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Sound Proof (Greg Howe ‘Sound Proof’)

Greg is really, really good on this album. I really enjoy his playing and he’s actually got some great videos up on his website you should check out where he makes everything look so freakishly easy. There’s some brilliant stuff all over the record but possibly the pick is the title track. Sometimes it’s Vai territory, then it’s Return To Forever, then it’s over to Stevie Wonder… there’s a bit of everything for all!

Off the One (John McLaughlin ‘Floating Point’)

If you have an interest in jazz and in Indian music then you really must check this out. There’s an amazing DVD called Meeting of the Minds where you can see these guys in the studio making this album. It’s astonishing how quickly they all pick the pieces up. It’s definitely fascinating to watch how they all communicate with each other, in particular how they all huddle up and use Konokol. We’ve all been in situations like these but I wish I’d known Konokol! Would have made things a little easier. Actually, I’m pretty sure they haven’t heard the pieces until studio time but they soon lock in. These guys are some of the finest musicians working today and they certainly “turn up”! I particularly like the incredible Zitar playing from Niladri Kumar and the gorgeous slide paying of Debashish Bhattacharya. Two guys that guitarists could definitely learn a thing or two from. Off the One gets the pick for John’s amazing guitar solo, the guy spits stuff like this out without even breaking a sweat these days!

Echoplex (Nine Inch Nails ‘The Slip’)

I wish I could put stuff like this together. This is quite possibly one of my fave NIN tracks and I love how the riffs all build throughout the song. This track inspired about 60 pieces of my own that I had to leave hidden on my hard drive because they were simply too similar!

Head Down (Nine Inch Nails ‘The Slip’)

Yup, The Slip had a big influence on me in 2008. Not bad for something I downloaded for free! You simply can’t be grateful enough when someone is this generous! I bought the retail release too so as to complete my NIN shelf, get some awesome video footage and give something back. Again, this is another track with lots of simple cool riffs that add up to something bigger.

Nil Recurring (Porcupine Tree ‘Nil Recurring’)

Nil Recurring is a mini album of all the tracks that never made it onto the amazing 2007 Porcupine Tree release Fear of a Blank Planet. Nil Recurring features a certain Mr. Robert Fripp who is clearly a big influence on the guys.

We are quickly catching 2010 now! It certainly makes it harder to be broader with the choices as there’s so much music from these recent years I haven’t yet been fortunate to hear. I naturally seem to listen to stuff from an age ago anyway so definitely tell me of anything I need to go buy!

Have a great weekend folks!
Paul.

New Blues Old Bruise (John Mclaughlin ‘Industrial Zen’)

John Mclaughlin. The man Jeff Beck has called “the best guitarist alive”. He is certainly one of the greatest musicians of our time and right now he is definitely my number one. His recent projects have been absolutely spell binding.

Anyway, back to the track. This is my favourite track at this very moment. I absolutely adore this track. It’s got John Mclaughlin and Eric Johnson together! Of course I was going to love it. It only needed Adrian Belew to play a backward solo in it somewhere, Jeff Beck to flutter his whammy and Holdsworth to play a topsy turvy impossible run and I’d have wet my trousers. It takes a while to grasp the timing and changes in this track. There’s quite a lot going on in here. What a master JM is. And surprisingly, surprising to me anyway, Eric Johnson’s elegance fits right in. His sweet solo, with the band tripping out around him, fits absolutely beautifully. I’d like to hear him on more stuff like this. And if that’s not enough John follows Eric with an absolutely killer solo. I don’t think The Beatles considered what JM would be doing when he was 64. Oh how I would have loved to have been in that studio when they cut this track!!

To Bop or Not to Be (John Mclaughlin ‘Industrial Zen’)

Could this be the best guitar synth solo recorded to date? I can’t get my guitar synth to play like this I can tell you.

TAO (Al Di Meola ‘Consequence of Chaos’)

This was Al Di’s return to electric guitar I think. I love this album. He seems so comfortable and relaxed with his music in these later stages of his career. That said I’m not sure he’s ever done anything that could be considered anything other than excellent. He’s just not so eager to blind with a barrage of runs and the music is definitely better for it. He’s blending all kinds of things together on this album producing something quite unique. And, obviously, as with anything Al Di does, it’s littered with unbelievably good guitar playing!

Rhythmatist (Dweezil Zappa ‘Go With What You Know’)

Dweezil rocks! This whole album is fantastic. It would be hard to describe any single moment of it as there’s so much going on. If you’ve watched the Waves video with Dweezil showing how he used a few plugins on his mix then you’ve heard Rhythmatist.

