CBGB ICON AWARD: SEYMOUR STEIN Seymour Stein Awarded First Annual CBGB Icon Award There probably aren’t a whole lot of evenings left like Tuesday’s presentation of the First Annual CBGB Icon Award to Seymour Stein—Tuesday evening at the Bowery Hotel. People you hadn’t seen in decades—some you wish you still hadn’t seen in decades—literally crawled out of the woodwork, and as the hotel is just a couple blocks up the street from CBGB... 

LA Jazz Festival Jazz Themes From Hollywood West Coast Jazz At The Movies A Four Day Jazz Festival! October 24-27 Los Angeles Airport Marriott Individual tickets available for all concerts, films and panels range from $10-$50. The Platinum VIP registration fee is $450 or $425 for Jazz Institute members. The VIP registration also includes reserved priority seating which is assigned in the order received. For tickets (562) 200-5477 For full details... 

Machine by Electrio OFFICIAL VIDEO   For your viewing pleasure. The first video from Electrio. Go to itunes to get the debut release “The Cut” featuring the singles “Machine” and “Bells”. Available now on Darc Records. Electrio is the brainchild of drummer/beat-makers, Bryan “Brain” Mantia (Primus/Tom Waits/Bill Frizell, BT), Scott Donnell (Deep Audio) and singer/composer/PT wizard, Melissa Reese. The Electronica... 

GIRL GROUPS Still Alive and Kicking The problem with going to an oldies show is that not only do you see how old the oldies artists are, you also see how old their audience is, which, of course, you yourself are a part of. At least you’re all “still alive and kicking,” as the Toys’ (“A Lover’s Concerto”) lead singer Barbara Harris said, calling out her other two originals Barbara Parritt and June Montiero to take a bow from the audience.... 

WRITTEN BY: Debbie Harry, Chris Stein RECORDED: RECORD PLANT, NEW YORK PRODUCED BY: MIKE CHAPMAN DEBBIE HARRY: VOCALS NIGEL HARRISON: BASS CLEM BURKE: DRUMS, DRUM MACHINE CHRIS STEIN: ELECTRIC GUITAR JIMMY DESTRI: KEYBOARDS FRANK INFANTE: GUITAR FROM THE ALBUM: PARALLEL LINES (1978)   “Heart of Glass”   BLONDIE  “Everyone was like, ‘Blondie’s gone disco!’” drummer Clem Burke recalled of the group’s first No. 1 hit. It was spring... 

WRITTEN BY: RITCHIE BLACKMORE, IAN GILLAN, ROGER GLOVER, JON LORD, IAN PAICE RECORDED: THE PAVILION AND GRAND HOTEL, MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND PRODUCED BY: DEEP PURPLE IAN GILLAN: VOCALS ROGER GLOVER: BASS IAN PAICE:  DRUMS RITCHIE BLACKMORE: ELECTRIC GUITAR JON LORD: ORGAN  FROM THE ALBUM: MACHINE HEAD (1972)   “Smoke on the Water” DEEP PURPLE   It’s the riff that will not die. It’s the heavy metal version of “Chopsticks.” Metallica’s... 

WRITTEN BY: NORMAN WHITFIELD AND BARRETT STRONG RECORDED: MOTOWN, DETROIT PRODUCED BY: NORMAN WHITFIELD MARVIN GAYE: VOCALS JAMES JAMERSON: BASS RICHARD “PISTOL” ALLEN: DRUMS ROBERT WHITE: ELECTRIC GUITAR EARL VAN DYKE: ORGAN  THE ANDANTES: BACKING VOCALS PAUL RISER: STRINGS FROM THE ALBUM: I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE!   “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” MARVIN GAYE    Though it has become one of Motown’s signature songs... 

PHOTOGRAPHER NORMAN SEEFF’S SESSION WITH Al Jarreau for his 1983 album, Jarreau, was a memorable, fun affair. “He brought this bubbling laughter and enthusiasm,” recalls Seeff. “Al came across as someone who loved his life and loved this great gift he has.” Seeff’s young daughter, Tai Power Seeff, joined the son of the photographer’s assistant in some playful interaction with the singer. “It was a time when we all had kids,” says... 

