I’m figuring on learning at least 50 complete songs (down pat) before I upgrade from this gear to the next level.  But, when I do, I’ll be looking for a decent tube amp, a better guitar (probably an HSS Strat-style), and then some nice, true-bypass effects pedals. 

As I acquire various types of gear, I’ll post pics somewhere on the blog, and as my abilities (and finances) progress I may even add some videos.  ‘Till then, have a good one.

REB

El modelo Iceman fue creado por Ibanez allá por los años 60-70. En aquella época el reinado de Fender y Gibson se vió amenazado por la oleada de guitarras japonesas que hacían copias de los modelos más famosos de las marcas citadas. Fue entonces cuando las empresas norteamericanas decidieron demandar a la japonesa Hoshino Gakki (empresa madre de Ibanez y Tama) y se vio forzada a cambiar sus diseños. Uno de los resultados de estos cambios en los diseños fue el modelo Iceman.

Este cuerpo se caracteriza por su agresiva forma y ligero peso. Hoy en día se construyen una gran variedad de modelos Iceman, tanto guitarras como bajos. Sobre éstos bajos cabe decir que hay una descompensación entre el peso del cuerpo y del mastil, de manera que éste último es más pesado que el cuerpo y hace que el instrumento se gire, lo cual hace que sea bastante incómodo de tocar (algunos usuarios de guitarras con forma SG sabrán a lo que me refiero). Personalmente no recomiendo los modelos Iceman en bajo a no ser que sea el modelo signature del bajista de Arch Enemy, Sharlee D’Angelo, cuyo Iceman tiene este problema arreglado.

Uno de los modelos más nuevos del bajo Iceman de Ibanez

Paul Stanley (guitarrista de la famosa banda de rock Kiss) fue uno de los primeros artistas con renombre en usar el modelo, y fue en parte gracias a él que las guitarras Iceman consiguieran la fama que tuvieron y tienen hoy en día. Pero ha habido otros guitarristas que han hecho de la Iceman su instrumento favorito como por ejemplo Daron Malakian de System of a Down.

The Stimmmopped is an electronic guitar tuner made to be used as a guitar pick. This uses two LEDs synchronized to blink at the exact frequency of the string you are tuning. Pluck the string with the corner of the PCB and then shine the light on the string you are tuning. As the vibrating string moves back and forth it will only pick up the spot of light when the frequency matches that of the blinking LED. Once in tune, both red lights will appear to be constantly illuminated and immobile on the string.

An Atmel ATmega8 is used to control the device, interfacing with two buttons and a seven-segment display to choose the pitch currently being tuned. Gibson has a robotic guitar that features an auto-tuning mode, but if you don’t want to shell that much this low cost and simple build is for you.

[Thanks Sören]

(POR BOB) –  Página Inicial

Agentes federais dos EUA apreenderam guitarras, computadores, madeiras e arquivos na seda da Gibson em Nashville por suposto envolvimento da empresa no contrabando de madeiras para a fabricação dos instrumentos…(Veja a matéria completa)

Bueno, bueno, que el viernes cumplí 23 añitos… y como dice mi prima, los he cumplido en Firenze. A ver si soy capaz de contarlo todo sin dejarme nada en el tintero, que para variar, de inspiración voy chungo.

Realmente, todo empezó el miércoles, con el ensayo general (e improvisado) de la barbacoa. Porque claro, no puedes hacer una barbacoa sin saber cómo encenderla, cómo cocinar… así que venga, un kilo y medio de carne para Armando y el menda, que las costillas no son caras. ¡Una odisea! Lo de encender la barbacoa, digo. Ulises a nuestro lado, una maricona. Después de más de una hora de arduo trabajo (con lo fácil que es comprar combustible… en fin) , conseguimos encender algo parecido a un fuego y hacer una carne más o menos aceptable. Bueno, lo de más o menos aceptable es quedarse corto, la carne estaba increíble. Además, es cosa de marranos comer con las manos pero lo bien que se lo pasa uno, jejeje.

El jueves cené en casa de Lara y Cris donde me llevé la primera sorpresa con el bizcochito, las velas, el huevo kinder y el batman, que aquí lo tengo delante. La verdad es que echamos una noche muy buena, muy rica la comida (cosa que ya es costumbre) y muy agradable la compañía.

Y en esto que llega el viernes. Y, claro, yo quería hacer una fiestecita en casa. Y, como tengo jardín, pues hago la fiesta en el jardín. Y, como resulta que en el jardín hay barbacoa, pues habrá que hacer barbacoa. Y para hacer barbacoa hay que comprar cosas. Pues nada, con Zipi al Esselunga.

Así, después de una compra al por mayor, zumbando pronto para casa, que ya mismo está aquí la gente y hay que prepararlo todo. A ello nos pusimos, arreglando el jardín, preparando la parrilla, el tomate, la cebolla, el pan, las salchichas… ofú, qué mareo solo de pensarlo Aun así, yo ya estaba disfrutando. De cuando en cuando, algún sms de felicitación, alguna que otra llamadita y algún mensaje por el msn.

