DINOSAUR JR. I Bet on Sky [Jagjaguwar] It sounds like a funny thing to say about a band whose catalog includes the songs “Puke + Cry” and “Pointless,” but Dinosaur Jr. has taken a moony romantic turn on recent albums. Sure, it’s an awkward, mumbling kind of romance, paired with churning bursts of guitar sludge, but the group’s latest is way more tender than the howling odes to alienation found on earlier albums. Instead of pushing people... 

NEIL SEDAKA The Show Goes On [Eagle Rock] At a time when U.S. record companies dismissed Neil Sedaka as an aging teenybopper, England couldn’t get enough of him. This live set, recorded in 2006 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, is a tribute to both Sedaka’s long career and the willingness of his British fans to accept him as more than a sugary oldies act. His classic hits about the junior prom and turning 16 are here, but so are 1970s-era piano-man... 

MARISSA NADLER The Sister [Box of Cedar] Marissa Nadler’s sixth album is a melancholic companion to the self-titled effort she released last year. This time out, the arrangements are more ethereal, and the songs are tinged with a greater degree of sadness, particularly where her voice is concerned. Her woeful vocals are filled with sincerity and lacking in self-pity, and while her spritely voice and fingerpicked guitar remain focal points, Nadler... 

MUMFORD & SONS Babel [Glassnote] Returning after a multiplatinum, Grammy-nominated breakout album is no easy task, but with Babel, Mumford & Sons fight valiantly against the sophomore slump. The raucous title track gets things off to a strong start, as the U.K. foursome’s tight harmonies and foot-stomping arrangement support frontman Marcus Mumford’s defiant, snarling vocals. Other tunes benefit from a similar formula—Mumford’s anguished... 

BLOC PARTY  Four [Frenchkiss] Following 2008’s Intimacy, Bloc Party faced an uncertain future. After hinting at a breakup and surviving a hiatus, the London post-punk outfit returns with its simply titled fourth album. Alongside producer Alex Newport (the Mars Volta, At the Drive-In), the group refocuses on guitars, ditching the dance influences of their previous two albums. Amid ferocious rock riffs, Bloc Party has found room to explore the kinds... 

 BOX SET  THE ENGLISH BEAT  The Complete Beat  [Shout! Factory] The English Beat holds exalted status among fans who continue to cherish the late ’70s British ska revival. During its all-too-brief career, the multi-ethnic ensemble churned out three brilliant albums that set the standard for their peers. The group hit the pavement running in 1979 with a flurry of frenetic, punk-tinged ska hits that were as sophisticated as they were fun. By... 

LAETITIA SADIER Silencio [Drag City] Just as her longtime band, the sadly kaput Stereolab, developed a singular signature sound informed by myriad disparate influences, Laetitia Sadier has settled into her own crypto-sophisticated groove. On her second solo album, the French-born poli-sci seductress works her usual magic, singing snazzy jazz-pop, lounge and psych-rock songs about the perils of modern living. Only this Nico-like chanteuse could coo... 

YEASAYER Fragrant World [Secretly Canadian] Brooklyn synth-poppers Yeasayer have always explored the quirky potential of keyboards. With its self-produced third album, the band drifts away from pop and focuses on the mechanical sounds of its instruments. If 2009’s Odd Blood was a reinterpretation of radio-friendly early-’90s pop, Fragrant World has a much more abstract feel. The songs have dense, lush arrangements, complete with thick programming... 

BILLY JOE SHAVER Live at Billy Bob’s Texas [Smith Music Group] This live CD/DVD, Shaver’s first release since 2007, thoroughly reaffirms his outlaw credentials. His best-known songs—“I’ve Been to Georgia on a Fast Train,” “Honky Tonk Heroes” and “Old Five and Dimers Like Me”—speak convincingly of his roughneck lifestyle, while “Wacko From Waco,” one of the two new tunes, addresses the infamous 2007 shooting incident that... 

REISSUE THE WHO  Quadrophenia: The Criterion Edition    [Criterion] Forget Tommy, that convoluted pinball fantasia that for some reason stands as the better known, better loved of the Who’s two rock operas. The real masterpiece is Quadrophenia, a brilliant 1973 album whose equally excellent 1979 film adaptation has finally been given the Criterion treatment. Set in 1964 or ’65 at the height of Britain’s mod craze, the story centers on Jimmy,... 

JERRY DOUGLAS Traveler [eOne] Jerry Douglas became the best-known Dobro player in the world by taking his instrument to places it had never been. Traveler is his most mainstream release to date, but it remains a bold step forward. The album’s guests range from the not-so-surprising Alison Krauss and Union Station, Keb’ Mo’ and Marc Cohn to the more inspired likes of Mumford & Sons, Paul Simon, Dr. John and Eric Clapton. Slowhand’s fervid... 