PHOTOGRAPHER NORMAN SEEFF’S SESSION FOR Van Morrison’s 1979 album, Into the Music, nearly never happened. “I met with him at his home in Northern California,” recalls Seeff, “and he took me on a crazy drive in his Porsche as we listened to the album.” But by the end of the day the quixotic artist expressed doubts about using his image on the album cover. Seeff turned to a mutual friend, who had played violin on one of Morrison’s previous... 

LIVE LESSONS Our experts reveal their strategies for achieving pristine live sound Sounding great live is every act’s goal—and it’s a challenge nearly all musicians face, from coffeehouse singer-songwriters to touring arena bands. Achieving perfect live sound can be complex, taking into account everything from room acoustics to microphone selection and placement, as well as the limitations of the house PA system. But with so many variables... 

COMMANDING THE MIX Nailing the right mix for your music takes skills, gear and discriminating ears  You’ve penned the perfect songs, recorded flawless tracks, and you’re well on your way to creating a masterpiece. But what about the mix? Snagging that ideal sonic blend can be tricky business, and the stakes are high. The right mix can mean the difference between fulfilling your dreams of revealing your musical brilliance to the world—or not. For... 

KEYS TO SUCCESS The world of keyboards is vast and complex, so how do you choose the right one for you?   From the classic analog synths of the ’70s to the cutting-edge digital workstations of today, keyboards have been an integral part of music for nearly half a century. Nearly every genre, including pop, rock and jazz, relies on keyboards in the studio and onstage as a mainstay instrument. And scoring and production for TV and film wouldn’t... 

KIM LENZ AND THE JAGUARS Follow Me kimlenz.com It’s easy enough to make a passable rockabilly record. Every city has a few guys and gals who slap doghouse fiddles and set fire to Gretsch fretboards, and let’s face it, penning neo-go-cat-go rave-ups is more pompadour sculpting than it is brain surgery. One way to stand out is to prop a pretty girl behind the vintage chrome microphone, but to go from Joanie B. Goode to Joanie B. Great, even the... 

KARNIVOOL Asymmetry karnivool.com Proggy hard rock is alive and well in the Land of Oz. On their third album, this Aussie quintet makes a fussy, fidgety racket, fashioning epic jams from disparate parts. Like Tool before them, Karnivool shift from slashing to serene with remarkable ease, and in a neat bit of, well, symmetry, Asymmetry works best when the band is at its most asymmetrical and disjointed. Whereas seven-minute-plus steady-burners “Sky... 

SARAH BLACKER Precious Little Things sarahblacker.com Plenty of songwriters spin melodies as effortlessly as Sarah Blacker does, and some even have similar ways with words, though it’s rare to hear phrases like “dirty dancing with the revelry of the heart” delivered with such a lack of pretension. What sets Blacker apart—and what explains her recent win for Female Performer of the Year at the New England Music Awards—is her willingness to... 

STAR & DAGGER Tomorrowland Blues facebook.com/staranddagger This sleaze-rock supergroup boasts members of Eagles of Death Metal, Cycle Sluts From Hell, and Queens of the Stone Age, and as if that weren’t badass enough, frontwoman Von Hesseling anchors the project with bruising soulfulness, holding it down like a female Danzig. As might be expected, S&D deal in blues-infused hard rock and chunky proto-punk, driving their “Freak Train”—one... 

CUTTOOTH Cuttooth facebook.com/CuttoothUK There’s a reason no one raps over self-styled “weird hip-hop” producer Nick Cooke’s beats. The barbiturate pacing and blissed-out synths on this, the U.K. artist’s sophomore record, are simply too delicate, and propping rhymes atop music this gauzily gorgeous would be like putting buildings on clouds. That said, singing suits the tunes just fine, and on “Old Tape Machine” and “Peace”—featuring... 

DAWN OF MIDI Dysomnia dawnofmidi.com Where but Brooklyn might a Moroccan pianist, an Indian-born upright bassist, and a first generation Pakistani American percussionist set up shop and seek to filter dance music through a prism of avant-garde jazz (or maybe the other way around)? Actually, Dawn of Midi formed at the California Institute of the Arts and released their debut in 2010, but it’s with this second effort that the now-East Coast-based... 

