Malekko Heavy Industries

Malekko heavy industries started with a dissolving band, some inspiration, and a kitchen table. "The joke was the website made us seem huge, with pictures of semi's with the Malekko logo when there was only two of us, I soldered every pedal on my kitchen table" explains co-founder Josh Henley from Portland, OR where the company has grown into an 8 person operation with a vast network of players and fans. Malekko is known for original, affordable pedals and synth modules that earn their place in you soundbox. Josh says Malekko is about usability, not impressing your friends with 100 features you'll never touch: "We're not here to make trophies, we're here to make pedals players can use and enjoy." Malekko have cut a unique path with innovative ideas like the Omicron series, 8 no frills mini-pedals that build your signal for up without undercutting your wallet. Working to keep their pedals as useable as they are affordable, it's easy to understand why Malekko has earned a reputation for serving the needs of the working musician.

Ekko 616

650 ms of analogue delay. Count them, love them, rejoice in them. The Ekko 616 has straightforward controls that give you a wide range of sounds. Use the Time, Mix, and Regen knobs to slapback or blast off and engage the Mod controls to give your sound a whole new personality of chorusing and vibrato. Specially voiced repeats allow a larger bandwidth to pass than most traditional analogue delays, giving you a stronger signal out of the pedal. An internal gain knob allows you to customize the E616 to your setup to avoid volume drops or boosts when engaging.

Jack Deville Electronics

The switch on your pedal clicks, pops, and is going to die. This is not your fault. Most pedals come with with a 3 pole switch that has a life of a few thousand cycles which, if you play everyday, ain’t much. Enter Jack Deville, he designed the Click-less True Bypass system for the Buzzmaster, his first guitar pedal. Players loved it so much they asked him to add it to their existing pedals, but Jack is to busy designing and building new pedals to spend all his time replacing switches, so he made an easy way for anyone with a soldering iron to install it themselves. His pedals are made from high quality parts and are used by everyone from Tony Levin to Adrian Belew. A maker that cares about what he’s making, Jack hand solders and tests every piece of gear before shipping, and all products come with a lifetime warranty.

Mod Zero

Mod Zero is the end all analog modulator. The range of sounds available from this small box will impress even the most jaded guitar shop sales clerks, moving seamlessly from classic flanging to roller-coaster pitch modulation to subtle vibratos. Two switches allow you to choose between chorus/vibrato/tremolo mode and flanging/leslie mode. The Mod Zero is the only through-zero flanger on the market today the Leslie sound is incredible to hear coming from a pedal. The chorus/vibrato/tremolo mode is equally as impressive with a soft touch for creating the beautiful, subtler sounds and the power to modulate all sense from your signal when you’re in that special mood. Every Mod Zero is hand soldered by Jack Deville in Portland, Oregon.

Michael J Epstein Memorial Library

Volume One
Somerville, MA

“21st century sing-a-long”

Remember those childhood road trips, when siblings only stopped fighting when parents put on the sing-a-long tape and the whole car transformed into a smiling choir as the side-paneled family truckster cruised down the vast expanses of the American highway system? Neither does anyone else, but Volume One provides the soundtrack for all the imaginary memories we’ve convinced ourselves are somehow part of our past. The songs are catchy but simple, and sung out understandably so listeners can pick up and join in the fun. Opener “Amylee” defines the sound of the album, strumming guitars and ukuleles backed by an assortment of strings, glockenspiels, and other happy instruments. Michael sings but never alone, backed by at least one harmony part or more often a bunch of friends singing around a campfire roasting marshmallows.
Michael and company sing about the joys and woes of 21st century living, but their voices are always filled with a certain joie de vivre.Volume One is a community record, even listening to it alone conjures the feeling of being surrounded by good friends.
Engineered by Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola at The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library (Somerville, MA)//Drum tracking by Mike Quinn at Q Division (Somerville, MA)//Mixed by Mike Quinn in The Moontower at Q Division (Somerville, MA)//Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering (Boston, MA); Assistant Mastering Engineer: Maria Rice

-Garrett Frierson
http://michaeljepstein.com/

Siriusmo - 'Mosaik'

Also printed in Performer Magazine


Siriusmo
Mosaik
Berlin, Germany

“PartiesNeverEnd”

Put in the music and park your ass on the dance floor. Mosaik is a club tour of Europe in your pocket. The album moves it’s way from Daft Punk disco romance through heavy dubstep grooves to retro-future beach jams that are as much Javelin lo-fi pop as Justice inspired booty shaking. Siriusmo starts the night off right with “High Together”, a wistful, joyous groove perfect for some warm ups and reflection before a promising night of dancing and debauchery. “Feromonikon” delivers on that promise with a dark bounce no one knew German minimalism could deliver, and there’s no turning back. Once Mosaik starts everyone in the room will start moving and no one will stop until the echoes of “Red Knob” stop bouncing off the ceiling. Wallflowers need not apply. (MonkeyTown Records)

-Garrett Frierson
http://www.myspace.com/siriusmo