Leonard Smalls

There is among some on BC a tendency to think of anything that's not root'n'fifth (or at most, on the mellow side of McCartney) to be showing off and not proper bass playing. So most of jazz, anything with slap'n'tap or excess widdle gets dismissed as "unmusical showboating" - which completely ignores the fact that you have to have a hint of show-offery just to get on stage and play any music, never mind the classical concept of the cadenza or solos in jazz or even (God forbid!) in rock! BTW, not saying that's you - I agree with what you're saying...

It wasn't me who pronounced the alleged "showboating" as unmusical... Just because something doesn't float your boat doesn't make it "Unmusical", though the dictionary definition of unmusical is also deeply unhelpful: 1. not musical; deficient in melody, harmony, rhythm, or tone. 2. acoustically and aesthetically harsh on the ear; strident; dissonant; cacophonous. 3. not fond of or skilled in music. According to my mother, a piano teacher, just about all rock and pop music is unmusical. Many folks would find most free or improvisational jazz "acoustically and aesthetically harsh on the ear", but this fails to say which ear. If it's mine, that's not true. Many others would disagree, but that's taste - one man's beautiful music is another's nails on a blackboard. So as a result I wouldn't say something I didn't like, whether it's showey-offey or just plain old Black Lace, was unmusical - but perhaps not to my taste. Or after a couple of beers, a steamy pile'o'sh!te...

Aye... Playing anything complicated or difficult shouldn't be allowed! Just because they're using a musical instrument to produce sound doesn't mean it's music, it's just about inflating their own ego. They should just stick to straightforward and easy tunes, so for keyboards, no harder than Chopsticks, and for bass players, stick to the root and throw in the occasional fifth if you really must. I blame that Paganini and Liszt.

Careful with that axe, Eugene - Pink Floyd

Here's my entry for this month's BC compo compo... In order to be as authentic as poss I should have bought an old Fender through a big valve amp, then mixed everything using tape delays and valve mixing desks and whatever else. However, as I have none of that stuff, just a Sandberg bass, a Helix, an Impulse keyboard and battered Squier Strat plus Ableton on a PC and a host of VSTs and plug-ins. But I did play the bassline in 1 with no further overdubs so that might be a touch authentic!

You're So Vein - Carly Simon

When someone says Yellowstone I immediately think of El Capitan, which rises majestically out of Tuolumne Meadows, a mere 811 miles and two states away in Yosemite. So here we have a bit of dub, perfect for watching the sunset from your Portaledge halfway up El Cap's most famous route, The Nose. Bass is Sandberg, guitar a Strat, keys - various from Ableton, Iris, Kontakt, Ujam and EZ keys. Drums programmed using Ableton packs and Loopmasters sounds. Delays/reverbs etc Raum, Objeq, Dubstation 2, Kilohearts plus Phasis phaser. All rolled in Neutron 3 and Ozone 9.

It's actually a final chorus, after 3 verse and chorus combos before. It's a semi-respectable 1'54", so not really Napalm Death length!

Ta! It's only mobile phone footage but worked ok...

Here's a little blast of us being all punky at Rebellion recently...

Carwash -Rose Royce

Let's Start The Dance! -Hamilton Bohannon

Shut Up! - Black Eyed Peas

S'an instrumental piece of music. Or a song without words. Or simply, a ditty.

Some stuff I heard at Rebellion last week:

Mister Bojangles - Sammy Davis Jr.

Fkin A!

My other irrational hatred is when people call every single song a track. It's not, unless you're playing it off an album! Otherwise it's just a humble song, or in my case, a duff little ditty.

Wicki Wacky House Party - The Team

Not quite... "Pocket" can be described as a “sweet spot” where the music feels solid and unified without feeling overly rigid or stiff. It's sort of more "feeling the groove together" rather than rigidly playing to a metronome. It's like the difference between some heavily music-schooled jazz bands that, while exceptionally tight and right-on-time, just lack that syncopated groovy feel.

Turd Uncle - Bauhaus

I once shared a "cigarette" with him while we discussed P Funk at the Chillis aftershow party in the Astoria that I'd somehow blagged my way into. Seemed alright to me!

Der Mussolini - DAF

I remember seeing them at their 2nd ever UK gig - the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden. After 2 songs Hillel couldn't cope anymore wot with being off his face (he died not long after...) and left the stage. So the other 3 continued as they had no real choice. And Flea managed to fill the gap beautifully - did his own lines and threw in some of the guitar stuff too which most certainly isn't a sign that he "can barely play"! So unless he's somehow forgotten how to do the bass thing in the intervening 37-8 years, I suspect that he can still do it. And bear in mind, Stanley Clarke invited him onto the ultimate bassathon, Night School, so it would seem that the hatred is largely irrational - the low point of his career being that terrible StarSpangledGizmo he did at the Pooper Bowl...

Better photo from Rebellion...