JARED JAMES NICHOLS Old Glory & the Wild Revival facebook.com/jaredjamesnichols This 22-year-old will fit right in at this summer’s Buffalo Chip Festival in Sturgis, S.D., and Harley-Davidson’s 110th anniversary shindig in Milwaukee, Wis., where bikers well schooled in gnarly blues rock will hear in his stinging riffs echoes of all the greats. Nichols has been honing his Clapton/SRV guitar heroics since his early teens, and he’s jammed with... 

THE ICARUS LINE Slave Vows theicarusline.com From Raymond Chandler to the Gun Club and X, L.A. artists have long written love-hate letters to their gunky, glitzy, hellhole of a paradise. “The rats are collecting underneath our floor,” Joe Cardamone sings on “City Job,” one of eight thrillingly bleak, burnt-black rock ’n’ roll bruisers on Icarus Line’s sixth album. As always, the band plunders from the finest drone- and stoner-rock sources,... 

AJ JANSEN A Country Girl Can Survive ajjansenmusic.com It’d be a drag to live through most of this New England country singer’s tunes—lots of small-town boys and girls breaking each other’s hearts—but they make for fun listening. Jansen clearly has a hoot writing them, too. While she seldom strays from genre tropes, she does tough-chick anthems (“Can’t Tame Me,” “A Country Girl Can Survive”), wounded ballads (“Darlin’”),... 

Orbé Orbé  Invisible Kingdoms orbe-orbe.com Midway through “Circus Star,” Cristina Orbé cuts to the chase: “I’m done waiting.” It’s a straightforward sentiment plenty of singers have spun into straightforward songs, but Orbé knows life is much more complicated—and colorful. So does Jahon Mikal, the producer she’s partnered with for this, the latest bullet point on an artistic resume that already includes soul-folk singer and spoken-word... 

ROB NANCE Lost Souls and Locked Doors robnance.com The title sounds defeatist, and most of the songs center on heartbreak and disappointment, but this North Carolina country-folk crooner is an optimist at his core. Titles like “Light in the Dark” and “Ain’t Losing Yet” tell the story, and if Nance knows he can’t whip the world into spinning his way, he’ll kill fate with kindness. Even when he’s plugged in and rocking, as on the Band-like... 

WILD PONIES Things That Used to Shine wildponies.net Formerly an acoustic duo, Doug and Telisha Williams plug in for these 12 country tunes, cut in three days with Ray Kennedy. The producer has worked with Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle, and like those artists, Wild Ponies swing emotional wrecking balls with great delicacy, sometimes waiting until the third verse to deliver devastating revelations about their characters—and themselves. On “Trigger,”... 

TOMMY KEENE Excitement at Your Feet tommykeene.com Talk about taste. After opening his first covers LP with a Flamin’ Groovies nugget, this power-pop lifer gives the jangle-punk treatment to classics by everyone from Echo & the Bunnymen to Guided by Voices. On the Donovan and Big Star ballads, he unplugs without switching off the electricity.    Read More →

BEACH In Us We Trust bitchmusic.com Karen Mould usually goes by Bitch, but here, she’s BEACH. Does that mean she’s all mellow and summery? Not exactly. The electric violinist and singer-songwriter reinvents herself as an alternately bluesy and poppy, gloomy and giddy electro-rock high priestess. Ideas abound—most of them terrific.    Read More →

RADKEY Cat & Mouse radkey.net Matt Radke raised his kids right. The Missouri father home-schooled brothers Dee, Isaiah and Solomon, and judging by the sound of their band, he made vintage Misfits records a key part of his syllabus. Their debut EP is dramatic and ferocious—gold stars all around.    Read More →

JULIE KATHRYN Black Trees juliekathryn.com This pop-folk strummer has a master’s in social work from Columbia, so she knows a thing or two about human nature. That might explain the detailed character sketches “Johnny” and “In My Dreams,” as well as the electro-pop sugar shot “Nightingale,” the album’s most unexpected (and best) moment.    Read More →

ANDREW ST. JAMES Doldrums facebook.com/andrewsaintjames This 18-year-old San Fran riser has a lot on his mind—women, obviously, but also the pains of aging and the violence out in East Oakland. Luckily, he tackles his troubles with the freshness and energy of a precocious phenom. Think Bright Eyes meets Foster the People.    Read More →

Apogee One RECORDING ON THE GO The pocket-size Apogee One is a pro recording engineer’s Swiss army knife. Featuring Apogee’s world-class 24-bit/96 kHz digital converters and excellent input options, the redesigned Apogee One provides astonishing results to anyone recording on a laptop or iPad. A breakout cable provides inputs for mic and guitar, and the preamp provides up to 63 decibels of pristine gain. With two channels of simultaneous recording,... 

