Steffen Schackinger

Browsing my youtube channel subscriptions the other day I spotted a man on the Candy Rat records channel with an electric guitar!!

Shocking, as this is the very channel/label made famous from some stunning acoustic players such as Andy McKee, Antoine DuFour etc.

The man in question is one ‘Steffen Schackinger‘, a danish guitarist who has recently released a debut solo album called ‘ElectriGuitartistry‘ on Candyrat Records.

I enjoyed these videos so much I decided to buy his album :D. Yay for youtube video promo!

You can definitely hear the Steve Morse and Eric Johnson influences in his playing, amongst many others, but for me the album stands out due to its subtle mix of styles, stunning playing and tone from Mr Schackinger. You can hear tinges of Jazz, Country, Folk, even Classical on the album. Clearly indicating Mr Schackinger’s wide range of musical tastes which I think helps make this album stand out amongst the crowd.

Check it out!

Metallica post new song on MySpace

Metallica have posted a new song on their MySpace page called ‘The Day That Never Comes’ from the forthcoming album ‘Death Magnetic’ released September 12th.

At 7:56 it’s a bigun and gets going around the 4 minute mark.

Whitesnake: Lay Down Your Love Video

I got Whitesnake’s new album Good To Be Bad early last month and it’s a *corker*! All the songs are written by David Coverdale and, ol fave of mine, Doug Aldrich. This is sounding like a great partnership ( as long as it lasts ). The album is chock full of great riffs and catchy choruses.

Anyway in the words of ol golden tonsils…’ere’s a new video for yah!’:

Albums I’ve Been Enjoying Recently

Jose DeCastro - Conversation

I was introduced to Jose DeCastro’s ( aka Jopi ) by a student who had bought one of his earlier albums ‘Un Poco De Lo Mio‘ ( also a great album ) off eBay. On first listen I was instantly hooked.

‘Conversation’ was released in 2006 and from the brilliant opening track ‘For You’ grooves, rocks and funks out the speakers at ya. There are hints of Andy Timmons in there tone wise ( an influence I’m betting ) , and plenty of spanky, funky fast triplet strumming as well as very cool soloing. But for me the main attraction is the groove of the songs. Check out the audio clips or even youtube footage of the man playing ‘For You’


Marco Sfogli - There’s Hope

Before watching youtube videos such as this jam over a bluesjamtracks backing and a snippet of a song from this very album, Marco Sfogli to me was ‘that guy who played on James LaBrie’s album’. When I first heard James LaBrie’s album I initially thought it was John Petrucci playing such was the man’s feel and evident uber chops.

On hearing that a solo CD was in the works I was keen to buy it the second it was released. ‘There’s Hope’ was released on Feb 15th but wasn’t until Monday that I was able to purchase a download copy from Lion Music ( all hail Lion Music for offering digital downloads! ). The album is brilliantly produced and as expected features some fantastic music and playing. The sound of keyboards and Sfogli’s tone do hint at ‘Dream Theaterey/Petrucci’ vibes but that’s a good thing in my book ;). But this is no Petrucci clone, there are hints of fusion in there, the token country song, delicate touches on ballads, awesome sequenced arpeggio lines and melodic and catchy, dare I say it, songs! *gasp*

Check out the album samples or buybuybuy here. There is also a very cool track by track analysis by Mr. Sfogli on the album info page.

Podcast Big-Up

A big-up for two stupendous podcasts from mates of mine.

First one from Neil called ‘NeiloMac’s Music Attack‘ with a cool selection of tunes covering wide range of genres, all delivered with God’s true accent.

The second from Clive called ‘Bucket Of Rocks‘ featuring very very cool rock music and naughty words, \m/.

My fave Albums of 2006

In no particular order, albums that have rocked my World in 2006:

Guthrie Govan - Erotic Cakes
A long wait but it was well worth it. Stunning, fantastic sounding album can’t wait for the next one, though probably will have too ;).
Fave Tracks - ‘Ner Ner’, ‘Sevens’ and ‘Uncle Skunk’


Joe Satriani - Super Colossal
Another great CD from the master of instrumental guitar.
Fave Tracks - ‘Crowd Chant’ and ‘Redshift Riders’


Paul Gilbert - Get Out Of My Yard
At last an instrumental album from the one and only Paul Gilbert. As you’d expect plenty of guitar gymnastics ( that intro lick! ) and top rockin.
Fave Tracks - ‘Get Out Of My Yard’, ‘The Curse Of Castle Dragon’ and ‘Radiator’


Stone Sour - Come What(ever) May
Great followup album to ‘Stone Sour’ from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and pals, Crunching riffs and great songs \m/.
Fave Tracks - ‘30/30 - 150′, ‘Come What(ever) May’ and ‘Through Glass’


Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
For me Muse are getting better and better with each album. Black Holes and Revelations is a truly wonderful piece of work.
Fave Tracks - ‘Knights of Cydonia’, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and ‘Soldier’s Poem’