my favorite guitar solos of all time

How about writing about the GUITAR you say? A fair request...

ok so here are my 10 favorite guitar solos of all time... youtube clips start at the solos... (you're welcome)


Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand


Mark Knopfler - Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing

Dicky Betts - Allman Brothers Band - Jessica

Kirk Hammett - Metallica - And Justice for All


Andrew Latimer - Camel - Lunar Sea


Dave Murray and Adrian Smith - Iron Maiden - the Trooper


Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun

Gary Rossington and Allen Collins - Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd


Ted Turner and Andy Powell - The King will Come - Wishbone Ash


Trey Anastasio - Phish- Phish


honorable mentions:

Frank Zappa - Inca Roads

The Giants win the series

congrats to the San Francisco Giants, my favorite baseball team (and the favorite of my father and grandfather, from back when they were in New York) on winning the 2010 World Series and ending a 56 year drought.

In celebration here are my all time Giants by position during my lifetime of rooting for this team which has now delivered the goods --- don't try and thank me...

1B Will Clark
2B Robbie Thompson
SS Edgar Renteria
3B Matt Williams
C Buster Posey
OF Barry Bonds
OF Kevin Mitchell
OF Chili Davis

P Bill Swift
P Shawn Estes
P Tim Lincecum
P Matt Cain
Closer: Rod Beck



I promise no more baseball posts for another 6 months at least

dunking over 7 people

see 00:38...

Tim "The Freak" Lincecum drops the F bomb

Gotta love Tim Lincecum, Giants pitcher, 2 time Cy Young award winner, misdemeanor dope smoker, and now cursing his way on air through the playoffs !!! GO GIANTS !!!

clinching the NL WEST


Winning the NLDS over Atlanta



stay tuned...

so much for the theory that there are no girls who like RUSH

link to the album on itunes

its that easy...

Behind the Sun to play Ozzfest Tel Aviv on September 28, 2010

I'm extremely proud and humbled by the news that my band, "Behind the Sun" will be playing at the OZZFEST in Tel Aviv on September 28th, 2010.


This is definitely the highlight of my musical existence on this planet and by far the biggest show I've ever played.


Along with Ozzy Osbourne, Soulfly and Korn will also be playing that night. I'm a huge Max Cavalera fan and I've been listening to Sepultura (and then Soulfly) since the 10th grade (about a million years ago).

Needless to say we are ridiculously excited by this amazing opportunity to open for these great bands.

OZZY


SOULFLY


KORN



also appearing: Betzefer, Black Widow, Tal Friedman ...



Its gonna be something...

Embedded Jerry Garcia

To belatedly honor Jerry Garcia's birthday here's the show he and the dead played the day I was born... brought to you by the incredibly fantastic archive.org. Thanks guys!

Grateful Dead
Live at the Palladium in NYC
May 3, 1977



Set 1

The Promised Land
Bertha
Me And My Uncle
Peggy-O
Jack Straw
Row Jimmy
Lazy Lightnin' ->
Supplication
Deal
Good Lovin'
Ship Of Fools
The Music Never Stopped

Set 2

Might As Well
Estimated Prophet
Sugaree
Samson And Delilah
Friend Of The Devil
Eyes Of The World ->
Space ->
Wharf Rat ->
Drums ->
Not Fade Away ->
Around And Around

Encore
Uncle John's Band

Ten bands you may never have heard of ...

... but you should check out as soon as possible.


Is a band unknown if they've sold tens of millions of albums? if they have a gold record? if you can buy their cds at your local cd shop (does such a thing still exist?). If they've been parodied on Saturday Night Live? If they played their own 3 day festival to 70,000 hard core fans?

OK, so they aren't UNKNOWN per se. But they may be unknown TO YOU and that's what I hope to correct.


Here they are in order from most unknown to ridiculous that I need to tell you about them:


JFA
old school skate punk of the most 80s risers, rails and clear grip tape variety. some great live clips on youtube. I may own the only copy left of the 1984 Live CD... who knows...




Fugazi
Local hometown favorites from Washington DC. Post-punk formed from the ashes of Minor Threat. Great guitar and rhythms. My favorite album has got to be In on The Kill Taker. $8 post-paid.



