Barking Spiders

I would never like Kiss in a zillion years but I have a pathological dislike of them largely because of Gene Simmons who's a sexist, materialistic, greedy, Trump supporting, arrogant tool. If it wasn't for him I'd just have a neutral attitude towards the band.

IMO the best example of how to play a tasteful slap bass solo is by Louis Johnson on the Brother's Johnson's Stomp. It's to the point, it's not excessive and it's played with skill and taste.

An excellent and underrated act. Good live too. At the moment I'm working so have got 76:14 by Global Communication providing a nice backdrop

Fair enough people, that's what I wanted to know. Funk is a fave genre of mine though there are many songs I think could've been improved if slap had been used instead of fingerstyle, to give them some welly. E.g Hollywood Swinging by Kool and the Gang and Get Down Tonight by KC and the Sunshine Band. Of course there are other tunes where fingerstyle is the best method such as on Tower of Power's What Is Hip. Slap wouldn't work there at all.

I know there are lot of BCers who say they hate slap bass but don't say why. For my money at the highest level it's the most challenging technique to master. Is it because haters don't like funk and so have a thing against slap n' pop or have they only heard it in rock songs where it might be inappropriate? Is it because they've heard it (badly) overplayed in guitar stores? Thing is most well known players (within the bass world) have different approaches e.g. Marcus Miller's style differs from Louis Johnson's so it's understandable if people like one player's approach over another's.

Actually, covid will last forever, just as viruses have from previous pandemics. As with the flu pandemics of 1957-58 (Asian), 1967-68 and 1969/70 (Hong Kong) and 2009 (swine) , covid should attenuate and become part of the 'season'. On the other hand it isn't an influenzavirus and may constantly keep mutating and so it'll become impossible to find a vaccine, as is the case with the common cold. Scientists in China have discovered over 30 different strains of covid-19! Pandemics last a long time. The Spanish flu lasted 36 months. The Asian flu (est 2 million deaths) lasted about 2 years and the Hong Kong one (about 1 million worldwide) subsided in 1968 only to return a year later. Seems to me too many people still think this is 'just a flu virus' , strangely unaware that even a 'normal' flu epidemic is a major killer of the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

Yup, in a nutshell most bands should've probably stuck to making singles and putting out hits compilations and live albums. For my money The Who, Rolling Stones, Queen, Kinks , Eagles, Blondie, Quo and many more besides made better singles than studio albums.

Any non-essential sectors of the economy will be hit very hard this year. Unless they've got robust online markets, I cant imagine many music gear retailers surviving beyond the year end. After all, things hadn't been good anyway with many music stores having disappeared.

The live music circuit has been on its knees for quite some time anyway. In Cheltenham , fr'instance, I know of around a dozen venues in the town centre that disappeared before covid came along. As others have said, how would any pub be able to maintain 2m between punters? People have to accept that in the 'new normal' a lot of industries will either no longer exist or be in much-reduced formats. This includes pubs and brewing. The British Beer and Pub Association has recently said that without government support 40% of pubs could be gone by september.

Hugely impressive technical skill but would I want to listen to it for pleasure more than once ? Not really.

One of my fave acts from that era and their singles all still stand up well today. Shame quite a number of people have fvcked over some of their best songs e.g. that bluddy terrible version of Everybody ..by Lorde.

yup!

Even the most die-hard fans of certain bands would have to admit most of their albums are pretty samey and that one or two is all casual fans might need. So, to BC hardcore fans of such bands , what would you recommend to casual punters who might quite like some of their of their stuff. Kicking off with some from my CD collection... ZZ Top - the 2CD Rancho Texicano, with 38 songs from across their career to 2004, this has all their best stuff though there are skippable tunes Quo - some bands are just better live than in the studio and IMO the Live album from SQs 'classic' line-up trumps their other stuff. All the tunes have more muscle than the studio originals. AC/DC - like Quo's Live, 'If You Want Blood' is 1000 x better than anything they did in the studio. I'm definitely in the Bon Scott camp Motorhead - You'll Get Yours single best of CD. I got this as it has Ace of Spades, Bomber, Overkill, Motorhead and Please Don't Touch. Don't have much time for the post Fast Eddie and Philthy Animal era. Foo Fighters - In Your Honour CD1, cracking rockier side but IMO the acoustic CD is a bit meh. Ramones - the singles were where this lot were at and TBH the first Mania comp has all the good bits Slayer - the obvious choice really. Don't think you'll find much argument Rage Against The Machine - love their rap-rock sound but the debut is really the only 'essential' the other albums are paler imitations

While they're somewhat predictable in an AC/DC and Status Quo kinda way they , like those bands they're beyond criticism inasmuch as they have a sense of humour and don't take themselves seriously. That said I find a good hits compilation is all the casual 'fan' really needs.

It's allowed me to spout all manner of gibberish without being censored 😁

Bland? Then what does that make Coldplay, Keane and Travis? I started watching this as a confirmed neutral. Admittedly, I could do without the slower tunes featuring guess singers but the uptempo numbers more than make up for it though I do enjoy the accapella routine. The sheer fun these guys are having is infectious.

some irritating kid next door who's been kicking a football against a wall for about 4 hours now

Controversial I know but hey I'm a rock n'roll kinda guy who kicks against the establishment. btw as a non-angler I never knew there were even two ways to thread a fishing rod let alone 8!

#1 teal #2 vermilion #3 forest green... ...#98 black #99 turquoise #100 ecru

Very sad to hear this and he died from covid too. The Stranglers are one of 3 or 4 bands I've stayed with all my music listening life. Other than JJ's bass it was Dave's keyboard playing that largely set them apart from the herd.

I was never a fan before but clearly they're a band made for live performance. The energy and good time vibe blew me away. A lot of acts with their dour, non-communication with the crowd could learn a thing or two from these guys. Hello there Van Morrison, Stereophonics, Mastodon, Tool, Opeth....

When I've watched vids of Vulfpeck in a studio setting I've not been that interested. However, am currently watching this ..and it's another kettle of fish entirely! 👌

Someone sent us an Echo Dot two days ago so I've been entertaining the family with 80s classics (in my head anyway) e.g. Birds fly by Icicle Works, Forgotten town by The Christians and Christine by House of Love etc much to their lack of delight.

Will there be any pubs left after this pandemic's passed? As for a vaccine the question is IF they ever find one. Covid-19 is not part of the influenza family and as such it can't be assumed a vaccine can be found as with swine flu, Asian flu and Hong Kong flu. No vaccine exists for the common cold so it could be with same for coronaviruses. For a start, experts estimate there are around thirty strains of covid-19 varying from relatively harmless to the nasty one affecting western European nations.

A lot of fine hip hop and electronica acts are underrated because all non-fans of these genres hear is the lowest common denominator cack that's played on the radio. For example, while mainstream radio plays 'EDM' dreck (Calvin Harris, David Guetta etc) it never gives airtime to a lot of innovative stuff that emerged in the 90s like Boards of Canada, The Black Dog, Amon Tobin or DJ Shadow.