Buckethead

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

Btw Mosh, just to pick you up on something you said a page back...

Also looks like this album was released on John Zorn's label. Had no idea how much Zorn was involved in his early career.

Kaleidoscalp (2005), which is about 9 releases down the road for you!, was also released on one of John Zorn's labels, Tzadik.

 

[Mosh]

Cool. Yea Tzadik is his label, lots of good music on there so I look forward to it.

Having trouble finding the next album Funnel Weaver. So this is temporarily on hold.

Edit: nevermind got it

 

[Mosh]

Funnel Weaver
Sheesh, 40 tracks. There are cool ideas but nothing is developed. I wonder what the background on this album was. Short ideas that Buckethead didn't know what to do with but decided to release anyway? This is probably the first "filler" album I've heard. Can't think of any reason to listen to this again, although there are some good songs. Even if they're very brief songs. Some cool vibes and actually more variety than the previous album. It is better in that regard, although the brevity of the songs makes it hard for anything to really stick.

I actually think a lot of these songs would work in the shuffle of a Buckethead playlist. So I went ahead and put the whole album on the playlist. Second time I've done that, the first being Colma.

5/10

 

[Mosh]

Bermuda Triangle
Interesting that so many of these are electronic. Wasn't expecting so many albums in a row to be dedicated to one sound. At first I was rolling my eyes, but this album actually won me over. It isn't as monotonous as the other electronic works. Some of the albums feel more like dance beat after dance beat with some weird noises layered on top. This album has that too, but it also has more vibe-y atmospheric stuff. The sounds are more varied and the guitar blends better with the electronics. Beats are also better and more inspired. This sounds more like a competent electronic release as opposed to an amateur just experimenting with various sounds. I guess that's thanks to Extrakd. Second half of the album wasn't as good as the first, but still some OK stuff. Overall I'm not sold on electronic Buckethead, you could probably make one solid 50 minute album after the 3-4 electronic albums I just listened to. Looking forward to Electric Tears!

Favorite songs
Mausoleum Door - This has a nice chilled out bridge. Not bad.
Sea of Expanding Shapes - This one is cool. Very unlike anything else he's done on these electronic albums so far.
Forbidden Zone - A dance-y tune not that unlike the stuff from previous albums. I feel this song does it better though.
Phantom Lights - Nice bluesy jam.
911

6/10

 

[Mosh]

Taking a detour here to talk about Chinese Democracy. I'm listening to it now (not part of the Buckethead marathon, it was just in a big pile of CDs I haven't listened to) and I've heard this album before but I had no idea Buckethead was this involved. He appears on nearly every track and I've heard enough of him at this point that I can tell when he's soloing. Also the song Shackler's Revenge sounds like it was written by Buckethead, I assume Carroll in the writing credits is him?

So a couple things that I'm wondering: How did Buckethead end up in GNR in the first place? I've always thought it was such a bizarre combination and before I thought he was just with them for a few months or something. I had no idea he collaborated with writing and even appeared on the album. Are there any interviews with Axl talking about Buckethead? What made Axl choose him? Very fascinating piece of history for both artists. Also is Buckethead credited as Brian Carroll on any other albums?

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

Taking a detour here to talk about Chinese Democracy. I'm listening to it now (not part of the Buckethead marathon, it was just in a big pile of CDs I haven't listened to) and I've heard this album before but I had no idea Buckethead was this involved. He appears on nearly every track and I've heard enough of him at this point that I can tell when he's soloing. Also the song Shackler's Revenge sounds like it was written by Buckethead, I assume Carroll in the writing credits is him?

Yip.

Aye, possibly...

And related...

So a couple things that I'm wondering: How did Buckethead end up in GNR in the first place? I've always thought it was such a bizarre combination and before I thought he was just with them for a few months or something. I had no idea he collaborated with writing and even appeared on the album. Are there any interviews with Axl talking about Buckethead? What made Axl choose him? Very fascinating piece of history for both artists. Also is Buckethead credited as Brian Carroll on any other albums?

Buckethead is Brian Patrick Carroll. I can't think of any other album that uses his real name, other than Chinese Democracy. I was quite surprised when I first got the album and read that.

Listen to the Josh Freese interview at the start of this thread for how Buckethead got into GnR; it's very, very funny. Brain's stories, in the other two interviews posted, are also priceless.

Josh Freese Interview (2013):
Josh Freese talks about Buckethead in an interview in 2013 by I'd Hit That for a PodOmatic podcast.
Episode 34 - John Freese
(> YouTube Edit)

Bryan "Brain" Mantia Interview (2015):
Brain talks about Buckethead (& other stuff) in an interview in 2015 for The Five Count radio show.
An Evening With Primus' Bryan "Brain" Mantia...
(> YouTube Edit)

Bryan "Brain" Mantia Interview (2015):
Brain talks about Buckethead in an interview in 2015 by I'd Hit That for a PodOmatic podcast.
Episode 78 - Brain
(> YouTube Edit)

Can't believe you've not read my opening posts in this thread!

