#scot alexander bass

[scotalexander-blog]

THE BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT!This week for Distortion Ltd I rocked out through the Locomotive TUBE Overdrive from Crazy Tube Circuits, these guys are a company based in Greece. I want to go there!Built around my favorite (mini) preamp tube... The 12AY7. From subtle saturation to full throttle overdrive, a very powerful little box.Musically this week I threw together some old school "big beat" with some Chemical Brothers samples and and a sweet neo-soul vibe based on a Jose James tune. 

[dustedmagazine]

Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders — S-T (Arrowhawk)

Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders by Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders

These are languid, spectral grooves, anchored in folk and blues but allowed to spin off into the distance. Slow, haunted choruses float free of a jangling, acoustic base, little flares of blues-bent notes going off in the margins. These songs take their time to loosen and relax, pursuing repetitive vamps until the edges melt away and the hard colors swirl into pastels. The Heavy Lidders — even the band name promises sleepy dissolution — are a new configuration made up of West Coast outfolker Jeffrey Alexander, plus Elkhorn’s Jesse Shepard and Drew Gardner and Kouhoutek’s Scot Verrastro on drums. Guests including Marissa Nadler, Pat Gubler, Rosali and Ryley Walker drummer Ryan Jewell stop by to join the jams.

Alexander is a fixture in a free-wheeling, Grateful Dead-loving, guitar jam underground, a founder of the Iditarod and Black Forest/Black Sea and a sometime member of Jackie O Motherfucker. The last time we caught up with him, he was fronting Direwolves, a nouveau folk-jam outfit shading gently into kraut-y propulsion. In my review of the 2019 album Grow Toward the Light, I wrote that, “Instrumental parts intersect and converse at a muted volume; there is a weightless, airy open-ness to these grooves, so that you can nearly feel a sun-tipped breeze blowing through.” This new one lives in a shadier, more melancholic space, evoking whispery acid folk artists like Matt Valentine in his Neil Young phase, acoustic 6 Organs and Sore Eros.

Here, in long, drifting originals like “Audubon Trooper,” luminous textures unfurl, a slow roll of percussion with icy shards of vibraphone filtering in, nodding cadences of bass and spiraling mandalas of guitar. Nature is a primary inspiration for Alexander. He sings about trees here with a worn-in familiarity. Yet though trees are trees, they also stand in for something deeper and more significant, as does music, as does life itself. Alexander finds hidden resonance in plain words, uncanny echoes in wholly recognizable instrumental tones. Everything is itself. Everything stands in for the infinite.

“Dark Ships in the Forest” is somewhat more straightforward, with a forthright rock drum beat with the push of bass behind it. The lyrics recount natural and human-made disaster—fires burning out of control, children in cages—in a grounded, realistic way. And yet, even here, in a dense, full-band, rock arrangement, there’s a mist of the unordinary hanging over. Even ripped from the headlines, the song carries a sense of mystery.

A couple of covers hint at where Alexander comes from. He takes on “Black Peter,” from the Grateful Dead’s 1969 back-to-folk-basics album Workingman’s Dead (surely it’s not coincidental that this is the one with a song called “Dire Wolf”). His version is even more pared back and slouchy than the original. It moves at a mournful crawl, undulating guitar licks twisting off into bent notes. Nadler shadows Alexander’s tripped out vocals in a high, pure, distant soprano, sending a shiver through the mix. The music seems to hardly move at all; it has the stillness of a hot day at noon, asphalt throwing heat mirages into the air. Later, Alexander revisits Gene Clark’s “Strength of Strings,” from the 1974 album No Other. Clark’s version was massively orchestrated with a huge choir, piano and strings. Alexander’s is far more reticent, lit by eerie, jazzy bits of vibraphone, his wavering voice bolstered, just a bit, by airy female backing vocals. If Clark blew up his mystic vision into an all-hands showstopper, Alexander lets his flicker in the twilight, inviting listeners in but very gently.  If you like your campfire singalongs quiet, contemplative and with ghosts flitting through the branches overhead, this record is for you.

Jennifer Kelly

[fafaweng]

″Gaetano Donizetti″ – 「Anna Bolena」

Versions：

Label：Decca - SET.446

Format：Box Set - 4 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo

Country：UK

Released：1970

Genre：Classical, Opera

Style：Opera, Romantic, Tragic

About：

Anna Bolena is a tragic opera (tragedia lirica) in two acts composed by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both recounting the life of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII.

It is one of four operas by Donizetti dealing with the Tudor period in English history - in composition order, Il castello di Kenilworth (1829), Anna Bolena (1830), Maria Stuarda (named for Mary, Queen of Scots, it appeared in different forms in 1834 and 1835), and Roberto Devereux (1837, named for a putative lover of Queen Elizabeth I of England). The leading female characters of the latter three operas are often referred to as "the Three Donizetti Queens."