Watch this amazing video where Dweezil talks about meeting Eddie Van Halen here

Beat Box Car (Adrian Belew ‘Side Three’)

This is a variation of the piece Beat Box Guitar from Side One. That track kind of reminds me of some of Jeff Beck’s work. There’s a lot of looping riffs going on. Guitar works soooooo well with that. This track, Beat Box Car, sees Adrian take it a bit further and I’d say it gets “Belew’d”! Side Three is an amazing album, probably the pick of the bunch.

Kimdracula (Deftones ‘Saturday Night Wrist’)

What an amazing riff this is! Riff-tastic!

Have a great weekend folks!
:o)

Summer Jam (Eric Johnson ‘Bloom’)

Goddamn it takes this boy a long time to make records! I thought I waited a long time for Venus Isle after Ah Via Musicom! However, there’s some amazing guitar playing all over the album as you would expect. He’s refined his guitar tones even further and maybe even expanded his palette somewhat. It all adds up to a much more interesting record than his last two efforts… yes it may even be a better record than Tones and Ah Via Musicom! I really didn’t know what to pick off the record as there’s so much great guitar on here!

12 to 12 Vibe (Eric Johnson ‘Bloom’)

I absolutely love this. It’s short but oh so very sweet! This is littered with tasty tones and licks. Jealous? Me? Never.

Magnetized (Eric Johnson ‘Bloom’)

I didn’t want to include sooooo many Eric J tracks in this 5 but it’s been nearly impossible to avoid doing so! This is also very tasty! Yum. Chomp down on those licks.

Writing On The Wall (Adrian Belew ‘Side One’)

Side One is a fantastic album and I’ve spent many a day totally engrossed in it. It’s an Adrian Belew record so there’s a wealth of great guitar amongst experimentation. I could have picked any of the eight tracks to be honest. Writing On The Wall sees Adrian playing with drummer Danny Carey and bass player Les Claypool. And it’s funky, groovy, has lots of great Belew hooks and is so catchy you won’t get it out of your head all day! And oh yeah, he kicks axe!

Deadwing (Porcupine Tree ‘Deadwing’)

This may be my favourite of the Porcupine Tree albums. And of course with Adrian Belew playing the solo on the opening track, Deadwing, I was always going to be adding this, you might have noticed I’m a big Belew fan! However, the highlight is undoubtedly the stunning Arriving Somewhere but Not Here, which is ten minutes of sublime music production. Steven Wilson is such a great writer and producer. This entire album writhes through all kinds of textures, sounds and emotions. It’s simply one of the finest albums I’ve ever heard.

And now… on to 2006!
:o)

Erm… I have been through everything I own and I can’t find a single track for 2004! Someone please enlighten me with something!

So… moving quickly onto 2005…

Level Five (King Crimson ‘The Power to Believe’)

I love this track. It has everything that defines the modern King Crimson era and sound. And that to me is great so I’m never going to complain about that! Robert’s solo is one of the more memorable guitar solos I’ve heard in some time. So simple but it just sticks in your brain! But when Adrian’s solo comes in… wow, it’s like the world is splitting in two. In my opinion these two are still the best guitar players I’ve seen live. The voodoo is just overwhelming!

Seasons (Jeff Beck ‘Jeff’)

This is, I think, my favourite of all of Jeff’s tracks ever. It deserves to be the highlighted piece of this 5 but there wasn’t a video for it. And I’m glad because this is so special I wouldn’t want a live performance to ruin the perception I have of this stunning piece of music. The playing here is exquisite, there’s so much emotion in there it’s scary. And I absolutely adore the guitar sound. As on his last record before ‘Jeff’ I believe it’s just a Marshall JCM2000; the DSL50 I think. Playing with fingers certainly helps get closer to this kind of sound but it’s still pretty elusive. What I love most about Seasons is that no matter how many times I hear it I’m still shivering and holding back tears. If once in my life I could record something this good I would have achieved more than I could ever have imagined. I simply can’t imagine electric guitar playing more expressive than this.

2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm) (Radiohead ‘Hail to the Thief’)

Occassionally Radiohead are ridiculously good. Godly good. This track is definitely one of those occassions! In fact I’d say this is maybe my favourite Radiohead song. I love the changes, the noises, the energy but more than anything I love that cross rhythm interlude. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard in my life. The tension that builds through that section is stunning. Shivers abound. And I love how it spits out into the next riff. This stuff is genius.

Elektrik (King Crimson ‘The Power to Believe’)

I hate to say it but I was a little disappointed when I first heard KCs 2003 album The Power to Believe. It was about 4 years later that I revisited it and completely fell in love with it. I would now say it’s an almost perfect record. I guess when you’ve released so much exceptional material, as the Crimson boys have, that you set extremely high expectations.