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

I'm listening to that Freese interview right now, so funny!

@Mosh
@Forostar
You have to listen to this:

 

[Mosh]

That was awesome. The disneyland stuff is really interesting. How come he has never released the Disney music? I remember reading something about it on his website in the pre-Pike days.

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

That was awesome. The disneyland stuff is really interesting. How come he has never released the Disney music? I remember reading something about it on his website in the pre-Pike days.

It's mentioned in the "Unreleased albums" section of his Wiki entry, as Buckethead Plays Disney. I don't know where else it's mentioned. I think it's all part of the Buckethead mythology.

Btw, the PodOmatic Brain podcast/episode is even funnier; listen to the YouTube cut of that.

 

[Mosh]

I will check out the other videos later.

There was an FAQ on the old Bucketheadland website (the one with different "attractions" for each page) and Buckethead Plays Disney was mentioned as a work in progress.

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

I will check out the other videos later.

There was an FAQ on the old Bucketheadland website (the one with different "attractions" for each page) and Buckethead Plays Disney was mentioned as a work in progress.

Mosh, this is all in my opening posts! Read them!

Other Scraps:

Buckethead FAQs
www.bucketheadland.com
Official Buckethead website; out-of-date & now abandoned.
Last updated about 2012; much of the information dates to several years before this.
FAQ Version 1.0 By Robert White (1999)
FAQ Version 2.0 By Robert White (2003)

The old FAQ's mention that it's Bucket's "most precious personal project" and is "highly anticipated"...

34) When is Buckethead Plays Disney going to be released?
This highly anticipated album, once listed in an Avant catalog, has yet to be completed. It is Buckethead's most precious personal project so he won't record or release it until he knows he is ready. It is slated for release sometime before the burial ritual described in question #33.

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

Question #33:

33) Does Buckethead have any hobbies?
Taxidermy, Sports, Martial Arts (Nunchukas), breakdancing (robot-style), video games, and visiting Disneyland. He has been there over 500 times. "I like Disneyland. I want to be buried there--parts of me in It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean, plus parts in Tokyo Disneyland, Euro Disneyland, and Florida Disney World. There are enough bones to go around."

 

[Mosh]

I do think it would be cool if Disney worked with Buckethead and got him to play at the park or something. He'd fit right in IMO.

Electric Tears
This is one I was very much looking forward to, as I have seen it referred to as a spiritual successor to Colma (my favorite so far).

Favorite Songs
All In Waiting - I really love the way Buckethead layers his acoustic guitars. It's easy to overdo it and make it sound almost artificial, but here it sounds completely natural and raw.
Sketches Of Spain - This is interesting because it gives another glimpse of the man under the Buckethead. No Buckethead songs so far (At least from what I can remember) have any apparent Jazz influence, his playing so far has been pretty traditional shred with some classical thrown in, but here is a song named after an album by and dedicated to Miles Davis. On top of that, it is a rendition of Concierto de Aranjuez which is part of the classical guitar standard repertoire. Shows a whole new side of Buckethead that hasn't been exposed yet. Good rendition too.
Here is the Miles version btw:

Padmasana - This does not feel like 11 minutes. Very hypnotic tune but kept me interested the entire time.
The Way To Heaven
Baptism of Solitude
Mantaray - This song took me on a journey. Very dynamic, lots of sublime moments.
Electric Tears - This one is very minimalist and nice. I wish there were more songs on here with just one or two guitars.
Spell of the Gypsies

The Verdict
Not as good as Colma, but another great album. I was impressed at how different this sounded in comparison to Colma. With something as basic as mostly clean/acoustic guitars and nothing else, I expected something pretty similar but this album has quite a different mood. It's not as relaxing as Colma, there are actually some tense/heavy moments, despite being mellow overall. The arrangements of the guitars also very. Sometimes it's all clean guitars. Sometimes it's a mixture of clean and acoustic. Then there are guitars with effects. I still think that Buckethead is at his best in this mode.

8/10

 

[SixesAlltheway]

Are you gonna do the pikes too @Mosh or just the official albums?

 

[Mosh]

I plan on doing all of it.

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

I do think it would be cool if Disney worked with Buckethead and got him to play at the park or something. He'd fit right in IMO.

Maybe Freese's Father will make it happen.

Sketches Of Spain - This is interesting because it gives another glimpse of the man under the Buckethead. No Buckethead songs so far (At least from what I can remember) have any apparent Jazz influence, his playing so far has been pretty traditional shred with some classical thrown in, but here is a song named after an album by and dedicated to Miles Davis. On top of that, it is a rendition of Concierto de Aranjuez which is part of the classical guitar standard repertoire. Shows a whole new side of Buckethead that hasn't been exposed yet. Good rendition too.

I think it merely reflects that at one point (when he was young) he had formal lessons; he took some early lessons from Paul Gilbert. He also did an album with Jonas Hellborg in 1993 called Octave of the Holy Innocents, which is very Jazz influenced. You might want to check that out.

Then there are guitars with effects. I still think that Buckethead is at his best in this mode.