Anna Bolena premiered on 26 December 1830 at the Teatro Carcano in Milan, to "overwhelming success." Weinstock notes that only after this success did Donizetti's teacher, Johann Simon Mayr, "address his former pupil as Maestro."The composer had begun "to emerge as one of three most luminous names in the world of Italian opera",alongside Bellini and Rossini.

Tracklist：

Anna Bolena

A1：Overture

Act I, Scene 1：

A2：Nè Venne Il Re

A3：Ella Di Me Sollecita...Innanzi Alla Mia Vittima

A4：Sì Taciturna E Mesta

A5：Deh! Non Voler Costringere

A6：Come, Innocente Giovane...Non V'Ha Sguardo

B1：Oh! Qual Parlar Fu Il Suo

B2：Ecco Il Re...Tremate Voi?

Act I, Scene 2：

B3：Chi Veggo?

B4：Da Quel Dì Che Lei Perduta

B5：Veloci Accorrano

B6：Ah! Così Nei Dì Ridenti

C1：Desta Sì Tosto

C2：Voi Regina...Io Sentii Sulla Mia Mano

Act I, Scene 3：

C3：È Sgombro Il Loco...Ah! Parea Che Per Incanto

D1：Odo Rumor...Basta, Basta, Tropp'Oltre Vai

D2：S'Ei T'Abborre, Io T'Amo Ancora...Ah! Per Pietà Del Mio Spavento

D3：Alcun Potria Ascoltarti

Act II, Scene 1：

E1：Dove Mai Ne Andarono

E2：O Mie Fedeli

E3：Dio Che Mi Vedi In Core

E4：Oh! Mia Regina

E5：Sul Suo Capo Aggravi Un Dio

Act II, Scene 2：

F1：Ebben? Dinanzi Ai Giudici

F2：Scostatevi - Il Re Giunge

F3：Arresta Enrico

G1：Sposa A Percy

G2：Sire...Vieni, Seymour, Tu Sei Regina

H1：Chi Può Vederla

H2：Piangete Voi?

Credits：

Bass Vocals：

[George Boleyn - Lord Rochford] - Stafford Dean

(tracks：B3-B4,B6,C2,D1,D3,F3,G2,H2)

[Henry VIII] - Nicolai Ghiaurov

(tracks：B2,C1-C2,D3,F2-F3,G1-G2)

Chorus：

Vienna State Opera Chorus

Chorus Master：

Norbert Balatsch

Conductor：

Silvio Varviso

Mezzo-soprano Vocals：

[Jane Seymour] - Marilyn Horne

(tracks：A3,A4,A6,B1-B2,D3,E4-E5,G2)

[Smeaton] - Janet Coster

(tracks：A4,A5,C3,D1,D3,H2)

Orchestra：

Vienna Opera Orchestra

Soprano Vocals：

[Anne Boleyn] - Elena Souliotis

(tracks：A4,A6,C1-C2,D1-D3,E2-E5,F3)

Tenor Vocals：

[Harvey] - Piero De Palma

(tracks：C2,E2,F1-F2,G2,H2)

[Lord Richard Percy] - John Alexander (7)

(tracks：B3-B4,B6,C1-C2,D1-D3,F3,H2,G2,G3,G2)

Other Versions：

1.

Title (Format)：

Anna Bolena ‎(4xLP, Album + 4xBox)

Label：

Decca

Cat#：

SET.446

Country：

UK

Year：

1970

2.

Title (Format)：

Anna Bolena ‎(4xLP, Album, Club + 4xBox)

Label：

World Record Club, World Record Club, World Record Club, World Record Club, World Record Club

Cat#：

R-03141, R-03142, R-03143, R-03144, R.03141-2-3-4

Country：

Australia

Year：

1976

3.

Title (Format)：

Anna Bolena ‎(4xLP, Album + Box)

Label：

London Records

Cat#：

OSA 1436

Country：

UK

Year：

Unknown

[thedesperatehousehusband]

The Super Bowel

So I had committed to blogging at least once a month and here it is February 8th and this is my first post of year. But, y’all, 2021 has been like a shot out of a cannon. Motherfuckers, January was SOMETHING.ELSE. But I’m not here to talk about that. I’m going to talk about the big deal of February.

THE SUPER BOWL. Or in this instance the Super Bowel (Movement).

The game was a turd. There’s nothing left to say about it. Tom Brady is such a douche nozzle. I cannot deal with him and his mouth kissing monkey business. I was so hoping Patrick Mahomes could pull it off. Because I love Patrick Mahomes. As well as Travis Kelce. He is delish.

