Leonard Smalls

Praps what we need is various sub-categories in the Monthly Compo Compo... So there could be "best solo bass noodle", or "Best instrumental" or "best incoherent racket" or "best production" or "overall best song of the month ever". There could be an entertainingly complex poll attached, and a prize of absolutely nowt apart from the overall winner, who'd get to choose the photo, or (and here's the rub), [i]written theme [/i]for the next challenge.

With our band we wouldn't notice as all of us (including the singer) are soloing wildly all the time. Light and shade is supplied with a strobe and smoke machine...

I'm well up for a play any old sh*te challenge. It's what I do best!

Why thank you, Mr Campaign Manager! You can be the Irma Bunt to my Ernst Stavro Blofeld! Unfortunately I can't view the vid - tis private? However, I'll soon be expecting to hear strange, tuneless ditty-less ditties cluttering up the charts and advertising spaces, as well as corrupting the ears of youthful types who would otherwise be Beliebing...

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1453914965' post='2964201'] That's nothing; Lenny has put in an option for a custom 747 in anticipation of his World Tour. [/quote] 747? That's so 1973! I've ordered a custom ratted Virgin Galactic shuttle. ..

Mwahahahaha! My dastardly plan is coming to fruition! Soon we will rename this forum FreeJazzChat, where all talk of bourgeois melody or of shackling our creativity by the imposition of reactionary time signatures will be banned! Now where's my white cat?

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1453745304' post='2962393'] sometimes Lenny limps a bit, but no need yet for a merciful ending. Not yet. Not quite. Nearly, though ...). [/quote] Why I oughta!!!

Cheers Douglas, excellent reviews, as ever! Hope my "song" hasn't given y'all nightmares or, perhaps , diarrhoea!

Bauhaus - In The Flat Field. It affected me deeply as a 17 year old! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnrG904talA[/MEDIA]

Yes I listen to lots of 6Music, as well as searching out recommended stuff of Spotify or Soundcloud, such as this: [MEDIA]http://soundcloud.com/gary-willis/sets/slaughterhouse-3[/MEDIA]

There's always James Chance and his many incarnations... [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuWGUZK95A[/MEDIA]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1453081573' post='2956250'] I'll say one thing about The Dead.They broke up years ago, Jerry Garcia has passed away years ago, yet people are still traveling all over the world to see them. I don't know what it is, but they must have done something right. Blue [/quote] Popularity isn't necessarily a guarantee of kwalitee! People still flock in their tens of thousands to see the decaying remains of Take That... As for The Dead, I've been played bits by various doobie-wielding mates. But never found them interesting enough, beyond the confines of being very stoned at someone else's house, to explore much further. They're one of those bands who I'll very occasionally enjoy merely in passing. Unlike the Beatles, who, despite having explored lots at the urging of various fanbois, bore me to tears. Each to their own! With the Beefheart, I've also been subjected to Trout Mask and been largely unimpressed, despite a love for the weird and wonderful. However, "Bat Chain Puller" is most excellent. Grit yer teeth and enjoy! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLalCFhRvXo[/MEDIA]

Music for me too. With the bass being first thing I hear!

I've found that mos of my musical blind spots are based on the rejection of an artist, or sometimes an entire genre because of 1 (or occasionally more) bad experience. Frinstance, I rejected all of Bob Dylan because of appalling harmonica playing and terrible singing. However, I've enjoyed many of his songs if done by someone else... Similarly, I've rejected folk music due to being traumatised by poor acoustic guitar playing and lyrics involving prettye maydes. And immho, I've been proved right. Though I have discovered exceptions such as the Unthanks or some Richard Thompson. No doubt there's more to be discovered, but there's so much music and so little time! I'm still working my way through The Funk and avant jazz!

Is it just me or is it incredibly quiet?