Hala, que empieza a llegar gente. Y claro, como vivo en una calle lateral pues hay que ir a por ellos, que se pierden (no es crítica, yo soy el primero que se pierde en dos calles). Así, poco a poco, llegaron Isra, María y Pau en la primera tanda, Lara y Cris (siempre juntas 8-)), Miguel por su cuenta, que luego se trajo a Max (pobre bubino perdido, jejeje) y por último, Aurora, Virginia y Bárbara. Venga, que ya estamos todos, (Armando era el cooker, o sea, estaba allí el primero xD), vamos a ir comiendo. Y empezaron a salir salchichas y hamburguesas y patatas fritas… qué pechá de comer

Y mis regalitos, que no me lo esperaba, la verdad. Aquí al lado los tengo, mi Gibson en miniatura (qué guapada),  mi tarjetita de cumpleaños y… mi balón de rugby de la Nazionale. Una pasada redondeada con la tarta por cortesía de Aurora y Bárbara En fin, si la gente disfrutó la mitad que yo, se lo pasaron genial. Muchas gracias a todos, de verdad, fue un día inolvidable.

De izquierda a derecha: Virginia, María, Aurora, Paula, Bárbara, Lara, Armando, Cristina, Isra, yo, Max y Miguel

Venga, otra foto para la historia xD

Agradecido y emocionado,
solamente puedo decir
gracias por venir

Apparently, they were making guitars with smuggled Madagascan Rosewood.

heh heh, wood.

Guardian

via

NME

Welcome to Boyd’s Guitar Warehouse, the one stop electric guitar parts shop.  We are an Ebay Store that focuses only on selling used electric guitar parts and the lowest prices on Ebay.  Our main focus is on the major brand guitars such as Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Jackson, ESP, and Epiphone.  We sell all parts from bodies, necks, bridges, electronics, pickups, tuning pegs, locking nuts, and neck screws.

We strarted our business November of 2008 as a part time business.  After seeing the high interest of people  upgrading and building custom electric guitars we started talking about running our business full time and quit our jobs.  Within a week after my wife and I had that discussion I was laid off from my mechanical engineer job without any severence package.  So we decided to go full time into our Ebay business and thought this was our best choice.  This is when we launched our Ebay Store Boyd’s Guitar Warehouse end of January 2009.

Since our decision my wife and I have sold thousands of guitar parts all over the world.  We are selling around 400 guitar parts every month and couldn’t be happier with the decision of helping guitarist achieve their goals of finding that tone or building that guitar that they have always wanted.  We look forward to serving you and your friends on your next order.

Thanks,
Brandon Boyd
Boyd’s Guitar Warehouse

The other day I took time out in a guitar shop… Nothing weird there you might think – but actually, there was…
I love my old guitar (can’t play it like) and while it’s travelled the globe with me, it has bad pickups and the neck/frets are wearing out. My guitar is a beastie I’ve often been told does not exist as Epiphone apparently never made a ‘Strat-copy’! Well, they did and it’s called the Epiphone S310, they also made a T310, and I’ll leave you to work out what that baby was. I have a particular problem and that is with picking out or playing a lower string without the noise of the chord just played drowning it.
Everyone I know has directed me toward the Gibson Les Paul and for those of your who know – they’re not cheap! They can be anywhere from £1200 to prices in excess of £3000!!
Oddly. There is little difference between the models, so the prices are crazy.
Now, Gibson also make/own Epiphone. Epiphone are apparently made in Qingdao, China and from left over timber stock from Gibson’s Nashville factory. But they’re also made to the same exacting standards.
Any way, I’m in this guitar shop and there is a Gibson Les Paul and the exact same version of guitar with the Epiphone name on it. With identical amplifier settings I tried out both guitars extensively.
And you know what I’m gonna say don’t you – there was ZERO noticeable difference in the playability, quality and more importantly the tone!!! I even think the Epiphone was slightly better quality overall than the Gibson!
So, as with all things in life, it all comes down to the prices. £257 vs £2300… After all, I can have 4 guitars for the price of one and there just has to be a good one in there somewhere! lol

I think there maybe a new guitar around here soon!

Gibson Mini Accessory Pack Review

Feature

• Genuine Gibson accessory pack including Pump polish, cloth, peg winder & Gibson Picks.

Overview
Includes a polish cloth, polish in pump bottle, stringwinder and 3 picks. AKMIN-1

Nov 22, 2009 08:03:07

Cool news to come from the Armada gig at the East Brunswick Club last night: Jeff Martin, Canadian songwriter of note, previously of Ireland, has landed in Australia as a full-time resident. Although the travelling troubadour said he didn’t know just how much time he’d get to spend here.

