Barking Spiders

From the 80s there are quite a few fine post punk bands who never made the grade while U2, The Cure, Joy Division and others made it . Top of the pile - House of Love, Comsat Angels, The Sound, The Chameleons, Wall of Voodoo, The Woodentops and the funkier Shriekback.
Funkwise there are a good number of fine but obscure bands I 100% recommend to funk brothers everywhere like Chocolate Milk, Black Heat, The Kaygees, Ripple and Sound Experience.
I'm a massive fan of 90s 00's electronica and while the likes of the Prodigy, Daft Punk and Chemical Bros have done pretty well there are the better but less known Fluke, Finitribe, Crystal Method, Amon Tobin, F*** Buttons, The Field, Mouse on Mars...

I recently changed one of my two fretlesses and my Aria Pro II to flats and am well chuffed with the change in sound. Flats on the Aria give a deeper 'feel' rather than sound so are great for playing classic Stax etc. On the fretless I now prefer the sound and feel to rounds. Plus the tones don't dull after several weeks of daily use. They're crap for slap though.

I'd been thinking about posting a similar thread only a coupla days ago. Pretty easy one this for me, Parliament-Funkadelic, Trouble Funk, Earth Wind and Fire or Chic or Shriekback. The first three cos their gigs are just big parties. Chic,because they embody sass and cool. I'd have happily stepped into Dave Allen's shoes to play on tracks like My Spine Is The Bassline.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h_N49GEMjU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h_N49GEMjU[/url]

Bar the occasional dep work I've all but given up on joining/forming a band. My main problem is finding pretty much anyone playing anything with similar tastes and ideas. Where I live metal, punk, blues and general rock bands are ten a penny but they don't interest me. Heavy funk, breakbeat/hip hop influenced stuff is where I'm at. Just keep putting the word about and mebbe something will crop up is all you can do really

Yup, I well like the look of that Yammy, esp that green finish. As for the fretless the shape is great but I just don't like sunburst.

Cripes. Just seen the noms for this year's batch. Makes you wonder whether anyone cares about music anymore or rather what passes for it

Never mind people, you have the BRITS to look forward to, cutting edge ground, breaking stuff like Ed Sheeran, Clean Bandit and err Little Mix

Frequently! If you don't already mebbe have a go learning a completely different instrument . May I recommend a hang drum. Damn good fun it is.

I'm disappointed to see there's no Best Polka Album this year but this is partly made up for by the Best Regional Mexican Music Album award.

Grammys etc . Nowt to do with creativity, just commercial success. Adele's music very safe,very anodyne and very ordinary. A recipe for success in the modern music business.

I agree with others against the idea of music competitions. Once rock n roll was about youthful rebellion. Now it's a business what with awards, competitions etc. If kids are passionate about learning any instrument they'll find a way. Besides, music is subjective and who's to say one player is more worthy of winning a competition than others.

Tears of a clown - The Beat
Take me to the river - Talking Heads
Respect yourself -The Kane Gang
Dear Prudence - Siouxsie ATB
Walk on by - Stranglers
My way - Sid Vicious
You really got me - Van Halen
Summer breeze - Isleys
Aint that a shame -Cheap Trick
Money's too tight to mention and It's only love - Simply Red
Thank you falletin me be mice elf again - Magazine
War - Frankie GTH
....for starters

+2 viz The Stone Roses debut. Utter gash of the first order. And why is it that the NME and other pro-indie rock rags go apeshit over mediocre guitarists who know more than four chords and can play the odd solo? Johns Squire and Marr fr'instance.

Surfin Bird by The Trashmen... well ev'rybody knows that bird is the word!
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gc4QTqslN4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gc4QTqslN4[/url]


[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OXVPgu6urw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OXVPgu6urw[/url]

well Sammers, I never claimed to be fair but thing is such was the stage appeal of Ent's flying fingers he didn't have to leap around etc like his less talented bandmates.

I practise as and when I can and generally manage about four hourly slots a week usually following TalkingBass lessons and working though my list of 200 basslines to suss. Currently it's Gil Scot Heron's 'The Bottle'.

I'm right with you casapete. Too much clichéd 'rawk ' star posing.. Soz folks but a lot of the players nommed here aren't cool. Its not about skills or songs but effortless on-stage charisma. Cultivating a rock star look from the How To Be A Rock Star manual is definitely not cool e.g leather kecks, shades, bandanas, ciggie hanging from the lower lip.... errm basically Guns n Roses. Flea isn't cool. He jumps around on stage in white shreddies.

Chris B. I don't buy into this national pride thing when it comes to music, partly as I'm from 2nd generation immigrant stock but mainly because I dont care where musicians are from if they make music I like. I feel no surge of pride just because Adele or Ed Sheeran have sold x million albums. Personally I think they're both distinctly mediocre. Anyway my OP was mainly about a US institution, the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.

Late winter/early spring, the time of year when music industry blackslapfests kick into gear. Brits in February and R n R HoF in April. I don't think I'm wrong but I always thought the spirit of rock n roll was about rebellion and non-conformity yet look at the HoF noms and they're about as conservative and uninspiring as you can get, especially when the HoF talks of 'class of 2017 inductees'!. How Establishment is that?! So, who are they..Journey, ELO, Yes, Pearl Jam, Tupac and Joan Baez. I dunno much about Joan Baez but other than for being around for a long time (Tupac excepted) what have they done that merits inclusion anyway? Mind you , noms in previous years have been equally baffling e.g Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Ringo, Steve Miller, KISS FFS!!! So what's your take on all these awards given to people who are in the lucky position of being able to make a great living out of doing what they love?

Meatloaf stuff is indeed total ar$ewipe and Bat Out Of Hell (the single and album) is one of the worst bunch of noises laid down on vinyl. As for Bowie I only like his Station to - Scary Monsters period but don't think he ever wrote owt that's truly pants, overrated maybe.

Second and third AC/DC's abysmal Thunderstruck. I'm not old enough to remember the 70s-early 80s but for a short while I guess AC/DC were quite fun but they sure should've jacked it in after Bon Scott died. Quite how the ultra basic Back In Black has sold so well beats me. They make Quo look like Dream Theater they're so rudimentary. Even worse than Thunderstruck.. You Shook Me All Night Long, Who Made Who and Money Talks.

I've a deep seated dislike for anything that could be called Southern Rock. One album that comes in for loads of acclaim is Live At Fillmore East by the Allman Brothers. To my ears it's boring, bluesy noodling that just goes on and on and on....And they're the best of the bunch!

Just wondrin' if anyone has any idea of the % mix of basschatters by main music taste or genre of music their bands play. Based on comments in threads I'd say; general rock 50%, metal 20% , funk & jazz 20%, other stuff lass than 10%. Just back of a fag packet reckoning and probably wide of the mark.

The Arctic Monkeys debut probably had the acclaim as it stood out amid all the dull landfill indie dross that was popular at the time. On its own terms it sure is nowt special

Someone asks, what makes a 'cool' bass player. Well...

1 .not having a bassface for starters
2. not sweating profusely
3. being able to playing complex lines without looking at the fretboard, but preferably being able to have a drink/ciggie/chat with bands mates while doing so
4. not having a foot on the monitor
5. not doing the devil horn thing / saluting the crowd / sticking out your tongue