Camel
"Music Inspired by the Snow Goose" is their big seller but the albums "Moonmadness", "Nude" and "Mirage" are great ones as well. So many awesome songs, many instrumentals, delivered with one of the greatest guitar tones this side of David Gilmour by Camel guitarist Andy Latimer.



Wishbone Ash.
Argus, their best and most famous album, was album of the year in Sounds in 1972 --- yet this is a band which sadly doesn't get enough mention or credit today. I first heard of them when Steve Harris mentioned they were one of his favorite groups in an interview in the 80s. I have to say he learned a lot from them as the bass sound in Iron Maiden is very reminiscent of Martin Turner's sound on the Wishbone Ash albums from 1970-1980. Iron Maiden also had producer Martin Birch who was the engineer on many Wishbone Ash albums. In addition to Argus, I recommend the first album (Wishbone Ash), New England, Pilgrimage, Wishbone Four and the awesome title track of the Number the Brave album (otherwise not their best work).





Government Mule
Founded in 1995 by Warren Haynes, Allen Woody and Matt Abts --- all longtime Allman family sidemen --- Gov't Mule started out as a Southern Rock Power Trio that didn't shy away from covering say... Prince, John Coltrane or The Beatles. These days they are a four piece and have several quality albums to their name. A great one to start with is "The Deep End Volume 1" which features a ton of bass all stars paying tribute to Woody after his untimely year 2000 demise.

I give you the first Mule song I ever saw... from the Bonnaroo DVD of 2002...



Mastodon
I was introduced to this massively heavy band by our drummer Saar Gur. These guys combine southern style leads, hyperactive Keith Moon like drumming and crunching dropped tuning riffs. Heavy.

Here's a hysterical video they did for the last album:


Opeth
Another band I was introduced to by my friends Roy Berger and Saar Gur. Opeth is the thinking man's Swedish death metal. In fact they are the only death metal I listen to although I do have a soft spot for At The Gates (and Lamb of God if they count as death metal).
Anyway Opeth...
They combine the heaviest playing you'll ever need to hear (the end of Deliverance, Ghost of Perdition, The Lotus Eater, others), with some of the sweetest soloing and harmonic prog-rock styled playing reminiscent of Camel and Pink Floyd. They also have an all-clean vocals album (for those of you who aren't ready for cookie monster vocals)
So without further ado... opeth



but wait! This is also Opeth




Phish
A college favorite of mine and many others that just haven't made an impact overseas (yet). I've gone months where I've only listened to this band. Mostly live recordings of their fantastic and off the wall shows where they never play the same set, rarely play the same song the same way, and work in insane covers and jams.
Check out the album "A Live One" or my other personal favorites "Rift" or "The Story of the Ghost"


Rush
How can a band who's sold 30 million albums be unknown? Rush refer to themselves as the "world's biggest cult band" and they have a rabid following in the US and Canada and to a certain extent in other places (Rio, Brazil certainly). Three incredibly proficient musicians and gifted song-writers, who have managed to make great music in 4 decades and across a wide range of styles. Their first album sounded a bit like Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith, then they went deep prog, followed by hard rock including their big hits "Spirit of Radio" and "Tom Sawyer" following which they dabbled with new wave and even had a song with a horribly geeky rap in the middle of it. In the 90s they added some grunginess to their guitars but the basic direction remains intact.



Blue Oyster Cult
Ok you've heard of them. But forget about "Don't fear the reaper". Listen to the amazing album SECRET TREATIES.

How to get the swedish deathmetal sound

unintentional comedy value:

The next show 30/8/2010

As you might know, I play in a band called Behind the Sun. We're playing our next show on August 30 at the Sublime club in Tel Aviv. Now we're in a race against time to get some new material we've been working on up to scratch and ready to test out that night. This will be our first show since January. In the meantime we've been writing some new material and getting married and having children and drilling cavities. Well, not all at once.

See you on August 30th.

[Edit] We will also be playing in Jerusalem on Oct 9.

LAKERS REPEAT AND A TRIBUTE TO RON ARTEST

OK, this has nothing to do with the guitar.

Hell, this has very little to do with basketball.

This is about RON ARTEST.

This is about pure unadulterated insanity.

