In-Flux this week: The Doobie Brothers, Kinga Glyk, the brothers McElroy, and Electro-Harmonix.
Album of the week:
This album is rather interesting to me, as it’s essentially a greatest hits record, but re-recorded with feature artists on every song. While an unconventional approach, I think The Doobie Brothers’ 2014 release Southbound is an incredibly creative way to breathe new life into a now-iconic catalog. My favorite Doobie Brothers song is What a Fool Believes, and I would argue that this version featuring Sara Evans is easily as good, or better, than the original. For me, the other stand-out song on this album is You Belong to Me. I don’t know if it’s possible to top Michael McDonald’s original studio performance from ‘77, but his duet with Amanda Sudano Ramirez on this version is… I can only describe it as “profound”. With other artist features, such as Zac Brown Band, Blake Shelton, and Huey Lewis, I would argue that this is a must-listen album for any fan of southern rock or Americana.
“You don’t know me, but I’m your brother. I was raised here in this living hell. You don’t know my kind in your world. Fairly soon, time will tell.” —Takin’ It to the Streets, The Doobie Brothers.
Visit the band’s website, stream the album on YouTube, or get a physical copy on Discogs.
Live performance of the week:
If you are unfamiliar with Kinga Glyk, she is quite possibly one of the greatest jazz bassists of our time. Although she has been an incredibly proficient musician from a young age, Glyk gained a significant boost in popularity in 2016 after posting a viral bass cover of Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven. Not even a decade later, she is now on the verge of releasing her fifth album Real Life, co-produced by modern-day bass legend Michael League. For all of her success with studio recordings, Glyk has also found great success on stages across Europe, and her home country of Poland. In my opinion, her raw talent and stage presence are best exemplified in her live performance with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, as part of the 2022 Europa Open Air concert.
Kinga Glyk | Frankfurt Radio Big Band | Full Concert
Photo credit: infomusic.ro
Podcast of the week:
This is one of two Dungeons & Dragons comedy podcasts I’ve been binge-listening (is that a thing?) for the last month or so. The Adventure Zone is hosted by Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy of ‘My Brother, My Brother, and Me’, along with their father Clint McElroy. Season one of this podcast, The Balance Arc, follows Justin’s character Taako (a high elf wizard), Travis’ character Magnus Burnsides (a human fighter/rogue), and Clint’s character Merle Highchurch (a dwarf cleric) with Griffin as dungeon master. At the risk of sounding obsessive, I ended up finishing season one of this podcast, over 60 episodes, in a two-week period. Although it did take a few episodes for the story to find its momentum, once they hit their stride, Griffin’s storytelling and the group’s comedic chemistry had me on the edge of my seat with nearly every episode. If you enjoy fiction audiobooks, comedy podcasts, or even if you just really love a good DnD campaign, you should absolutely check out The Adventure Zone.
Photo credit: maximumfun.org
Gear of the week:
Although I’ve had this pedal for a few years now, I’ve only just recently started to develop a strong appreciation for its tone. This week, I’m talking about the Electro-Harmonix Triangle Big Muff Pi. This is the factory re-issue of the original 1969 Big Muff Pi fuzz pedal, one of Electro-Harmonix’s most famous pedals. I originally purchased this pedal to use with my bass rig, and I’ve found that it works well with my Boss OC-2 octave pedal to produce an aggressive synth bass tone, but after using it with my recently-acquired guitar rig, it turns out this pedal can hold its own in both worlds. I would argue that where this pedal does fall short is its lack of tonal variety. I can dial in a fuzz sound that I like for guitar, and a sound I like for synth bass, but it’s very easy to over-cook the saturation and lose the playing “feel” and dynamics. Over the last few weeks of experimenting with different amps and pedal combinations, it turns out that my new favorite way to use this pedal is to turn the saturation (fuzz) knob all the way down, set it at around 1-5%, and then use the tone knob to add a little bit of high-end bite back into the mix.
While certainly not my end-all, be-all fuzz pedal, the Triangle Big Muff does a few things well enough that I think it deserves a place in your pedal collection—especially at its current US street price of $112.50.
Electro-Harmonix Triangle Big Muff Pi
Photo credit: centaurguitar.com
That’s all for this installment of In-Flux. Hopefully, you’ve found something inspiring or thought-provoking to take with you throughout the coming week. If you’d like to stay up-to-date with Stoops Worldwide, and have my posts delivered directly to your inbox, click the subscribe button below. If you’re already subscribed, thank you! Please feel free to share this with a friend, if you feel so inclined.
Create without compromise.
-Kurtis