Leonard Smalls

That sounds to me like a Finnish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest! I much prefer this, which is both heavy and like nobody else - like a Cardiacs of the metal world! And performing in a clothes shop, with no black clothes for the whole band!

Over a million copies of The Satanic Bible sold! Still, never read it... Though I suspect it doesn't contain any road-drill double bass drum, growling, or spotty oiks in Decomposing Baby In The Living Room t-shirts. Or perhaps it does?

They would have nowt to do with any form of sardonic wrath, more like Dionysian frenzy! Because the Church of Satan is about hedonism and carnality, not devils, gods and anti-gods...

Now that's what I call a good cover! And talking of Painkiller, I tend to like much of Mr Zorn's stuff - saw him once with Bill Laswell on Bass and Dave Lombardo on drums, and the only bit I didn't like was Lombardo's double kick drum stuff. Anyway, this is my sort of heavy - Naked City, varying from smooth dinner jazz, to free jazz to absolute screaming racket:

While it undoubtedly takes skill, the melodic bit could be one off many bands and the growly bit is like a comedy interlude. It's like you can only be metal if you do the silly growling!

I can cope with challenging music, in fact I prefer music to be interesting and not too formulaic (unless of course, it's The Funk), but I find most metal to be a bit too much by-numbers. They've all got the same fonts for the band logos, songs are usually about some sort of horror imagery, then there's the annoying constant double bass drum like a road drill, there's sometimes a melodic vocal followed by bizarre growling and the same sounds for guitars - it's all just a bit identikit. I've got nothing against any of those bits in isolation, with occasional use, but when every song by every band could have been done by any other band in the genre, I say PLEASE DO SOMETHING JUST A BIT DIFFERENT!!!! I mean, I like Girlband, Rolo Tomassi, CTL DRP and other bands that use lots of guitar noise, even growling, but that's because they're individual and not just blind followers of the flock...

My Wal's probably nearest to this:

Bit of The Funk before work...

Or they could be called Homeopathy, as in no better than Placebo 😁

I don't think thickening either guitar or bass sound is necessarily needed during a guitar solo, just keeping rhythmic interest... Here's one of my favourite solos, admittedly with sax and piano too, but it comes in beautifully trading melodic lines with the sax, then when it gets going, bass and drums play the main song groove, with regular rhythmic stabs by bass drums and piano. Works beautifully! Helps that the band are seriously good too - this is live:

When the guitarist starts with his solo I usually nip off, put on a baked potato, have a bath and I'll be back in time for his final orgasmic crescendo, where he's standing on a balanced spike, juggling 3 chainsaws and a double-handed highland sword, and is rubbing 2 Les Pauls together like Cockchafer beetles rutting in May...

Probably because they sound brilliant!

Fancied a bit of Baroque Bassoon this morning!

Bit of Scouse new wave: Followed by more scouse-ness:

Not the joyful ode, "Hamburger Lady"?

If you like a bit of a dance, this one's ideal!

The assistant is a sound recordist, as is the person who trassfers rushes (on the very rare occasion this happens anymore), as is the person who records location sound. The person who edits sound (for film/tv, not music) is a track layer or sound editor, and the person who mixes is a dubbing mixer.

I spose Bauhaus came out of new wave... Loved David J's basslines!

They supported us many, many years ago at a dive called The Opera On The Green in Shepherds Bush! I remember there being rather a lot of noise 😁 It might even have been the same night when the first band on was Lost Virgins From Outer Space - an improbably beautiful quartet of Japanese girls who were unable to tune a guitar, or play one for that matter. For them, the only way was up as they couldn't possibly have been any worse!

Bootsy and Jamaaladeen...

They didn't even have one! Their touring rig was so small that everything (the 2 of them, their manager, 2 guitars, 2 tiny combos and a DAT machine) fitted in an old mini...

And we mustn't forget new wave offshoot, No Wave, characterised by funky weird jazzy oddness by the likes of the Bush Tetras and James White/Chance... Here with George Scott 111 on bass:

The Monochrome Set had some cracking bass players, including Andy Warren ex of Adam and the Ants... Twas Jeremy Harrington before him, and their 1st single had an uncredited Simon Croft. Not quite sure if this is the Disquo Bleau or later Rough Trade 7":

I only like 1 thing, and that's The Funk If it's Hard as well I'm even happier. So I like Bach and Schubert (not quite The Funk but great basslines). But not usually opera, as it's about the vox and not even a tiny bit Funky. And I like Motorhead and Dead Kennedys because they're Hard and Surprisingly Funky. But not usually any metal with growly vox as that's not Funky. Apart from Rolo Tomassi. And I like most reggae (Funky), but not usually Country and Western (normally it's Sir Nose Devoid O'Funk). And I like lots of jazz, at least if it's Hard or Funky, which of course excludes most purveyors of elevator muzak a la Kenny G and his ilk. And I can't really be doing with much pop music through the ages because it's neither Hard nor Funky.

I've been busy too... The picture reminded me of going into the local butchers shop a few weeks ago... The butcher was expertly dismembering a pigeon for a customer who was going to do a fancy confit of leg with seared breast in hoojahcapivvy sauce. Hence a rap, in the form of a confessional, detailing with a total lack of empathy how being ignored, mistreated and abused as a child led him to a life of murder... So can I just apologise now? For those who are interested, 2 basses used - Wal and ACG. Keys are Ableton's own piano, plus baby Kontakt funky organ. Guitar is a strat (both) and drums are by Mr EZ, with a few programmed fills. Mixed in Ableton, with the help of Ozone, Neutron and Bassroom.