Mk.gee Makes the Guitar Sound New Again on "ROCKMAN"

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BY Alex HudsonPublished Oct 21, 2024

It's been about 70 years since electric guitar became the dominant instrument of popular music — a role it held for many generations, until it finally took a backseat in the past decade or two. This is to say that the fretboard has been very thoroughly explored, and it's hard to make six strings sound like a revelation; a truly fresh sound, like ML Buch's Suntub, only comes around occasionally.

Mk.gee is that kind of a player. Apparently using a Tascam cassette four-track as a preamp, along with a set of seven-string guitar strings (omitting the high E) to Mk.gyver what is essentially a short-string baritone guitar, he's created a guitar sound that is based in familiar blues rock licks, yet uniquely wobbly, synthetic, psychedelic and alien. His new single, "ROCKMAN," may be rooted in classic R&B, but the fretwork only sounds like Mk.gee.

(R&R)

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