This is not Hunter S. Thompson, this is Raoul Duke. This is not cheerios and milk this is HENNESSY, folks.

I've been a Lakers fan for more than 25 years, going all the way back to Magic, Kareem, AC Green, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Vlade Divac, Shaq, Kobe, Rick Fox, Big Shot Rob and everybody else. And the Lakers have always had entertaining sidemen including Kurt Rambis, Brian Grant, Travis Knight, Dennis Rodman (briefly) making hollywood into Hollywood.

When I saw the footage of the rumble in the Palace in Detroit it did not make me a fan of Ron Artest. The exact opposite. And of course like so many other Laker fans when the Lakers and Rockets basically swapped free agents Ariza for Artest I was not too enthusiastic.

But Artest has proven repeatedly to have sheer comedic talent (unintentional but still, comedy is comedy). And of course he helped the Lakers repeat. I have to give credit to this incredible destructive and self-destructive force for unintentional comedy who has truly made the NBA an entertaining spectacle this year. Ron would be an ideal RAIDER. Maybe that can be his follow up act when he's done in the NBA (or in the offseason). Bottom line: I'm glad he's on our side.

So without further ado (and how many players, besides maybe Shaq, could you do this for)

TOP TEN RON ARTEST MOMENTS

10. Malice at the palace. Very scary.


9. Ron Artest sneaks into Lakers dressing room after Game 6 of the 2008 finals and approaches Kobe Bryant in the shower to tell him he would come to the Lakers to help him out (thankfully, no video footage available)
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/Ron-Artest-and-Kobe-Bryant-In-The-Shower.html

8. Tosses Ariza's shoe into the crowd


7. Game 5 vs. Phoenix. What you don't see is that Artest launched a 3 with 20 seconds left on the shot clock and the entire Staples Center crowd shouted "NO!". Then came the redemption.



6. Artest goes into the crowd again


5. Artest on Kimmel - nice pants


4. Artest pulls Pierce's shorts down, then sings an apology


3. Artest appears on Jimmy Kimmel in boxer shorts


2. SAY QUEENSBRIDGE!!!


1. Ron thanks his psychiatrist

wishlish for the government mule show in tel aviv, israel

Dear Warren,

Thanks for bringing the Mule to Israel. Now if you don't mind, I've got a few requests...

Time to Confess

On the Banks of the Deep End

Rockin' Horse

Thorazine Shuffle

Sco-Mule

War Pigs w/ Zolta from אלמנה שחורה

Also I think it would be great if you would bring up Avi Singolda for a jam on (your choice!) Wandering Child or Broke Down on the Brazos


So there ya go Warren, I think that should be easy enough.

See you on the 18th of June.


Aaron

Gov't Mule to play Israel on June 18th

The great Gov't Mule, with the great Warren Haynes at the helm, will be playing Tel Aviv on June 18th. I've already got my ticket!







The singer of the Spin Doctors is in Israel this week (I'm not a fan but they are arguably part of the same genre of jam bands) and Les Claypool was here in March. MMW were here in the past as well.


Can the Allman Bros and Phish be far behind? (Phish is 1/2 M.O.T.)


Warren, don't forget to tell Trey and Gregg how great the burgers were at "Moses Express".

WORLD PAINTED MAC

Sorry but I couldn't resist.

Listen with me to Slayer's world painted blood and sing along at 2:20

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun

repeat

FRANK ZAPPA

if you are a hard core zappa phanatic I apologize in advance... my humble opinions are my own

Dweezil Zappa, son of the late Frank Zappa, comes to town on July 14th to play a show featuring Frank Zappa material. I'm a huge zappa fan (own more than half of his something like 100 cd releases - and heard most of the rest more than a few times...). At the prodding of my good friend Shai Yallin of Solstice Coil (or as he would say, of the Ambrosiac blog, we got tickets to go see the Dweeze. Back in 2002 I saw Project/Object which also does Zappa material and featured at the time Napoleon Murphy Brock, Don Preston and Bunk Gartner (and maybe Ike Willis???) and I that was one of the greatest shows I've EVER seen by any band EVER. But I digress...

