Son Step – “Right Times”
Philadelphia’s own Son Step has spent the past few years making incredibly interesting music. Their 2012 album Here Comes Dreamboat is rife with dissonant rhythms and harmony. That is what first drew me to Son Step. Their music is very unique in its timbre as well as rhythm and song construction. The song “Right Times” […]
Halsey – BADLANDS
I’m about to talk about an album that’s SUPER fresh — as in, it just officially came out like 3 days ago (even though it was leaked online August 23). Introducing Halsey’s BADLANDS: an album that will easily become the soundtrack to your last couple of weeks of summer. Halsey — legally named Ashley Frangipane […]
Get the Tone: The Berlin School of Electronic Music
They say the enemy of good art is the absence of limitations. We’ve heard this in the past, with artists like Tangerine Dream and Manuel Göttsching, who by necessity, used workarounds to real life technological limitations as ways to create their own brand of music. How? By taking simple techniques and applying it to the musical tools they […]
Shootout: IK Multimedia iRig MIC Studio & Shure MOTIV MV51
So far, 2015 seems to be the year of the iOS/USB microphone for mobile recording. Two of the latest iOS/USB mics to arrive at zZounds are the IK Multimedia iRig MIC Studio — a new addition to IK Multimedia’s iRig line of made-for-iOS gear — and the Shure MOTIV MV51, part of Shure’s MOTIV family […]
Interview: Troy Van Leeuwen
Today, we’re throwing back to our interview last summer with Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen. We discussed the band’s latest album, Like Clockwork, Troy’s chameleonic signature Fender Jazzmaster, and his early, Pre-Queens days in bands like Failure. Speaking of Failure, Troy recently contributed some guitar work on tracks for The Heart is a Monster, released […]
Episode 30 – Merle Haggard
Chris had the pleasure to sit down with country music legend Merle Haggard for Walking The Floor's 30th episode.
Get the Tone: Tony Iommi
Unofficially recognized as the “Godfather of Heavy Metal,” Tony Iommi’s influence on the evolution of distorted electric guitar tone over the past 40+ years cannot be overstated. Iommi, a pioneer of the detuned guitar technique, used immense amounts of gain to convey to the audience the sounds he heard in his head. These tricks and […]
Frameworks – Loom
Before moving to Chicago I lived in Tallahassee, FL, about two hours northwest from Gainesville, hometown of Frameworks. They’ve been around since 2011 with their first EP, Every Day is the Same, coming out in October of that year. I booked the first (house) show they played in Tallahassee, and now they’re signed with Topshelf Records, […]
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – The Tyranny of Distance
The Tyranny of Distance is the second album from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and it sounds absolutely huge. From the distant, feeding-back guitar that kicks it off, all the way through the ending featuring just Ted and his ES-335, it’s a monumental work. I’ll talk about all that comes in between in a moment, but let’s go […]
