Jump to content
Why become a member? ×
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt

Mick Karn


Recommended Posts

Thanks for posting that...

 

Mick Karn was one of the reasons that I started playing bass when everybody around me was learning to play guitar. His unique style and sound were so inspirational.

 

I have most of his solo albums - not easy listening for non bass players which goes some way to explaining why he wasn't commercially successful however you only need to look at the list of collaborations to see that he was admired by his contemporaries. 

 

I just hope that his music and fame have the longevity that he deserves.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Count Bassy said:

Totally agre with the chap, except that Mick Karn should be rated, not "up with Jaco", but "well above Jaco".

Well they both certainly had their own unique and distinctive ‘voice’ on the instrument, which I always think isn’t that common - a lot of really good players can sound like a lot of really good players, but don’t have their own distinctive voice.

 

Of the two, musically, Mick Karn appeals to me much more.

 

A genuinely unique musician, and also cool as f**k. It’s a winning combination!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mmmmmm, Karn versus Pastorius.....

 

The 'Pastorius opened the doors' argument is reasonable, but there's something about Karn's style that does seem to have been possible even had Jaco not popularised fretless.

 

When I was 20 Karn seemed to be the epitome of new wave cool, listening to those lines today he sounds kinda.........

 

Jazz 🤔  

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel particularly lucky to have seen Japan twice, both times at Hammersmith Odeon in 1981 *christ...* I still listen to Modern English, the support band for the first gig. Just reminiscing to myself really, nothing to see here...

 

s-l1600.jpeg.7912033615ccc653be65196929260019.jpeg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Mmmmmm, Karn versus Pastorius.....

 

The 'Pastorius opened the doors' argument is reasonable, but there's something about Karn's style that does seem to have been possible even had Jaco not popularised fretless.

 

When I was 20 Karn seemed to be the epitome of new wave cool, listening to those lines today he sounds kinda.........

 

Jazz 🤔  

Funnily enough that’s exactly what I thought today when I watched the video. I’ve never given it a thought before, but when I saw the breakdown of Tribal Dawn I was completely taken by how ‘jazzy’ it sounded… 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I'm not a huge fan of Mick's playing despite growing up in the 80's and the fretless bass being my main instrument. There's absolutely no doubt his talent, technical ability and musicianship is incredible and he has to be considered as one of the top fretless bassist's but his playing is just a little too qwerky and disjointed for my enjoyment. I also never liked Japan for this reason as well. I'm very much in the camp of more melody and harmony and why I associate more with the likes of Pino and Giblin. Likewise, Jaco sounds more melodic to my ears despite not being a huge listener of his playing.

 

Bizarrely enough, last year someone came up to me after a gig and said he could hear Mick Karn influences in my playing which I put down to growing up listening to 80's music thanks to my two sisters and my friend being a huge Japan fan. I guess I was just absorbing what I was hearing. Either way, I went home and started listening to all the Mick Karn stuff I had and I still struggled with it.

 

As for Mick vs Jaco, for me you can't compare, Mick had his style and Jaco had his, equally as talented and equally brilliant.

Edited by Linus27
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mick Karn was always a maverick. It's not really that useful to compare him to Jaco Pastorius in so much as Jaco was an educated musician whereas MK played by instinct. Mick was always very frank about his disregard for conventional technique and saw it as a strength rather than a shortcoming. 

 

Jaco was from a completely different idiom steeped in tradition and scholarship. His jazz background is what defined his style and put him streets ahead of the competition.

 

They're both magnificent in my estimation and I enjoy them both tremendously. Mick Karn was a mesmerising talent back in the early '80's and surely a fretless icon forevermore.

Edited by Misdee
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Frank Blank said:

I feel particularly lucky to have seen Japan twice, both times at Hammersmith Odeon in 1981 *christ...* I still listen to Modern English, the support band for the first gig. Just reminiscing to myself really, nothing to see here...

 

s-l1600.jpeg.7912033615ccc653be65196929260019.jpeg

Tickets available from £2.50. Those were the days...