CITIZEN COPE One Lovely Day [Rainwater] It’s difficult to get used to a carefree Citizen Cope. That’s not to say he’s moved away from his acoustic-based, R&B-jazz-reggae-rock sound. His voice still has the kinds of subtle yet intriguing inflections one might hear in a passionate conversation, but listening to songs like “Something to Believe In,” with its upbeat tempo and cheery lyrics, is disorienting at first. It’s much peppier... 

BETTYE LAVETTE Thankful N’ Thoughtful [Anti-] Bettye LaVette’s delicious rasp and emotional delivery make her a top-notch interpreter of songs. It’s a formula that’s worked since 2005’s I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, and here, she turns in another tour de force covers record. The Detroit native makes these songs her own, occasionally altering lyrics to fit her experiences. On the Pogues’ “Dirty Old Town,” she references the Dodge... 

KIX BROOKS New to This Town [Arista Nashville] After 20 years as one-half of the country duo Brooks & Dunn, Kix Brooks goes solo with this schizophrenic set of midtempo Tex-Mex tunes and pop-tinged ballads. Brooks wrote nine of the 12 songs, and throughout, he examines the life of the modern-day cowboy. There are songs about whiskey and hotheaded women (“Moonshine Road,” “Tattoo”), along with the freedoms and costs of traveling America’s... 

RYAN SHAW Real Love thisisryanshaw.com Sharp suit, buttery voice, record label that abbreviates as D-Tone: These elements will ring familiar to fans of neo-soul music. For sure, Ryan Shaw shares much in common with the good folks at Daptone, the Brooklyn imprint renowned for reviving the look and sound of the ’60s and ’70s. Throughout his second album, Shaw digs deep into the Motown and Al Green grooves he heard growing up in Georgia, and while... 

GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH Chest Crawl guantanamobaywatch.com Surf rock didn’t need Quentin Tarantino to make it sound badass. Long before Pulp Fiction, the genre’s best instrumentals paddled into pretty dark water, suggesting after-hours intrigue down at the shrimp shack. On its second album, the Portland trio Guantanamo Baywatch offers a particularly trashy take on this venerable ’60s sound, ripping trebly Ventures guitar runs with violent garage... 

ALBERT CASTIGLIA Living the Dream albertcastiglia.com On “The Man,” the kind of smirking anti-Wall Street screed every good bluesman is required to record these days, Castiglia sings about how gin or reefer might dull his pain. Said substances have been known to work, but so has music. “Freddie’s Boogie,” his cooking cover of the Freddie King instrumental, reveals a guy too focused on his guitar—here an instrument of joyful showboating—to... 

GEORGE MARINELLI Believe georgemarinelli.com As a sideman for the likes of Bruce Hornsby and Bonnie Raitt, Marinelli has learned to fold folk, blues, jazz, rock and light reggae into instantly likeable pop songs. With this latest disc, he does all the playing and producing, writes or co-writes every track, and even handles the graphic design. It’s essentially all Marinelli, and yet Believe never screams egotist or control freak. The lyrics are as... 

THE ROCKETBOYS Build Anyway therocketboys.com For those familiar with this Austin band’s backstory, Build Anyway will play like a concept album about the sextet-turned-trio’s promising start, subsequent hiatus and triumphant—singer Brandon Kinder hopes—comeback. Then again, “Marching to the Palace” and “These Are Hard Times” could just be about girls. Either way, Kinder and his two remaining bandmates turn bad feelings into big music,... 

LYNN TAYLOR BarFly lynntaylor.com About a decade ago, Taylor quit the band Felix Wiley to focus on his family and landscaping business. By 2009, he’d started writing and performing again, and it’s fortunate he did. His solo debut is steeped in early rock ’n’ roll, R&B and mostly shuffling, summery country. Taylor is older and wiser, prone to singing sweet and insightful songs about his wife (“Stay With Me”) and kids (“Decatur Street”),... 

ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD Royal Southern Brotherhood royalsouthernbrotherhood.com No one is going to argue with the name. This super group features a Neville (percussionist Cyril) and an Allman (Devon, son of Gregg)—kingly names in Dixie circles—as well as celebrated blues guitarist Mike Zito and the ace rhythm section of bassist Charlie Wooton and drummer Yonrico Scott. What do they get for their shared pedigree and stockpile of talent? For... 

HAROULA ROSE So Easy haroularose.com Sometimes love is hard, like on “Only Friends,” the confused “Are we or aren’t we?” tune that leads off this excellent five-song EP. Other times it’s “So Easy,” as the Chicago-born, L.A.-based Rose sings on the title track, barely containing her joy amid an airy ’60s-pop backing. Either way, this singer and guitarist radiates hope and light, even on “Slow Dancing,” a moody (by this disc’s... 