It is one of my favourite Buckethead moods too. In later albums & Pikes he combines this with heavier elements & the result is some of his best music in my opinion.

It's not as relaxing as Colma, there are actually some tense/heavy moments, despite being mellow overall.

This is very close to describing the appeal of this type of music. It's melancholic, moody; there's an urgency to some of it too. Makes my mind wander...

I plan on doing all of it.

All the Pikes?! That's nearly (or it will be by the time you get to the end of this!) 300 albums. That's crazy talk.

 

[SixesAlltheway]

All the Pikes?! That's nearly (or it will be by the time you get to the end of this!) 300 albums. That's crazy talk.

You heard the man. He didn't even add a smiley. Pure business. I'd like to do a similar project but I don't think I have the willpower

 

[Mosh]

I think it merely reflects that at one point (when he was young) he had formal lessons; he took some early lessons from Paul Gilbert. He also did an album with Jonas Hellborg in 1993 called Octave of the Holy Innocents, which is very Jazz influenced. You might want to check that out.

I am curious about the extent of his training. His raw technique is insane, but with his songwriting he mostly sticks to very basic chords and scales. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it seems to suggest that he never studied theory or anything like that.

It is one of my favourite Buckethead moods too. In later albums & Pikes he combines this with heavier elements & the result is some of his best music in my opinion.

This is promising. I really want to see him combine the two elements effectively. So far he hasn't done this.

All the Pikes?! That's nearly (or it will be by the time you get to the end of this!) 300 albums. That's crazy talk.

You heard the man. He didn't even add a smiley. Pure business. I'd like to do a similar project but I don't think I have the willpower

I actually don't think it will be too bad. If I do 1-2 albums a day I'll be done about halfway through the year. The Pikes are also really short so I will probably be able to do a few a day. Dunno if I will review them all apart from a few sentences for each though. Depends on how much content is in there.

 

[SixesAlltheway]

Well, sign me up for the pike listening. I needed an insane music project anyways. Tag me when you get to the pikes and I'll join!

 

[CriedWhenBrucieLeft]

I am curious about the extent of his training. His raw technique is insane, but with his songwriting he mostly sticks to very basic chords and scales. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it seems to suggest that he never studied theory or anything like that.

Remember he doesn't really do interviews, but you get hints here & there...

Buck's peaks and troughs come from his weirdo
scale forms and note choices, including minor 9th intervals, whole tones and
stacked minor seconds. Surely Leatherface didn't teach him that. "I got a lot of
mileage from Slonimsky's "Melodic Patterns", he says of the late musicologist's
classic text. "There's a lot of really disjointed stuff in there, like far-apart
intervals and octave displacement [the transposition of certain notes in a phrase
or chromatic line an octave above or below their normal scale position]. There's
also a section on quadratonal arpeggios - that sounded crazy." In addition to
Slonimsky, lessons with Mr. Bug's Paul Gilbert and classical guitar
studies sharpened Buckethead's technique, right-hand/left-hand independence
and theory chops. He's also picked up a thing or two from books by G.I.T.'s Steve
Trovato, and he's plundered Danny Gatton and Albert Lee videos to learn, uh,
chicken picking. These days, though, he says he's more inclined to leave the
books at home and trust his ears. "I just love the sound the hammering stuff
makes", he insists. "It isn't about using four fingers on both hands. That's just
the technique I use to get there. It's not even that tough to do technically , but
the way it sounds is so bizarre. When Shawn Lane plays fast, it's like a swarm
of notes; it really creates a texture."

Destroy all Monsters (interview)

... and from the FAQ:

08) Does Buckethead have any formal musical training?
Buckethead has cited lessons with Paul Gilbert, classical guitar lessons, Nicolas Slonimsky's book Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, instructional books and videos (by Steve Trovato, Danny Gatton and Albert Lee), and the writings and works of Glenn Gould as major points of his musical studies. And in an interview in the Wire by James Rotondi: "I’m actually much more interested in the way athletes train than the way musicians do," says Buckethead, who finds musicians’ tawdry drug histories more tragic than mythic. "I love when people are at the top of their game. Jordan has all the money he could possibly need, but his drive to win is still the main thing. A lot of people lose that. He really lives it."

FAQ Version 2.0 By Robert White (2003)

This is promising. I really want to see him combine the two elements effectively. So far he hasn't done this.

There's several Pikes in particular I was thinking about when I said that. Will be interesting to see when/if you make it that far...

I actually don't think it will be too bad. If I do 1-2 albums a day I'll be done about halfway through the year. The Pikes are also really short so I will probably be able to do a few a day. Dunno if I will review them all apart from a few sentences for each though. Depends on how much content is in there.

Yip, they're only 30 minutes so you could easily listen to one or two (or more) depending on how motivated you remain.

Well, sign me up for the pike listening. I needed an insane music project anyways. Tag me when you get to the pikes and I'll join!

This'll be fun. Foro has basically already done this (although maybe not listened to all of them all the way through); so should be interesting to see how much opinion variation there is.