AIR Music Technology Loom and Vacuum Pro VIRTUAL INSPIRATION AIR Music Technology is offering a pair of soft synths—Loom and Vacuum Pro—that make in-the-box sound design a blast. First, there’s Loom, which takes all of the baffling elements of additive synthesis and distills them into 30 easy-to-use sound modules. These modules can be combined and manipulated to build amazing sounds. On the flip side, there’s Vacuum Pro, an old-school... 

Fender’s Pawn Shop Bass VI VINTAGE LOWS Fender’s Pawn Shop Bass VI is easily the most accessible recreation of the historic bass to hit the street. In its run from 1961 to 1975, the original Bass VI six-string, E-to-E baritone guitar found favor in the hands of Jack Bruce, George Harrison, and others looking to add exciting textures to their music. In that same spirit, Fender loaded the Pawn Shop Bass VI with a pair of Special Design Hot Jaguar... 

Avid S3L System SERIOUS LIVE SOUND Avid VENUE systems have been at the heart of some of the largest live sound rigs anywhere. But they’ve been priced out of reach for small and midsize venue operators until now. The Avid S3L System marries a 16-fader console with an E3 VENUE DSP engine and up to four Stage 16 Remote I/O boxes. The result is an incredibly portable live sound mixing system with powerful routing flexibility and onboard processing.... 

Tom Oberheim SEM with MIDI to CV Converter OLD-SCHOOL MEETS NEW When analog synthesis icon Tom Oberheim re-emerged on the scene with new SEM models, longtime synth lovers rejoiced. But the CV-only synth module was lost on modern MIDI-based rigs. Enter the updated Tom Oberheim SEM with MIDI to CV Converter. The two-oscillator synth module dishes out all of the old-school Oberheim tones, which can be triggered from any standard MIDI keyboard. What’s... 

Rupert Neve Designs 511 PREAMP WITH LEGACY Lots of gear claim to have some connection to the Neve legacy, but the 511 mic pre is one of the few 500 Series modules designed by Rupert Neve himself. Naturally clear and transparent, the Rupert Neve Designs 511 is an excellent match for any sound source. There’s the Portico 5012’s sweepable high-pass filter onboard, and when it’s time to kick in that timeless Neve mojo, just turn up the Silk/Texture... 

Lewitt MTP 340 CM LIVE STUDIO-CLARITY The Lewitt MTP 340 CM condenser microphone offers live singers studio-style vocal clarity. Its contoured frequency response focuses on the midrange that brings out the best in most vocal styles, while rolling off unwanted bass. In addition to its impressive SPL handling, there’s an internal pop filter that smoothes out harsh transients for an extra polished sound. And with its die-cast all-metal body and hardened... 

Softube’s Console 1 MIX WITH FEELING Softube’s Console 1 hybrid virtual mixing console system offers the flexibility of a plug-in with amazing tactile control—and provides powerful channel-strip processing with the analog workflow that only a hardware controller can. It’s a simple two-part system consisting of a channel strip plug-in and a dedicated hardware controller. With the plug-in activated on every track, the Console 1 hardware provides... 

ESP LTD MH-1000 EVERTUNE SET IT & FORGET IT ESP’s EverTune equipped instruments virtually eliminate the need for retuning. A partnership between ESP and EverTune has led to guitars—such as the ESP LTD MH-1000 EVERTUNE and LTD EC-1000 EVERTUNE—that feature the EverTune Bridge. It’s an all-mechanical, highly adjustable system that keeps string tension constant and intonation perfect across extended playing sessions—no matter how hard you... 

TASCAM DA-3000 STUNNING RECORDING  When absolute fidelity is vital, the TASCAM DA-3000 stereo DSD recorder is the last stop in any pro recording rig. The DA-3000 brings the stunning detail of Direct Stream Digital recording to down-to-earth recording setups. Built around the phenomenal digital converters from TASCAM’s acclaimed DA-RA1000HD recorder, the DA-3000 is capable of capturing 24-bit/192 kHz PCM or 1-bit/5.6 MHz DSD audio to inexpensive... 