I've been listening to Zappa since '95 when I saw a huge massive Rykodisc display in Tower Records Rockville and thought to myself "who the f*** is this???". After listening to Hot Rats in the store that was my first donation to the zappa family trust. Then I bought Fillmore East June '71 and again I thought to myself "what the f*** is this? this is the same guy who did Hot Rats???"

Zappa is a great musician but Zappa is also "a way of life" as they say in Joe's Garage. Its comic relief and the ability to take the piss out of anything - sex, politics, racism, consumerism, religion, and of course music and other musicians and musicianly things (lead guitar face, drum solos, etc)

In order to mentally prepare myself for the Dweeze show I'm revisiting all of Zappa's official albums and I thought I make an easy to digest mini list of some great ones which any fan of music should check out - even if he is only dimly aware of the great Zappa's genius.

So here goes. Go listen to these right now:

One Size fits All

Hot Rats

Joe's Garage

Apostrophe'

The best band you never heard in your life

Lather (a posthumous reconfiguration of material found on Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Live in New York but actually according to how FZ originally envisioned it - as a megalomaniac quadruple album experience)

Overnite Sensation

Live Roxy and Elsewhere '74

Waka/Jawaka

Chunga's Revenge

Yes I am partial to the 70s output (as I am for almost any band - including the Dead, Genesis, Neil Young, Yes...) and I am a big fan of Frank Zappa on a Gibson SG. Seeing a few DVDs (Does humor belong in music?) of him playing a Fender is something I still haven't come to grips with...

Happy Listening!

Writing sessions for the 2nd album

Behind the Sun are writing and arranging material in rehearsals for our second album, which hopefully will come out sometime early next year.

I can tell you we are using a methodology Dan came up with called "Dylanology" where we barnstorm through early arrangements of the songs without getting stuck on the tiny little details and then move to the next song. In theory, when we make the final arrangements for the songs on the album, the songs will sound more unified because we "closed the books" on them all at the same time.

We've got 6 songs Dylanized so far, I can probably get away with giving away the titles:

Art of Words, Silhouettes, City in the Dusk, Things Fall Apart, Lies Not Worth Repeating, The Burning

A bunch more in various stages of deconstruction - hopefully the final final arrangements will start this summer.

What can I tell you about the direction? Heavier, darker, bigger sounding if that makes any sense. A massive rock slide burying you in Earth. That's my impression from the inside...

My hopes for season 6 of LOST:

1. Hurley sits on Jack and kills him.
2. Claire stays dead
3. Sayid starts cross-dressing
4. Ben cries like a baby. All the time. And for no logical reason. [we got close...ever so close... in episode 7]
5. Desmond is revealed to be Whitmore's son
6. Kate is eaten by Polar bears
7. Smoke monster is powered by fossil fuels
8. Flight 815 lands in Los Angeles in the middle of a 16 game Dodgers losing streak
9. Echo and Michael come back, but as Adabissi and Augustus Hill from "Oz".
10. Cameo by Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer in the final episode where it is revealed that George Steinbrenner bought the island to keep the Red Sox from signing Richard Alpert.

Iron Maiden: don't neglect the last 20 years.

IRON MAIDEN.
One of my all time favorite bands.
This post is directed at my good friend on stage left, Yoram Allouche (the other BTS guitarist) who also has an Iron Maiden tribute band called Prowlers. Sadly, they only play songs from the first seven albums. I think this is an injustice to the OTHER 7 albums and the last 20 years of Maiden's history and recorded output. Sure almost nobody is gonna claim "Virtual XI" as their favorite album but there's still a lot of good material in the last 7 albums and to show it I've prepared the following mix-tape (mix-CDR?) made up of fantastic Maiden songs from the last half of their studio albums.

1. No Prayer for the Dying (from 1990's album of the same name)
2. Be Quick of Be Dead
3. Fear of the Dark (both from 1992's Fear of the Dark)
4. The Sign of the Cross (from 1995's X Factor)
5. The Clansman (from the admittedly below-par Virtual XI)
6. The Wicker Man
7. Brave New World (both from 2000's Brave New World)
8. Montsegur
9. Dance of Death
10. Pachendale (these 3 from the 2003 album Dance of Death which rivals Virtual XI in terms of bad cover art)
11. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg (my favorite song from 2006's A Matter of Life and Death)

Do yourself a favor and drag out those old new albums again.