How's Flecktones for some modern fusion?

[onewebfoot]

I've been obsessing on "Hidden Land" and "Greatest Hits of the 20th Century," and just finishedl listening to "Shocktime" on the latter album mentioned for the third time straight....

and man, this really kicks some serious @ss.

(Hangs head in shame for not gushing over Flecktones more openly sooner... what's the emoticon for that one?)

EDIT ONE WEEK LATER - 9-30-2011
I am still obsessing on Flecktones. One additional album is "Ten from Little Worlds." Combined with "Hidden Land" and "...20th Century", this trilogy of Bluegrass-Jazz-Rock-Folk-Funk fusion has met me somewhere special. I now love Bluegrass true. My favorite fusionistic songs (in a more classic sense of fusion) are Shocktime, Vix 9, Next, Weed Whacker, Puffy, Sherpa, Snatchin, and Labyrinth (Labyrinth tends to be my starting track on any custom mix). And to wrap up that sub-micro-category, there's Chennai (the most mystical in all of the Flecktones tunes I've heard thus far -- my favorite jazz-fusion bands always offer at least one eastern-mystical song, and for Flecktones, Chennai is likely it).

But where does the more well-defined classic fusion stop and modern Bluegrass start, with this band? This group of geniuses? There's no dividing line. So there's also in my heart (with utmost love) Sinister Minister (Funk-Bluegrass fusion), and on the Bluegrass-Jazz fusion side, there's Big Country, Sunset Road, Off the Top, Stomping Grounds, Yeehaw Factor, and everything else. Oh yeah, and Whistle Tune and Pinneapple Heart (folk-blue-grazz fusion and folk-mystic-grazz respectively), and all the rest (too many specials to list).

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones openly defy categorization, they blow the minds of those who attempt to classify their work, and my inept attempts are Exhibit A.
Thank you, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Soon to be picking up three more albums, at minimum...

Now before I relinquish my 50th edit to this follow-up post, and delve into those three additional albums, remember, you heard it here first -- modern blue-grazz fusion.