Let’s talk pre-game musical stuff. H.E.R did a good job. Subdued until she tore it up on her guitar. I really like her (aka H.E.R.) Now I don’t want to call anyone’s baby ugly but that national anthem was not good. Eric Church and Jasmine Sullivan really lost their way. They lost the melody pretty early on and never got it back. And, let’s be real, it’s a really recognizable melody.

Shifting gears to the halftime show, oof. I give credit to the Weeknd for singing live. We can say that much. He sang live. Unfortunately he did not sing live well or good or even mediocre. Ooooof. I really like the Weeknd and think his songs are great but he is very clearly incredibly enhanced and autotuned. I said very quickly that JLo had nothing to worry about if she was concerned. Her show remains the best in years. And I will NEVER, EVER understand the controversy surrounding that show. People are lunatics.

OK. Let’s talk advertisements. One caveat. We quit watching the game in the 4th quarter because it was so awful so we missed some commercials. My gut tells me that there weren’t amazing spots at the 2:00 minute warning but if I omit your favorite that’s why. Here we go:

·       Old, the new M. Night Shyamalan movie. This looks quite interesting. And it will be available ONLY IN THEATERS so mask up, fuckers.

·       M&Ms. There was Dan Levy, there was mention of “Karen”, there was mansplaining. It was clever and I appreciated it for the cleverness. Who doesn’t like M&Ms?

·       Paramount+ Streaming. Snooki, Christine Baranski, Bryce DeChambeau, some level of animated programming, that judge from All Rise, Cedric the Entertainer, Star Trek: Discovery. Jesus. H. Christ. They crammed it all in there and then some. They promoted this shit FIVE times. They’re going to make this service happen or someone will be killed.

·       The Falcon & the Winter Soldier on Disney+. I’m here for it. I’m into it. Bring it on.

·       Doordash. Combing Sesame Street and Daveed Diggs is a wonderful idea. In my opinion, this was the best spot of the Super Bowl. An appropriate nod to the situation that most restaurants are facing with relevant tie ins to their actual business.

·       The Equalizer. Here comes the Queen. This got four promos. If this fails, someone will lose their job at CBS.

·       Doritos 3D. With Matthew McConaughey in 2D. It was pretty fun for about 10 seconds but it lasted much longer than that. Then it got weird. #flatmatthew. C’mon, part of looking at Matthew is seeing him in 3D.

·       GM Engines? I don’t know what it was truly for? Carbon neutral cars? Engines? That’s the sad thing. The good thing it was really funny. Will Ferrell. You just can’t go wrong. Then you throw in Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina and you basically have gold. But I still don’t know what the hell the spot was for.

·       Pringles and astronauts. I didn’t get it.

·       Bud Light. Legends and then also Post Malone. Silly.

·       Chipotle. For Real. So stupid and heavy handed. No one needs that kind of message from fast casual burritos.

·       Clarice. CBS wants this to happen but not as much as they want The Equalizer to happen. Who is the actress impersonating Jodie Foster?

·       Mountain Dew with John Cena. I don’t know what the flavor was. I don’t what the spot was about. I don’t care. Mountain Dew is diabetes in a bottle.

·       Which plays nicely into Dexcom. Now that’s how you use a celebrity. Nick Jonas is a Type 1 diabetic. He’s credible. He’s appropriately aspirational. Smart.

·       Indeed. This had something to do with jobs. Getting a job? Job postings? I don’t know. It was too much and I hated it.

·       State Farm. Oooh. This was funny. “Stand ins don’t talk”. That’s what Jake said to Drake. Paul Rudd as Patrick Mahomes? Yes, please. More of this. I love that Drake was even willing to do this. I suppose he got a million bucks. That’ll do it.

·       Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade. Lemon of the year. Making lemons with lemonade. Or lemonade seltzer. How can there be that many hard seltzers?

·       Scot’s Lawn Care. It was bad.

·       Skechers with Tony Romo. Enough said. Tony Romo, while looking real good, is just kind of grating.

·       WeatherTech. My goodness. This was intense. It was a Benetton ad for all-weather car mats. We get it. Diversity.

·       Rocket Mortgage. This was very close to my favorite. Both executions were very funny. You don’t want to be “pretty sure” about your mortgage. Tracy Morgan was the right person for this. It wasn’t smarmy at all. It could have been. It was just the right tone and the other actors were very funny.

·       Oatly. Wow, no cow. Wow, hot mess.

·       Toyota with Jessica Long. Now THAT’S how you do an Olympic spot. Love, love, love.

·       eTrade. You are NOT the best around despite the throwback soundtrack. Terrible.

·       Hellmann’s with Amy Schumer. This was very clever. Use up the stuff in your fridge by sprucing it up with mayo.

