Best of 2008! Bill Doug Brian Commentary

Finally the best music of the year....2008 that is. Better late than never!
Just click the play button next to the title.

This an audio recording of Sideburns, Anderssert, and special guest Doug D. as we reflect and bash on the music of 2008. I've had this sitting on mini-disc for a long time and finally downloaded and edited it. My intent is to do this every year, but I utterly failed to get it out in a timely manner this year. Apologies.

Spokesmen Are Streaming!

Check out the new music player on the lefthand sidebar widget thingy! Just click a song and play. I only posted what I had. Please post the rest of your stuff in the dropbox and I'll get it going. I know there's also a way to associate images as well but this is all I could wrap my brain around for the time being. Maybe Donut can take it from here...

Let me know if it works for you!

Also, do we want to post songs from the latest go-around or wait till the official listening party?

Gateway to west sac

Check out the newly refurbished bike path bridge across I-5. Used to be a train bridge I believe.

Rider Profile - Side Burns

The man and the machine. Here's a few shots. I'll let Brian describe his own bike. I was fortunate enough to be there when he first picked up from Mission Bicycle and even got to see the color rendering beforehand.

User Review: The Bass Fuzz Pedal

User Review – Bass Fuzz Pedal

Donut Industries has again generously offered me the use of a prototype pedal for select spokesmen tracks. This pedal is straight up distortion under the heavy influence of fuzz. The controls are Fuzz, Gate, EQ, and Level. When fully cranked the fuzz made me feel a little nervous, like standing too close to a large electrical sub-station. It’s a much more satisfactory sound for a bass than typical distortion if you want a nice synthetic sound that’s distinguishable through the mix. After experimenting with some recorded tracks I was pleasantly surprised to hear some uncompromised round bass tones still present without post processing the EQ. The level output offers enough buzz to rattle your teeth if necessary and EQ is straightforward enough. The mystery knob for me on this pedal was Gate. From my understanding this is acting in part as a limiter for the distortion. But it also will mute any sounds that drop below a certain level when fully open. I’ve heard this is awesome for funk…but it might not be where I’m at with post-punk-surf tendencies. If you aren’t playing full throttle all the time you get a little bit clipped off your notes. There was no problem tweaking the gate to achieve my goals, but I think it will warrant my further experimentation. As far as packaging, there was some modest apologies given as to the labeling and knobs attached. However, aside from the first pass label-maker text (I liked the font and layout) I thought the design was superb especially the huge knob for fuzz, ‘cause that’s what we came for!

Lennon – Solid fuzz without losing all resemblance to bass. Great output…good possibilities for regular guitar as well. Incredibly bright violet LED!

Ono-Gate control takes some getting used to and could be more of niche style playing with the clipped attack.

User Review: The Oscillation Overthruster - a Prototype

At first glance this pedal appears to be a stage prop from a 1950’s sci-fi movie. Just picture some nerdy college geeks hunched over some boxy equipment with knobs and an oscilloscope as they try to repel the monster which is smashing through Philadelphia and the National Guard by emanating a sonic onslaught through standard hi-fi speakers. This is that box…with a delightful glitter blue paintjob. There are so many knobs and possibilities I feel initial guilt about messing up someone’s lab experiment if I touch anything. But how can anyone resist tweaking? I couldn’t. There are 7 different controls not including on and off: Ramp, Gain, Speed, Fine, Smooth, Depth, and Space. Seriously…haven’t we all been on the lookout for some means of controlling Depth and Space? From a user stand-point, all these knobs control pretty much what you’d expect.

The control over the output is exceptional and I was not overwhelmed at all by the amount tweaking required to find my sound. By comparison, my BOSS TR-2 tremolo pedal has the standard Rate, Depth , and Wave control and works great…But it will be hard to go back after the fine tuning I was able to control on the Oscillation Overthruster. And my favorite feature on this pedal = gain! Where the Boss pedal usual steps down the output, the O-O makes it all crazy. Another thing that makes you feel like ground control for Mercury era NASA is the super bright LED which matches the speed and intensity of the signal you select. For now, this pedal is clearly a prototype. And the manufacturer makes no claims to its future production model specs. However I will have a hard time “remembering” to return it.

Bonnie = Killer control and over-the-top output will make you sound like Dwayne Eddie played by Joey Santiago.
Clyde = I’m not seeing this pedal anywhere in stores or on-line. Not sure what “Ramp” is doing for me.

Everybody's Cycling Stockton!

Workin' a decent route for the waterfront in lovely downtown Stockton. Who's game?