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September 2011 Staff Picks

September 2011 Staff Picks

PG staff and Guest Picker Audley Freed tell what instrument they wanted always wanted to play.

Joe Coffey -- Editorial Director
What am I listening to?
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Fruit. Not gonna lie … I’m intrigued by Euro pop when there’s guitar and a decent groove.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
The Hammond organ. Where would rock, blues, and jazz be without the B-3 and those lesser-known models that were on just as many records? There are so many tasty ways to serve a song if you have the right touch, not to mention the notes.



Rebecca Dirks -- Web Content Editor
What am I listening to?
ESPN radio. Since the NFL lockout lifted, I’ve been glued to sports radio to keep up with the free agent signings, trades, and training camp reports. In between updates, Bon Iver’s Bon Iver.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
I wanted to play drums as a kid so bad. The cool kids played drums, plus you got to make a real racket and burn off some steam. Alas, I was relegated to piano and haven’t picked up drumsticks since.



Andy Ellis -- Senior Editor
What am I listening to?
Los Straitjackets, Play Favorites. With their twangy, slightly manic approach to surf music, film themes, and standards, guitarists Eddie Angel and Danny Amis put an irreverent spin on everything from “Telstar” to “Moon River.”
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
The Wurlitzer—I love how the overtones from the Wurli’s vibrating metal reeds swirl and grind like a cosmic kalimba.



Shawn Hammond -- Editor in Chief
What am I listening to?
Kyng, Trampled Sun. Blazing hard rock with tones and arrangements reminiscent of Mastodon, Tool, and old Soundgarden.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
Drums—they’re cathartic and improve your sense of rhythm. Also clarinet (love it in classical, Dixieland, and swing music), cello (perhaps the most vocal-like instrument there is), and upright bass (too few slapbass players out there!).



Chris Kies -- Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
William Elliott Whitmore, Field Songs. The bluesy-folk on this Iowa singer/songwriter’s fifth and best album highlights his Howlin' Wolf-meets-Johnny Cash voice, his acoustic guitar and banjo playing, and the occasional kick drum.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
Steel guitar—it’s such an emotional sound and it's the base of some of country’s biggest hits and most important songs.



Rich Osweiler -- Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
“Romance,” the first single by punk supergroup Wild Flag. Their self-titled debut is out in September, and it will quickly be put into my heavy rotation.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
There are actually a few, but I’d say flute is number one. From the jazz of Rahsaan Roland Kirk to classic rock from Ian Anderson and Tull, it’s a versatile instrument capable of really unique stylings.



Audley Freed (Dixie Chicks, Jakob Dylan, Black Crowes) -- Guest Picker
What am I listening to?
Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust. As always, they are soulful, direct, and honest.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
Drums, but only as an adult. I wanted to play guitar as a kid! It’s an indescribable feeling playing with the right drummer, so it must be pretty fun to be able to play them yourself—especially if you could play as good as the guys you love.



Charles Saufley -- Gear Editor
What am I listening to?
The War on Drugs, Slave Ambient. Alternately downhome and astral, Adam Granduciel’s arrangements on this slice of dreamy rock are locomotive, tinged with wistfulness, and unfold and sprawl like a field gone green in spring. Granduciel’s Nils Lofgren-esque vocals are a lovely, grounding counterpoint to the collision of new-wave keyboard textures and rootsy, low-key guitar moves.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
Pipe organ—it’s huge!



Jason Shadrick -- Associate Editor
What am I listening to?
Umphrey’s McGee, Death by Stereo. The sixheaded prog machine cranks out another album full of deep grooves and blistering guitar.
What instrument have I always wanted to play and why?
Becoming functional on mandolin has always been a goal of mine. When I see players like Chris Thile, Sam Bush, and Ricky Skaggs it makes me want to dig out the mando again and get my chop on.

Featuring P-90 PRO pickups, CTS potentiometers, and a Custom ’59 Rounded C neck profile.

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Wonderful array of weird and thrilling sounds can be instantly conjured. All three core settings are colorful, and simply twisting the time, span, and filter dials yields pleasing, controllable chaos. Low learning curve.

Not for the faint-hearted or unimaginative. Mode II is not as characterful as DBA and EQD settings.

$199

EarthQuaker Devices/Death By Audio Time Shadows
earthquakerdevices.com

5
5
4
4

This joyful noisemaker can quickly make you the ringmaster of your own psychedelic circus, via creative delays, raucous filtering, and easy-to-use, highly responsive controls.

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This little pedal offers three voices—analog, tape, and digital—and faithfully replicates the highlights of all three, with minimal drawbacks.

Faithful replications of analog and tape delays. Straightforward design.

Digital voice can feel sterile.

$119

Fishman EchoBack Mini Delay
fishman.com

4
4
4
4.5

As someone who was primarily an acoustic guitarist for the first 16 out of 17 years that I’ve been playing, I’m relatively new to the pedal game. That’s not saying I’m new to effects—I’ve employed a squadron of them generously on acoustic tracks in post-production, but rarely in performance. But I’m discovering that a pedalboard, particularly for my acoustic, offers the amenities and comforts of the hobbit hole I dream of architecting for myself one day in the distant future.

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A silicon Fuzz Face-inspired scorcher.

Hot silicon Fuzz Face tones with dimension and character. Sturdy build. Better clean tones than many silicon Fuzz Face clones.

Like all silicon Fuzz Faces, lacks dynamic potential relative to germanium versions.

$229

JAM Fuzz Phrase Si
jampedals.com

4.5
4.5
5
4

Everyone has records and artists they indelibly associate with a specific stompbox. But if the subject is the silicon Fuzz Face, my first thought is always of David Gilmour and the Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii film. What you hear in Live at Pompeii is probably shaped by a little studio sweetening. Even still, the fuzz you hear in “Echoes” and “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”—well, that is how a fuzz blaring through a wall of WEM cabinets in an ancient amphitheater should sound, like the sky shredded by the wail of banshees. I don’t go for sounds of such epic scale much lately, but the sound of Gilmour shaking those Roman columns remains my gold standard for hugeness.

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