My favourite five new albums from 2015

Let me start by saying that I’m not suggesting this list is some kind of top list in any way. This is not the top five metal albums of the year. This is not the top five guitar albums of the year. No, this is simply my favourite five new albums from 2015. I’ll hopefully explain why as I summarise each album. I’d also like to say that 2015 was an amazing year for new releases. You need only check out the list of albums released in 2015 on Wikipedia to see that.

Marilyn Manson, Periphery, Slayer, Lamb of God, Joe Satriani, Motorhead … It was a good year for metal releases. For me though, there were five albums that made me very happy. These are those albums (in no particular order). My favourite five new albums from 2015

Amaryllis release Revolt (in the most positive way)

Social media can be awesome. For example, there’s this cool website called Strumm (it’s all about guitars) that I initially came across on Twitter. I discovered this epic winning guy called Dan there. He plays guitar in a band called Amaryllis. As you can see, before I knew it I had gone from Twitter, to Strumm, back to Twitter and eventually on to the BandCamp site for Amaryllis. It was there that I discovered some truly amazing music.

Social media for the win! Amaryllis release Revolt (in the most positive way)

Lo-Fi Lullabies—Steve Case’s best release to date

I’ve been lucky enough to provide some graphic design assistance to Steve Case on some of his previous CD releases. Before that and since, I’ve been a fan of his dedication to what I consider honest and real music. He’s an artist and I’m glad I’ve managed to work with him. So, as I’ve done before with my previous semi-reviews of music I’ve had a bias towards, I continue with my music review series. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to experience this new EP by Steve and either be taken back to the times where people wrote songs that were long lasting or experience that sensation for the very first time. Either way, lucky you. Lo-Fi Lullabies—Steve Case’s best release to date

Alpha Rhythm Generators (double album release by David Oakes)

Recently I wrote my first ever music semi-review for the Evangelos Koudonas album Into the Blue. A semi-review is when I honestly review music I most likely have a biased opinion on. Most likely biased? Well I have come to know the artist through social media. This time I’m reviewing Alpha Rhythm Generators which is a double release by David Oakes. This isn’t some random music that my editor throws on my desk to review. This is music I already like and need to inform other people about while explaining why. I should mention now that I don’t really have a desk. Or an editor. But I sure did sound important for a second there.

To the second semi-review! Alpha Rhythm Generators (double album release by David Oakes)

Into the Blue (fresh new music by Evangelos Koudonas)

Regular visitors to this website know I have issues with colour. As much as possible I try to strip it from my website. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but Evangelos Koudonas has released the first album that I’ve decided to write about and included a colour in the album name. Obviously Evangelos couldn’t have known that I’d write this article, but still he has made me say Into the Blue is an outstanding album. Even if it does say blue. Into the Blue (fresh new music by Evangelos Koudonas)

Review: GuitarJack

Another interface I used for the testing of guitar emulators in my recent test of 11 iPhone guitar emulators was GuitarJack by Sonoma Wire Works. I was doing my testing using the GuitarJack Model 1 for the following reasons:

  • It was on sale when I purchased it (reduced to $49.00 USD)
  • It connects to my iPhone 3GS
  • I wanted it.

From what I’ve seen and read, GuitarJack Model 2 is way cooler (as are the iPhone 4GS and the iPad). But I can’t write about that other than to say “I want all of those things!”

But let’s learn more about my experiences with GuitarJack Model 1 and the 11 apps I tested it with. Review: GuitarJack