By wackiirahki from Youtube. I must admit, I am VERY impressed. He’s got the “feel” right, and everything. Check it out…

Yea! I’m having a bit of a funky day today, so check out this number…

AWESOME bass playing!

Some really crazy timing stuff going on in there as well. Nice and tight pocket playing!

Click here to purchase the song at my a-store:

Herbie Hancock Spank a Lee

I enjoy music that challenges. I love music that isn’t made up of the normal sugar coated drivel that spouts from popular radio.

You know the stuff I mean…!

So when I investigated the Mars Volta, I found something that agreed with me on a certain level. I was always a big fan of “at the drive in”, and loved the composition and ideas that those guys got across.

The Mars volta seem to be more of the same, but in a more ethereal way. There are moments where it all seems to be falling apart, in an anarchic mess, but then all comes together in a way that captivates and hits you hard. I love this type of stuff, because I’m constantly captivated, 5:49 onwards in this video being the perfect example.

Un-obvious melodies, odd signatures and strange lyrical nuances maybe not for everyone. This is nine and a half minutes of your life you’ll never get back…

The drummer is a monster.

Feel’in the Funk!

I’ve always enjoyed Tool, but never been massively into them as I have with other bands. But this video blows my mind. The thought, effort that must have gone into the construction of this song is awesome…

I like it when people make a bit of an effort. Check this out, guys. Defiantly worth watching all the way through:

Someone once said to me that “The greatest musicians don’t shout about their talent”. This is certainly true of Les Claypool. It is also true of his fellow members in the band Primus. Each of them are, in my opinion, the best in the industry on their particular instruments. Brian “Brain” valentino on drums, as well as Tim “Herb” Alexander. Larry Lalonde on guitar, and of course, Les claypool on bass.

Like the rest of the band, Les is so humble, and doesn’t take him self seriously that he, and they, almost become like a cartoon band. The genius of the music being played is sometimes covered up by the silliness that Claypool and his pals seem to manifest. Entertainment seems to be their number one goal. Pretense and seriousness (although i’m sure they take their music very serious when writing and practicing) go out of the window. Primus were and are a breath of fresh air…

I’ve been lucky enough to see Les play live twice. Both times struck me so hard that I wanted to play my bass right there, and this has stuck with me ever since. Les claypool is different. His bass lines and technique are so original that any aspiring bass player would be crazy not to investigate him further. All of the chordal downstrokes I use are because of Mr Claypool. The whole notion that you can write music on bass using chords was because of Mr Claypool.

So where to start investigating? Well, here are a few vids to start with. But these are just the tip of the iceburg that is Les Claypool.

Unfortunately, universal music groups won’t let us embed Primus videos from YT, so you will have to find them yourselves. Until then, here are some live ones…

Well, what can I say about Larry Graham that you old school pro’s don’t know? Not much!

The reason for that is that any bass player that has been playing for a while will know who larry Graham is. If you don’t, let me educate you:

Larry Graham was the first person to slap and pop on the eletric bass guitar. That’s right, the FIRST person. All these techniques we use to day all come from him. Larry was in a soul/funk band called “sly and the family stone”. DEFINATLY worth checking out if you have never heard of them. The chilis covered their version of “if you want me to stay”.

Larry Graham is one of my hero’s. If not for this video alone. This is him at his best. Oh, check out the funky Boogie nights-esqe dancing in the middle….classic!

Here is a recommendation of some sly and the family Stone stuff. Have a good listen, and check out those slap and pop lines in their infancy!

Essential Sly & Family Stone