Next to hip hop and r'n'b, funk has been a formative influence on me as a bassist. It is prominent in the mix, it combines and assimilates so many influences, and it has influenced so many different acts. My favourite artists are:
1. Prince. Not known for his funk as much as his general stew of influences, he knows the funk - live, his band blows out some intense displays of rhythm, its a mix of Apollonian discipline and Dionysian bacchanal, and he still has it, in spades.
2. Parliament-Funkadelic. Certainly more Dionysus, and it has this anarchy and grit through it, were it all seems to overwhelm you, as much a training ground as a playground, it unleashed some insanely great musicians into the world and added so much to the vocabulary of music.
3. James Brown. His concept that every instrument is a rhythm instrument tapped into something deeper, his discipline and dedication coupled with his personal flaws and tragedies make him enthralling to listen to, even now.
But the main thing about funk is, it makes you move. I cannot, not do it, even when I am copping the bass part, I still need to interact with the groove.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
My Band
First band was, actually, called Suncolour, and it was a few rehearsals, competent but little to no chemistry. Guitarists's gf played keyboards and it fizzled out without too many repercussions. Still, always nice to have that moment where you dream of conquering the world.
Second band was actually Surge Lounge, no vocalist, but same guitarist and the greatest drummer I have ever worked with. El kicks so much ass on the drums, on top of that he is a genuinely great man, but due to lack of a singer, we went on an extended hiatus..
The Green Monkey Experience. Huge learning curve, but intense. Technical yet sprawling, we tried so hard but when it came down to it, there were fundamental differences of opinion, also it divided into two camps, El and I, Chopper and Ash. It died in its sleep, but as it was in its death throes, El and I went back to..
Surge Lounge, this time we are doing hip hop, we have two great MCs, one of whom is doing guitar, we are looking for other musicians, and have gigs lined up. Life is good.
Second band was actually Surge Lounge, no vocalist, but same guitarist and the greatest drummer I have ever worked with. El kicks so much ass on the drums, on top of that he is a genuinely great man, but due to lack of a singer, we went on an extended hiatus..
The Green Monkey Experience. Huge learning curve, but intense. Technical yet sprawling, we tried so hard but when it came down to it, there were fundamental differences of opinion, also it divided into two camps, El and I, Chopper and Ash. It died in its sleep, but as it was in its death throes, El and I went back to..
Surge Lounge, this time we are doing hip hop, we have two great MCs, one of whom is doing guitar, we are looking for other musicians, and have gigs lined up. Life is good.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Brit Awards
Its awful, on every level. When Ferne Cotton was stood in front of a caravan interviewing Jamie Oliver and Jamie Cullum, my bones vibrated with rage, when Take That emerged from the UFO dressed like gay porn stars doing a Kraftwerk tribute act or when Coldplay limped around the stage, I wondered where the terrorist cells were, and why didn't one of them do the world of music a favour. I wanted Joe Calzaghe to punch holes in James Corden's head, and I felt ashamed for those people I do like(KoL, Pegg and Frost, who looked faintly embarrassed) Dignity had no place tonight, and we got Duffy.
Duffy, Duffy won every award possible, with her cheap Taiwanese Barbie features and voice like a cat with leukaemia. She is engineered to be the Aryan clone of Amy Winehouse, because you know the inoffensive soul diva is an affront to humanity. When Marvin Gaye was contractually obliged to release an album, of which all royalties were to go to his ex-wife, he released Here, My Dear(I learnt that from Something Awful) which was a killer album full of lacerating lyrics. Billie Holliday sang about black men being lynched. Duffy is a mustard burp who has coasted into fame on the back of a Bernard Butler production that resembles a Motown production devoid of the blue collar innovation that raised a production line song factory into raw genius.
The TingTings are a fucking joke, pop music that sounds like instruments given over to chimps. I can appreciate innocent music, but this is calculated artless shit, disguised as sneering indie cool. They make Miley Cyrus sound like Janis Joplin.
Pet Shop Boys were just cringeworthy, relics of another age.
What I hate most is the self-congratulatory tone the whole event takes, from the shitty presenter gags(Craig David, is that the best they could come up with?), to the nonentity award presenters(Natalie Imbruglia, Jamie Oliver) to the limp performances(KoL were a notable exception but they seemed to have traded their edge for acclaim, not that I blame them). The whole thing made the Mick Fleetwood/Sam Fox debacle look like high art, not in terms of competence but in terms of spirit, this was as cynical and lifeless as a prostitute pretending to be a corpse for cash.
However Girls Aloud were great: they're all gorgeous and their music has a certain quality control that makes them entirely palatable. Although I mainly like them because they are bloody lovely to look at. Never said I was a saint, baby:-)
This is what happens when my drummer is in London, I post bad things
Duffy, Duffy won every award possible, with her cheap Taiwanese Barbie features and voice like a cat with leukaemia. She is engineered to be the Aryan clone of Amy Winehouse, because you know the inoffensive soul diva is an affront to humanity. When Marvin Gaye was contractually obliged to release an album, of which all royalties were to go to his ex-wife, he released Here, My Dear(I learnt that from Something Awful) which was a killer album full of lacerating lyrics. Billie Holliday sang about black men being lynched. Duffy is a mustard burp who has coasted into fame on the back of a Bernard Butler production that resembles a Motown production devoid of the blue collar innovation that raised a production line song factory into raw genius.
The TingTings are a fucking joke, pop music that sounds like instruments given over to chimps. I can appreciate innocent music, but this is calculated artless shit, disguised as sneering indie cool. They make Miley Cyrus sound like Janis Joplin.
Pet Shop Boys were just cringeworthy, relics of another age.
What I hate most is the self-congratulatory tone the whole event takes, from the shitty presenter gags(Craig David, is that the best they could come up with?), to the nonentity award presenters(Natalie Imbruglia, Jamie Oliver) to the limp performances(KoL were a notable exception but they seemed to have traded their edge for acclaim, not that I blame them). The whole thing made the Mick Fleetwood/Sam Fox debacle look like high art, not in terms of competence but in terms of spirit, this was as cynical and lifeless as a prostitute pretending to be a corpse for cash.
However Girls Aloud were great: they're all gorgeous and their music has a certain quality control that makes them entirely palatable. Although I mainly like them because they are bloody lovely to look at. Never said I was a saint, baby:-)
This is what happens when my drummer is in London, I post bad things
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Just rediscovered...
..this blog when my wife googled my name! So I am going to resume blogging once again, it will be more about music, as for the last few years I have gotten into playing bass and it has replaced comics in my estimation. I will talk about what I play and what I listen to, and also will talk about the films that I love/hate am looking forward to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