Elektrik is one of those pieces where it’s the sum of all the parts that makes it great. And I love these clean guitar sounds, Belew and Fripp certainly know how to get good clean guitar sounds that’s for sure. The way these chords wind in and out of each other falling like a waterfall, the way the tonal centre meanders from key to key in a slightly bad mood or simply how the groove is firmly locked in… it all works together to create something far greater than the individual parts and consequently something unique. Great stuff.

When Girls Telephone Boys (Deftones ‘Deftones’)

There’s so much energy in this track it’s ridiculous! Talk about building tension! When I’m in a bad mood I put this on and erm… get wound up even tighter. I love Steph’s detuned 7 string on this record. I’ve mentioned before how I admire his constant evolution and how it changes the sound of the Deftones from album to album. This album is completely different to the rest of the Deftones catalogue and yet sounds exactly like Deftones should. There’s some amazing stuff on the album, Hexagram, Battle-Axe, Bloody Cape and Moana in particular are stunning Deftones songs.

2003 was a very strong year and there is a wealth of amazing material I haven’t included in the five, I’ve tried to stay honest to my personal faves and not just swamp the list with Jeff or KC. Don’t let that stop you commenting and leaving your own guitar oriented picks for the year!

Have a good w/e guys!
P.

Innamorata (Al Di Meola ‘Flesh on Flesh’)

After the incredible 2000 release, The Grande Passion, what more could Al Di do? That’s right, more of the same! And when it’s music as stunningly moving as this I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with an expansion of more-of-the-same. The video clip is from what is personally the best live DVD I’ve ever seen, One of The Nights. The band walk on, tune up and open with this track. Can you imagine opening a concert with this?! Talk about a challenge. And it sets the tension/excitement for the rest of the show perfectly. I cannot recommend the DVD enough for anyone curious. Al Di’s playing is sublime as ever and he’ll baffle you as you see some of the most confusing finger patterns you’ll ever see.

For anyone who doesn’t know about his gear setup he’s using his Ovation/Godin acoustics, which are loaded with Roland GK pickups. Those are running into a Roland VG-88 (if I remember correctly it was an 88 not and 8). So at times Al Di will be playing acoustic, electric and synth lines in unison, or switching to a bass line on a modelled acoustic bass, or it’ll suddenly sound like his Les Paul through a Marshall. So don’t get surprised and weirded out by it!

Well to the Bone (Scott Henderson ‘Well to the Bone’)

I love Scott Henderson. Ever since I saw his amazing, if quirky, instructional videos in the early 90s I knew this was a guy that I was going to be interested in following for some time to come. Those videos are pretty awesome so do all you can to watch them! Scott is just an amazing guitar player and I’m pretty surprised I forgot to put any Tribal Tech stuff in this feature before now. But nevermind, my brain doesn’t always work obviously. Scott is one of those guys that is quite happy to share everything he does and knows, and the guy coaxes some of the best guitar tones you’ll hear out of all sorts of setups. So be sure to check him out further if you’ve never done so.

Trains (Porcupine Tree ‘In Absentia’)

I guess most people would have picked The Sound of Muzak, it’s got a real cool riff. However, I’m picking Trains because I just simply adore that song and it’s not solely because of the guitar that I like it but it’s always that acoustic part I remember when I think of this song. Before I think of the vocal melody, which is a great melody, it is the guitar chords that tune my memory into the song. So that for me speaks volume. This is one of those weird moments where I feel strongly about some simple acoustic strumming that gets under my skin and I can’t stop playing it. Heartattack In a Layby is my fave piece of the record, it’s just a stunning piece of work.

No One Knows (Queens of the Stone Age ‘Songs for the Deaf’)

I saw QotSA play this live on the BBCs Jools Holland show and thought “wow, I have to buy that album”. And so I did. And I didn’t love it. I liked it but didn’t love it. This song however, I love. Catchy riff, crunchy detuned fuzzy guitar sounds, slightly crazy b-sections and those Cream-esque harmonized vocals. Nice. Not quite as cool as Alcatrazz’s Bigfoot but still awesome.

Streamline (System of a Down ‘Steal This Album!’)

I think this could be System’s best album. American Dream Denial is the standout track for me but the riffs from Streamline will always be what I think of first when I think of the record. It’s strange how even the simplest syncopation can sound so complex at first!

So, we’re definitely in a period where my exposure to current music was very poor. Particularly with guitar as I really didn’t care so much about guitar oriented music anymore. That’s not to say I’ve picked a dud 5. It’s simply a disclaimer to say there will be lots of music (of which some may change my life when I eventually “discover” it) that I am unaware of. So summing up, if you know of something I should know about … you simply gotta tell me on the Comments page.

Have a great weekend.
P.