Division of Laura Leeās Viktor Lager on his No. 1 concern when playing live. Plusāhis latest Mascis-inspired Jazzmaster mod.
Premier Guitar editors reveal the records that helped them cope during COVID-19 quarantine. Plus, their most-anticipated releases of 2021.
We made it. To the end of a year that has already gone down in infamy as one of the weirdest (and worst) in decades.
As the pandemic turned the world upside down nine months ago, many musicians and their livelihoods were heavily impacted. No concerts, no touring, album release dates postponed, restricted studio access, and letās not forget the dangers of actually being in the same room with other humans (sometimes thatās necessary to make songs). But letās try to forget all that for a moment and focus on what really matters: music! The silver linings of tough times can be sweet: beautiful and amazing albums were made this year, connecting us isolated social distancers, and helping us tread water.
At best, this list will open up some new tunes for you to spin at home this holiday season as youāre welcoming a new year ahead. At worst, you can just skip what you donāt like. (But surely listening to any of these albums would be better than reliving this year!) Either way, let us know which albums were your favorites in the comments below.
As we say good riddance to 2020, we wish you this sentiment with more oomph than you know: Happy Freakinā New Year!
TED DROZDOWSKI
SENIOR EDITOR
Iāve sought refuge during the pandemicāmental deliverance and comfort food for the soulāin my roots. Blues has long been a source of the latter for me. And Mississippi Suitcase is elemental: a celebratory bonfire, radiating Parcekās virtuosity, creativity, and musical intelligence.
Peter Parcek
Mississippi Suitcase
Itās not simply his world-class and richly original guitar playing, which dances on an emotional high wire between transcendent invention and deep tradition, or his songwriting, which illuminates all the corners of our humanity, that makes him such an important and hauntingly expressive artist in todayās blues and roots scene. Or even the way his singing breathes with life and wisdom. Thereās also his ability to reframe classic material, whether by Sonny Boy Williamson or Lou Reed, in a way thatās respectful of history and yet resonant in the present. He can be wild and unpredictable, yet resolute as granite. And, like a bonfire, he burns. He is truly a master, and I love this album.
ĀĀ
Pink Floyd
Delicate Sound of Thunder
Pink Floyd has been my shelter in this yearās storm. I revisit everything in the bandās and David Gilmourās catalogs constantly, finding warmth in the weirdness and beauty, and in the empathy of their finest lyrics, and uplift in Syd Barrettās and Davidās performances. So it felt like this reissue, recorded during the 1987 Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, was a gift made for me. The remastered sound and the performances are killerāa sonic, psychedelic spa I can soak in infinitely, and thereās music not on the original release, including the wordless wonder āThe Great Gig in the Sky.ā And while I love Sydās left-field virtuosity, nobody has a more beautiful, burnished tone than David, and the delicate precision of his bends and phrasing cut to my heart. I really get lost in his playing, in the best way possible. Adding to my Floydian refuge was the also-just-reissued book Barrett: The Definitive Visual Companion, by Russell Beecher and Will Shutes, packed with early photos of Syd, with and without the band, and his paintings and drawings, including work through the early mid-2000s. Itās a fascination look inside a wonderful and difficult mind.
Ā
Henry Kaiser, Mike Watt, Vinny Golia, Wayne Peet, and John Hanrahan
A Love Supreme Electric: A Salvo Inspired By John ColtraneāA Love Supreme & Meditations
This two-album set answers a theoretical: What if Coltrane had survived cancer and joined Miles Davis in pioneering electric jazz? Five of the worldās finest improvisors weigh in via compositions from the two brilliant āTrane albums in the title. Thereās a lot of mystery, satisfaction, and surprise in these 12 performances, as instrumental voices blend and fracture, melodies skyrocket and flare, and notes tumble in a stampeding herd or slowly and elegantly stretch like lazy cats in the sun. Kaiserās guitar playing is full of energy and invention, but, honestly, so is everyoneās. At times there are clear nods to Sonny Sharrock, who was himself a Coltrane disciple, and the improv supergroup Last Exit. During pandemic isolation, this rune to chaos and control (and Coltrane, of course!) is a marvelous reminder of freedomāand a reminder that free jazz has always been about human, rather than musical, liberation.
Most-anticipated 2021 releases: Please, Tom Waits ā¦ please, this year! Any unreleased Sonny Sharrock, R.L. Burnside, or Junior Kimbrough recordings. More great discoveries and productions from Dan Auerbach and his Easy Eye label. And new music from Julian Lage, Anthony Pirog, and Valerie June.
Swedish post-hardcore guitarists Per StĆ„lberg and Viktor Lager show off gear inspired by heroes J Mascis, Sonic Youth, Radiohead, Drive Like Jehu, and ā¦ Ace Frehley.
[Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 23rd video in that format, and we stand behind the final product.]
Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, Division of Laura Lee began in the late ā90s as a San Diego-style hardcore outfit before morphing into a more melodically nuanced and instrumentally adventurous band with 2002ās Black City. Alternatingly atmospheric and sneering, Black City was released by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitzās Epitaph records, as was its 2004 follow-up. In April of this year, DOLL debuted tracks from their 2020 album, Apartment, at a drive-in-theater performance sponsored by founding guitarist/vocalist Per StĆ„lbergās Welfare Sounds studio. To talk about their current go-to gear, StĆ„lberg (left) and co-guitarist Victor Lager joined PG for a Quarantine Edition Rig Rundown from Welfare Sounds.
Telecasters and offsets dominate Division of Laura Leeās guitar landscape, with an early-2000s Fender Tele Custom (middle, with Black Flag sticker) being StĆ„lbergās main guitar (he uses its Rio Grande bridge pickup exclusively). His other current go-to is a stock Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster, while the 1978 Greco Les Paul Standard copy (behind the Tele) was a staple of early DOLL tunes. StĆ„lbergās main amp is a Fender Super-Sonic head. Meanwhile, Victor Lagerās main guitars are a couple of Fender Jazzmasters (right), and his favorite amp is a ā90s Fender Tone Master head.
As a studio owner, StĆ„lberg has all sorts of gear on hand for recording, but for DOLL he relies on a handful of time-proven pedals: a TC Electronic PolyTune, a Fulltone OCD, a Way Huge Swollen Pickle fuzz, a Boss RE-20 Space Echo, an ā80s Ibanez DL10 Delay, an MXR Micro Amp, and a Gollmer ā60s Trem from Sweden.
Lagerās main axe for the last two decades has been a black early-2000s Fender Jazzmaster with Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups and a Staytrem bridge (left). To avoid accidental switching, he has deactivated both the upper-bout rhythm circuit and the main circuitās tone control. His most recent acquisition is a blue Fender American Original ā60s Jazzmaster (right) that he upgraded with a Mastery bridge.
Functioning more as the bandās soundscapist, Lager has more stomps than StĆ„lbergāand more adventuresome ones, too. He tunes with a DāAddario Chromatic Pedal Tuner, then runs into a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby wah, an MXR Booster Mini (out of sight behind the wah), a Hamstead Soundworks Odyssey, an MXR Phase 95, an Electro-Harmonix POG, an MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, a Red Panda Particle, a Tru-Fi Colordriver, an Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 Reverb, a modified ā90s Pro Co RAT, and a Walrus Audio Monument.
Lagerās main guitar for his previous band, this 1973 Fender Tele Custom, is unusual in that it features a rosewood (rather than maple) fretboard.