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

Mmmmmm, Karn versus Pastorius.....

 

The 'Pastorius opened the doors' argument is reasonable, but there's something about Karn's style that does seem to have been possible even had Jaco not popularised fretless.

 

When I was 20 Karn seemed to be the epitome of new wave cool, listening to those lines today he sounds kinda.........

 

Jazz 🤔  

welcome-to-jazz-club-fast-show.gif.b68fe085bed97c6a985ac3539d9b41cd.gif

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thinking about it I suspect Mick Karn supported the song to a greater degree than Jaco, there's a version of No Regrets out there somewhere where he plays some sublime bass that sits so nicely in the space, whereas Jaco, even at his best with for example Joni Mitchell and (arguably) Weather report, always seemed to be a bit more front and centre? Karn an ensemblist, Jaco a soloist....?  

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Mick Karn, reason being, he's the only bassist who I cannot fathom how he plays the way he does. He's like an Alien being with his phrasing and 'melodies' - try as I might, he's probably the only bass player I can't even muster up a facsimile of in terms of tone or playing. A true, true visionary and one of a kind.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw, I think suggested for me by Google on my phone, a list of the 25 best bass players in the universe, ever. Notable absentees were Pino Palladino and Mick Karn. That video by PDBass inspired me to pick up my only bass, a fretless Sire P7, and "dick around a bit". I sounded awful, fair play. It's enough for a good bassist to try to do Mick Karn, a novice like me, well. I had fun though. 😀

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, FieldsNPT said:

I saw, I think suggested for me by Google on my phone, a list of the 25 best bass players in the universe, ever. Notable absentees were Pino Palladino and Mick Karn. That video by PDBass inspired me to pick up my only bass, a fretless Sire P7, and "dick around a bit". I sounded awful, fair play. It's enough for a good bassist to try to do Mick Karn, a novice like me, well. I had fun though. 😀

I suspect that if you heard Mick Karn's tracks isolated and unprocessed they'd sound a little but less impressive than the fully mixed and mastered tracks you're familiar with, so keep going (the guy presenting the video in the first post is clearly quite a handy player but his tone seems a long way from Karn's 80's/90's peak) 👍

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw Japan quite a few times in the early days (around '78-79), when they were a) in their ascendency, b) being derided by every weekly music paper except Sounds and c) very limited fanbase, so audiences were fairly small.  I'm almost certain I saw them at Dingwalls, definitely at The Venue, Music Machine, Lyceum.  My last gig was at The Theatre Royal, Drury lane with David Rhodes on guitar (Christmas 1982).

 

I’d argue that the first two albums and the Live In Japan EP were all 10/10 releases and Quiet Life, while decent, just didn’t match AS & OA; beyond this very much a case of diminishing returns.  I didn’t gel with GTP so much or TD at all; at this juncture it seemed the fanbase were too obsessed with their clothes and hair styles rather than the music.  It just became fashionable to like them if that makes sense.  With me, bands metaphorically tended to fall out of favour if Janice from the typing pool said she liked them.  I detested the Masami Tsuchiya period.

 

On the subject of Mick Karn, he was phenomenal live.  Such a presence.  I just wish I’d paid more attention to what he was doing at those early gigs rather than appreciating the band as a whole, if that makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

it seemed the fanbase were too obsessed with their clothes and hair styles rather than the music.  It just became fashionable to like them if that makes sense.  

 

Yes, for similar reasons I wasn't into Japan at all, but the Girls at school loved them for how they looked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ditto - my big sister loved Duran, the Police, Japan etc and had their posters from Smash Hits, Jackie etc on her bedroom walls. So I had to find my own early teenage music preferences because no way could I like the same as her. Despite that I was strangely drawn to Sons Of Pioneers for reasons I would much later learn to be bass guitar. Ditto New Gold Dream, Rio, Zenyatta etc etc. I still have some of her records that I stole in the late 80s. Don't tell her! Then later she bought me Bestial Cluster for Christmas one year, which is still a frequent listen.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...