The gig itself, being recorded, was damn fine, although the amount of inane crowd chatter during and between songs could be a headache for the final cut.

Martin, with Wayne Sheehy on percussion and Jay Cortez on bass (and other bits ‘n’ bobs, such as mandolin and harmonica), was in fine fettle for the two-hour performance in a hot, cramped venue offering superb sound. Seated mid-stage throughout in black shirt and jeans, he paraded a host of instruments during the night, including a hurdy gurdy, esraj, oud (won in a Cairo poker game) and theremin, as well as mainstay Gibson guitars, a classic Les Paul and an Australian-made 12-string.

The set list, similar to last year’s tour with familiar banter, ranged from Tea Party favourites such as Sister Awake and The Bazaar, to his signature solo tune, The Kingdom (album review here), again dedicated to Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires, and Armada tunes. He again offered crafty blends of NIN’s Hurt and Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, and Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love.

One highlight was Coming Home, given extra gusto by his announcement of a move to Oz, and the closing encore song, Black Snake Blues, with Cortez on slide guitar.

In Sheehy and Cortez, Martin has found ideal complements, and, combined with the regularity of his touring, must bode well for the Armada’s future. Or so I hope.
]]> http://neoundertown.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/quem-precisa-de-arvores/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:54:25 +0000 neoundertown http://neoundertown.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/quem-precisa-de-arvores/

A Gibson, lendária fabricante das guitarras mais foda do mundo, está sendo investigada pela polícia nos Estados Unidos. A suspeita é de que a Gibson esteja usando madeira ilegal na fabricação das guitarras, importadas de Madagascar, segundo os homi da lei.

Mas francamente, ainda se fosse pra fabricar coisas de menor importância, tipo mesa, armários e etc., tudo bem, mas porra, guitarras são item de primeira necessidade. Vou escutar o que? Sintetizadores?

New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff in he article “Gibson Guitars plant is raided” notes there was a federal raid on the company’s factory in Nashville, Tennessee.

Gibson Guitar CEO leaves rainforest group after Nashville raid – The Tennessean

Gibson introduces the Les Paul tribute 1952 guitar.

                 Da , da, Metrock   reload, asa ar trebui sa se numeasca.

                Simbata 21.11.2009 la Casa de Cultura a Studentilor Grigore Preoteasa trupa Metrock va sustine un concert cum nu s-a mai vazut.

                P e bune.

                Cristi ”Zapada” Ionita in forma maxima, George Patranoiu ambalind motoarele la rosu, Paul Sima storcind ultima vlaga din Gibson, Gabi Golescu navalind cu joasele peste voi, Nicu G. accelerind la blana.

                Asteptam de mult un concert Metrock, iar de data asta le fac si sunetul, asa ca am sa va destup urechile definitiv, am sa va bag rock-ul in cap pentru totdeauna.

Ar fi foarte multe de povestit despre Metrock. Multi chitaristi, bass-isti, tobosari si clapari au trecut pe la ”Zapada”.

Multi ar trebui sa-i fie recunoscatori, si datorita lui sunt acum pe scena.

Gata cu vorbele, ne vedem la concert.

Saptamina viitoare o mica poveste despre Metrock si Cristi ”Zapada” Ionita.

Der er bare så mange ting man lige pludselig bare har brug for! Det er ikke sikkert man lige har råd – faktisk er det ret sikkert at man ikke har råd, men derfor er det vel ikke forkert at drømme, vel? Bare en lille smule?

1) Den dér Gibson ES-335 jeg har kigget på, på nettet det sidste halve år, som jeg selvfølgelig ikke får råd til i dette liv…

2) En ny computer. En ny stationær computer. Alt for længe er jeg gået glip af nogle alt, alt for fede spiltitler, alt for længe har jeg måttet kigge på folk der skyder zombier og talebanere i stumper og stykker – og så er der jo heller ikke så lang tid til at Diablo III udkommer (vel, Blizzard???)

3) En fræk lille sag af en Line 6 Pocket POD amp modeler, så jeg ikke behøver at bruge alt for mange penge på ny forstærker (har helt sikkert brug for en rørforstærker, man bliver vel lidt kræsen med tiden?) og en masse effekter – det må vel være OK at tage den skrabede udgave til at begynde med, ikke?

4) Enhver mand med respekt for sig selv ejer et fadølsanlæg - og jeg har (tro det eller ej) en lille smule selvrespekt tilbage som jeg ikke har fået brugt endnu.

5) Den antikke bogreol der skal fyldes til renden med litteratur (som jeg aldrig får læst).

6) Platons samlede værker som de udkommer fra Gyldendal hvert år frem til 2014.

7) Udover et fadølsanlæg, bør enhver mand eje et skræddersyet jakkesæt fra Gioorgio Armani – gerne et stilet sort/grå m. pinstripe men også ét i rød og ét i hvid.