A CITY ON A LAKE A City on a Lake acityonalake.com Written for a certain kind of 30-something—the type that spent the early ’00s in college listening to Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie and maybe even John Mayer’s Room for Squares—this solo project from Brooklyn producer and multi-instrumentalist Alex Wong is an album about holding on. On “The Fighter” he likens himself to a bloodied boxer, and if that metaphor suggests a toughness and bravado... 

THE BLAKES Art of Losses theblakesband.com This Seattle trio cut its latest in the wilds of Maine, where the idea was to unplug from the modern world. Off went the internet, and on a handful of tracks, so did the guitar effects—more or less. “Black Carnation” and “Paralysis” are runaway rockers reminiscent of Dylan or the Kinks, and both give the impression of a band bashing away in a barn. Elsewhere, the Blakes try throbbing New Wave (“Narwhal”)... 

TORA FISHER Spilling Over officialtora.com It’s a familiar archetype, the angsty young female singer-songwriter, but more than most this native New Yorker has earned the right to write about pain, confusion, disappointment and the love that hopefully makes it all worthwhile. At 13, Fisher was the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed her father and stepmother, and if that’s not fodder enough for an album—or a lifetime—of soul-searching... 

EXRAY’S Trust a Robot exraysvision.com Do androids dream of electric pop? If they do, they might imagine a group like Exray’s, two San Francisco dudes who use drum machines, keyboards and guitars to create wonderfully low-key robo-funk tunes. Much of their third album moves at a plodding clip reminiscent of Trio’s “Da Da Da,” while the synths and muffled vocals place Beck at the helm of OMD’s Dazzle Ships. After instrumental opener “Something... 

CINEMA CINEMA Manic Children & the Slow Aggression cinemacinemaband.com These Brooklyn cousins hit the studio looking to rage, and famed hardcore producer Don Zientara wisely let them. Over 80 challenging minutes, the drum-and-guitar duo unspools 13 sharp, tangled barbwire tracks. Is it cerebral bar rock or Hüsker Dü-grade avant-punk? There’s ample time to ponder.  Read More →

STUART DAVIS Music for Mortals stuartdavis.com The “punk monk” tag is cute but limiting. Sometimes, Davis rocks like vintage Joe Jackson; other times, he’s more like Bob Dylan, Sting, Peter Gabriel or even ho-hum ’90s hitmakers Live. Regardless, this Buddhist singer-songwriter-comic thinks deep, plays hard and coats spiritual questioning with plenty of sugar.  Read More →

PRETEEN ZENITH Rubble Guts & BB Eye preteenzenith.com This side project of Polyphonic Spree main man Tim DeLaughter and buddy Philip E. Karnats is what you’d expect—whimsical, wide-eyed, way-out psychedelic rock—and yet somehow not. Erykah Badu guests on “Damage Control”—maybe the most uplifting indie song since the Flaming Lips battled pink robots.  Read More →

MARK BATES Night Songs markbatesmusic.com This West Virginia native sees ghosts wherever he looks. Rather than get freaked out, the country-leaning rocker sits with these phantoms—exes, relatives and notions of simple living no longer feasible in our world—and works through their unfinished business. His conversations yield some remarkable songs.  Read More →

TIDELANDS We’ve Got a Map tidelandsmusic.com “En garde, touché, let’s fight with our words and guitars, it makes no mind,” sings Gabriel Montana Leis. He forgot strings, Moog, flugelhorn and whatever else he and partner Mie Araki use on these sweeping indie-prog jams. Political but never pushy, the songs offer sweet reassurance and even a little sex.  Read More →

DEFINING MOMENTS Photographer Danny Clinch captures the essence of music’s finest Danny Clinch’s unforgettable images have graced countless publications and album covers from Johnny Cash and Gregg Allman to Willie Nelson, the Fray and Bruce Springsteen (above, on a New Jersey back road in 2007). Before establishing himself as a premier lensmen, Clinch studied under the legendary Annie Leibovitz and Mary Ellen Mark. “These photographs are... 

Born in the studio, raised in the club, EDM is now poised to conquer the world By Kenneth Partridge It’s the bouncing, humming high-voltage strings that launch Nicki Minaj’s hit “Starships.” It’s the swirling, building buzz in Rihanna’s No. 1 smash “We Found Love.” It’s the driving dance groove in hits by Usher, Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Chris Brown—you can’t turn on pop radio for 10 minutes without hearing... 