·       TurboTax. So awful.

·       Mercari. What is this? I still don’t know and I even Googled it. I’m unclear. I think it’s an online market of some kind. But for what? Angel dust? Pastries? Tires? It could be anything.

·       Tide. It’s dirtier than it looks but also with Jason Alexander. That tween doesn’t know who Jason Alexander is, does he? I dunno. It was fine.

·       Dr. Squatch. What the fuck is this brand or product?

·       Vroom.com. Why?

·       Jimmy John’s. Does Jimmy John’s have Super Bowl money and enough to pay for Brad Garrett? I guess they think they do.

·       T Mobile with Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine. This was likely a little meta and you have to understand the history to think it’s funny but I enjoyed it. There was also a LOT of mention of 5G or similar during this particular Super Bowl.

·       Because the next spot was AT&T Fiber with Frodo and a bunch of LOTR superfans. Meh.

·       Fiverr. What in the ever loving fuck?

·       Coming 2 America. Yaaaas. I’m here for this movie.

·       Cheeto’s with Shaggy, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. We get it. Cheeto’s make your fingers orange. I’m over it.

·       Squarespace. Working 5 to 9. I don’t get it. Were you working 9 to 5 and then a side hustle from 5 to 9. Areyou working 5:00 AM to 9:0 PM?

·       Cadillac Lyriq. I wanted to like this but it just got so stupid.

·       Anheuser-Busch. This was overwrought.

·       Jeep. But THIS was really overwrought. I’m in the minority on this one. I think lots of people were very moved by this. I thought it was too much and, dammit, if I’m going to watch Bruce for 60 seconds, he had best to sing.

·       Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer. I can’t with all these fucking seltzers.

·       Klarna. What in the ever loving fuck is this product or service? I still don’t know.

·       Bass Pro Shop/Cabela’s. Calm down.

·       Robinhood. What is this company? What do they sell? Terrible.

·       Alexa as Michael B. Jordan. The joke ran out of steam. This would be better as a :30 as opposed to a :60.

·       Guaranteed Rate Mortgage. Believe you will or some shit? Whatever.

Hey, at least there was a Super Bowl. That’s the win. May Tom Brady get quinoa stuck in his colon and be unable to poop it out next year. That’s my fervent hope.

[wendyhermansongeller]

Song Premiere: Dishwalla Return With First Album in a Decade, Share New Tune

Platinum-selling Santa Barbara, Calif. rockers Dishwalla — best known for their 1995 smash hit “Counting Blue Cars — are poised to return back to the music scene by releasing their first album in a decade. Juniper Road will be out May 5, and Yahoo Music is excited to premiere a track from the set, “Don’t Fade Away.”

Dishwalla currently consists of original members Rodney Browning Cravens (guitar), Scot Alexander (bass), George Pendergast (drums), Jim Wood (keyboard), and Justin Fox, who’s been on lead vocals since 2008.

“Given all the changes in our lives and band over the years, we wanted to reflect that change by creating something much different than we ever have before. We also wanted to be creative in a different way,” says Pendergast.

Last October, Dishwalla found the solitude needed to write and record without distraction in Joshua Tree, Calif. “It was like a trip to the moon,” says Fox. “We had to bring everything we needed to build the studio to record.”

If you’d like to keep up with Dishwalla’s schedule, check here.

[earpeeler]

Pro Guitar Shop Demos – Electro-Harmonix Battalion Bass Preamp / DI ProGuitarShop and ToneReport Weekly are proud to announce a new member of our demo team: Scot Alexander.

[scotalexander-blog]

2nd video I did for Tone Report Weekly. Unique little synth bass pedal. 

[scotalexander-blog]

New bass demo for the Dunlop, Geezer sig. Wah. This thing was pretty sweet. In all, a pretty mellow-sounding wah (which was surprising to me). Some cool features like dry signal blending and automatic switching when in the heel position (no toe switch!)

Songs in the video by Black Sabbath (NIB riff at intro), Royal Blood, Brothers Johnson “Mista Cool”, The Stone Roses “Fools Gold” and at the very end there’s a little bit of me playing “Kangaroo” by Big Star (the This Mortal Coil version though)

[scotalexander-blog]

Fun new video, with a bit of history lesson! Goes with the accompanying Marshall article below

[scotalexander-blog]

So my son Gabe and I took some chances on this one and shot a 70′s cop show sequence for the intro. Way too much work. Never again.lol

[earpeeler]

Pro Guitar Shop Demos – Dedalo FX – Byte Bass Synth feat Scot Alexander Scot Alexander (of Dishwalla) is hopping into the driver's seat of the Deadlo FX Byte bass synth and taking it for a spin.