SONY SOUND FORGE PRO 11 Next generation of editing and mastering  Sound Forge Pro 11—Sony’s latest version of their flagship recording application—offers a full step up for those who create, edit or mix in Windows. The workflow is nothing short of phenomenal. In-application tutorials do a sensational job of walking you through frequently used menus and windows. The massive time display and input meters allows tracking without having to sit... 

AUDIO-TECHNICA AT2020USB+ Pristine performance and USB connectivity The Audio-Technica AT2020USB+ Cardioid Condenser USB Microphone combines the crystalline sound of the award-winning AT2020 with a host of features that make USB-based recording a treat. Perfect for tracking music and podcasts alike, the powered headphone circuit delivers crisp audio and features an external volume wheel. The Mix wheel makes it a snap to dial in the perfect blend between... 

STRING SWING FLAT-FOLDING GUITAR STAND Bridging security and portability String Swing has kept guitars safe for 25 years with an array of guitar hangers, and the Flat-Folding Guitar Stand is the latest addition to the company’s line. In the stowed position, both the acoustic and electric versions compress to a mere 1 1/2 inches in height. Unlike most stands on the market, they also sport a solid frame that folds into place, making it virtually roadie-proof.... 

KYSER RED BANDANA QUICK-CHANGE LIMITED EDITION CAPO Reliability with flair  Designed to make transposing instruments a one-handed, tuning-free affair, Kyser capos have been used for decades by players like Bruce Springsteen and Dwight Yoakam who have come to depend on their quality and design. Originally crafted as a custom piece, the limited edition Red Bandana Capo is guaranteed to dress up any guitar. Like all the capos in the Kyser line, the... 

TELEFUNKEN M80 Superior performance with dynamic convenience Featuring a wide frequency response, the M80 serves up condenser-like performance in a thin, rugged design. The head and capsule were designed to reduce proximity effect, resulting in a more consistent production experience regardless of venue. This was especially apparent in the studio when we miked our Fender Deluxe Reverb. Because of the broad range of frequencies this amp produces it’s... 

CMA IN THE SCHOOLS Keep The Music Playing At most I was half awake between 5 and 6 a.m., the TV still on from falling asleep watching the night before, when the news reader said something to the effect that not even 10 percent of school kids today know what the Declaration of Independence is about—even though it’s kind of right there in the title. She said they don’t know who their U.S. senators are, either, but I’d heard that one before,... 

SARA BAREILLES Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles pursues artistic growth, not chart-topping tunes—and yet the hits keep coming Many artists who find success with a particular formula refuse to change that approach. Not Sara Bareilles. Since bursting onto the scene with her 2007 smash “Love Song,” the singer-songwriter has placed a premium on expanding the parameters—to the point of embracing creative discomfort. “My music is a reflection... 

BARENAKED LADIES Canada’s lighthearted rockers get serious about cutting loose in the studio     Barenaked Ladies burst onto the scene with their 1998 chart-topper “One Week.” Now the band is heard by nearly 20 million people every week as performers of the opening theme from TV’s The Big Bang Theory. But as they’re well aware, that level of recognition has been known to backfire. “There will always be some casual fans or critics who... 

3OH!3 Boulder’s most famous alternative rap duo offers something for everyone   “Our live show is less a musical performance than a social happening,” says Nathaniel Motte, one-half of the electropop duo 3OH!3. He and fellow member Sean Foreman have made a concerted effort to engage a diverse audience. “We’ve always tried to have our live shows be inclusive,” Motte continues. “We don’t want to close any doors.” At times, that means... 

JASON ISBEL Welcoming sobriety, the former Drive-By Trucker digs deep  “Usually, I was too drunk to read, much less write,” says Jason Isbell. “The biggest difference in making this record is that I had more time and energy. I knew all along what I needed to do to make the songs better, but it’s hard when you’ve got that nagging feeling telling you to drink.” The 34-year-old singer-songwriter has been sober for nearly a year after entering... 

30 SECONDS TO MARS The post-grunge rockers shoot for the stars on their latest effort  With a name like 30 Seconds to Mars, they expect jokes about space. But the L.A.-based band got the last laugh when they sent a copy of “Up in the Air,” the first single from their latest album Love Lust Faith + Dreams, to the International Space Station. “We went to see the rocket go up,” says drummer Shannon Leto. “And a couple of weeks later we went...