   MAY  THE BAMBOOZLE  Headliners: Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Blink-182, Skrillex, Brand New, the Gaslight Anthem, All American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World, Incubus, Mac Miller Where: Asbury Park, N.J. When: May 18-20 Website: thebamboozle.com Promoted as the largest beach-based music festival in the U.S., the 10th annual Bamboozle offers more than 100 acts. This year the sounds will continue well into the night, as the lineup has expanded to include... 

GUITAR HEROES UNLEASHED Some of music’s finest guitarists dazzled audiences at the L.A. Guitar Festival at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in late August. Hosted by Kala Koa Entertainment, the two-day event showcased blazing finger work of gypsy-jazz guru John Jorgenson, heart-wrenching songwriting of bluesman Doug MacLeod, and spellbinding technique and musicality of Grammy-winning legends Albert Lee and Eric Johnson. Wrapping up the festival... 

 Doug MacLeod 2012 LOS ANGELES GUITAR FESTIVAL Photography by Jeff Fasano    Read More →

DAVE DOLL’S PRO TIPS | PROPER BRIDGE PIN FIT *NEW VIDEO*  Read More →

It’s a midsummer morning, and Alanis Morissette is enjoying some rare downtime in her hometown of Ottawa, Canada. Although she’s lived in Los Angeles since the mid-’90s, clearly there’s no place like home. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” she says. “I used to come up three times a year but almost two years have passed this time. Today we’re getting all the cousins together—having about 10 kids in one place. I’m... 

RENEGADE CREATION 2012 LOS ANGELES GUITAR FESTIVAL Photography by Jeff Fasano            Read More →

PEPPINO D’AGOSTINO 2012 LOS ANGELES GUITAR FESTIVAL Photography by Jeff Fasano            Read More →

JOHN JORGENSON 2012 LOS ANGELES GUITAR FESTIVAL Photography by Jeff Fasano  Read More →

ALBERT LEE 2012 LOS ANGELES GUITAR FESTIVAL Photography by Jeff Fasano  Read More →

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2012 LOS ANGELES GUITAR FESTIVAL AUGUST 24 & 25, 2012 The 2012 LA Guitar Festival features a stellar lineup of guitar legends Eric Johnson, Albert Lee, Robben Ford, Michael Landau, John Jorgenson, Peppino D’Agostino, Jeff Campitelli and Doug MacLeod. This Friday at 8 PM and Saturday at 7 PM at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center (1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA). Tickets $30-$75 each day; $125 VIP tickets include a reception... 

Toontrack EZkeys, EZdrummer, and EZmix 2: EZ Does It When the muse strikes, you need instant access to tools that will feed your creativity—and that’s where Toontrack’s amazing software comes into play. EZkeys and EZdrummer provide not only great virtual instruments to play back your parts—piano and drums—but also extensive libraries of loops to build songs and arrangements. EZkeys goes further by allowing you to experiment with chord progressions... 

Mackie DL1608: iPad Mixer Imagine using your shiny new iPad to mix your band onstage. The Mackie DL1608 lets you do just that. The compact digital mixer features 16 Onyx mic preamps, built-in effects, four-band EQ and compression on each channel, 31-band graphic EQ on the output, and much more. But the really cool thing is that your trusty iPad provides the horsepower to make the thing go. Just slip it into the dock and start mixing. With the iPad... 

TASCAM PR-10: Instant Capture Back in the day, songwriters carried around mini tape recorders to capture an idea whenever inspiration struck. You just fired up the recorder and sang the idea onto tape. Later you could harvest the ideas you liked. Today’s technology makes this even easier, especially with the TASCAM PR-10 super-compact digital recorder. With no moving parts or tape and built-in stereo mics, the PR-10 is ideal for instant idea capture.... 

Apogee Mic: Recording Made Easy Sure, you need a great mic to make a great recording—but you also need a high quality signal going to your recording device. You could use a standard mic plugged into a preamp then an audio interface or A/D converter. Or, simply connect a USB cable to an Apogee Mic—yes, the same Apogee that arguably makes the best converters around—to your computer or iPad and start recording. It’s so good, we’ve heard fully... 

Zoom R8, R16 and R24: Portable Studio We’ve come a long way since the heyday of cassette tape four-track recorders. Today’s self-contained portable studios—like the Zoom R8, R16 and R24 (the big difference is the number of tracks)—offer the ability to record multiple tracks, process tracks with EQ and effects, add drum loops, do light editing, and create complete final mixes all in one simple-to-use unit. All you need is a microphone or two... 

Alesis iO Dock: Home Studio Connections  The iPad is coming on strong as the number one must-have musician tool. But with the rise of recording apps and virtual instruments for the iPad comes the need for a way to get quality audio in and out. Enter the Alesis iO Dock—which provides all the connections you need to turn your iPad into a full-fledged recording studio. You get two inputs for your microphones or guitar/bass/keyboards, MIDI in/out/thru,...