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1452064821' post='2945948'] The few long term pro musicians I know are all so jaded by the whole thing that they no longer play any music for enjoyment or as a hobby. If they've got any time off the last thing they want to do is play. [/quote] It's always said that the dream is to make money out of doing something you really enjoy doing... However, I know quite a few people who do their "hobby" as a job; in the case of climbers, frinstance, many no longer go out for a climb with their mates because they're too busy teaching numpties how not to tangle their ropes, or trying to stop unruly kids dropping rocks off a cliff. So they basically equate climbing with money making - and no longer enjoy it for what it is. Which is why I never became a climbing instructor! Similarly, I did a bit of session work many years ago. I hated being told what to play, or having to be part of music I actively hated. I stopped before I was asked to play in (the horror!) a [i]musical[/i], and music stopped being fun for me... Now I only play music that I like, with people I like being with. As we all have other jobs we're able to do that - just for fun, same as I go climbing just for fun. Doesn't mean I'm more or less competent than many "pros" just because I'm only a "hobbyist"! It just means I want different things from them...

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1451925996' post='2944657'] [i]I hate the colour[/i] [i]...[/i] [i]...[/i] [/quote] Not a Ken Nordine fan? Or perhaps you are and this is removing the micturition from the great man? Or, and this would be most bizarre, you've been listening to my old band's My Space page and have discovered the song "Curtains" which has the chorus "I hate the colour"? Freaky, man!

I would like to apologise now for the behaviour I have detailed below! And sniggering is allowed, nay, encouraged... http://soundcloud.com/dredd-and-the-badass-weed/eruption Guess why it's called Eruption?

For me, making music is most certainly not about making money. It's about playing stuff that I like and had a hand in inventing. If I get paid as well that's a bonus - though most folks wouldn't fork out to hear my racket! Back in the early 90s we spent years both headlining places like the Marquee, supporting Carter and Gaye Bykers (usually for pay of around £50[i] between us -[/i] the van and roadie cost that!) to audiences of 2000, or playing gigs where virtually no-one turned up. All because we loved it. Shame we didn't make it, but we had a great time - here's a review (contains swearing!) from the Melody Maker: http://www.pushstuff.co.uk/mmlives/barfroco110591.html I'm not saying if we'd been doing covers for functions etc we wouldn't have had such a good time (we wouldn't have lost so much money!) - it's a question of each to their own, what you actually want out of music...

Excellent! We need more daft band photos instead of the mean moody ones...

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1451745845' post='2943025'] Take a look at what The 'Stones, U2, Cold Play, etc. did for their last photo shots. If you see something they did that you like do something similar. [/quote] That's exactly what we did for a photo shoot many years ago...

You won't be laughing when you hear it! It'll be like when a dog eats a rotting rabbit, then sits beside you, slowly leaking. There'll be gagging and choking, a stampede for the exits, and the Government's COBRA committee will have to have a special sitting... Though it's possible I may take pity on the world, and produce some clavinet-based funk with an ear-splitting fake-guitar solo at the end as a nod to modernism!

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1451672856' post='2942336'] I think putting this together if you don't plan on gigging is cool. But, for me if your gigging it's always about what the audience wants to hear. Blue [/quote] For me, playing in a band is [i]only[/i] about producing new music, or if we do a cover, putting and interesting new spin on it. As a result, the audience will only come if they want to hear our music. It's much more risky than being a glorified jukebox, but for me, far more satisfying! This means that I can't (yet - but who knows when pigs will fly!) make a living playing music. But, I'm in 2 bands; the first got back together after 30 years - 2 of the members had succesful careers in that time with chart singles and even supports of u2 (eek!) - and plays good time funk-rock of our own devising involving the wearing of very silly clothing. We gig 1-5 times a year and are recording an album at the end of the month. The other band plays no gigs - mainly because we haven't found a venue for our type of racket - but jam completely improvised free jazz/noise. And we're happy with that! However, it takes all sorts... Some are very happy with playing (or listening to) covers - look at the success of the X Factor! It's about enjoying and playing music. If you're just going through the motions and it's no longer enjoyable, that's the time to give up!

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1451728920' post='2942752'] As per normal I reserve the right to completley miss my own brief by a country mile [/quote] For some reason I see the inside of a large music shop; there's a drummer, fiddling about, a keybord player or 2 testing attack and intonation, and 2 bass players noodling. All are oblivious to each other, or the pained looks of the shop staff or other customers... But then it is raining outside!

Can I just apologise for what I've just done? I think that the MoR/AoR Police will be visiting me to investigate Crimes Against Music! Be afraid...