"No Bass" trend du jour

**rickbass** · #1 04-15-2003, 02:13 PM

Heard the no-bass, White Stripe-imitation, racket of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs??? They get 4 stars ("Excellent. Must Have") from the rag "Blender"

Although I'm obviously biased, I find "no bass" = "no power"/"no groove"/"no heart"

It reminds me of Ali G's fashion-show character as the so-ultrahip-eurotrash-he's-idiotic, "Bruno" of "Funkyzeit" when he says....."Hey, everybody, being gay is the latest cool thing!!!"

Mp3's for your torture are at this address if you haven't heard this wanking - http://www.yeahyeahyeahs.com/ ("Bang" and "Art Star" are free downloads there).

Do you think the emperor is/isn't wearing new clothes???

**Josh Ryan** · #2 04-15-2003, 02:28 PM

Another trend. there are some souless
"people" who do not miss the bass, but they die alone and cold in the end.

I would not worry much about it.

**rickbass** · #3 04-15-2003, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Blisshead
[b]...I would not worry much about it.

Nor do I, Joshua. To me, it's just irksome that the marketing people can foist this stuff as "cool." (Actually, I think the intent is just one less person to pay that the major labels can slip past people who thought Milli Vanilli were "artists"). After all, the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's are on the label which has Fred "the bitch" Durst as an exec VP......and we all know how much he loves music more than money

Matt Till · #4 04-15-2003, 02:35 PM

I know their secret plan: Slowly phase out bass, Slowly phase in triangle... just you wait and see.

hibeam · #5 04-15-2003, 02:36 PM

hmm....it definately has that 'no bass' vibe going on...their music just feels like its missing something.

KeithPas · #6 04-15-2003, 02:54 PM

IMHO I really don't like the stuff that passes for R&B or soul these days (ie Alicia Keyes). To me it looks like a nice looking young woman playing three chords on a keyboard for about ten minutes while the band tries not to fall asleep. It is not funky, original or soulful. Its just boring.

Peter McFerrin · #7 04-15-2003, 03:06 PM

Well, Rick, the Stripes' new album has basslines on several songs, so fear not.

Anyhow, this isn't a commercially significant trend. The Stripes aren't in any danger of going multiplatinum, and the whole garage-rock thing is already getting to be played out. Not having a bassist is, for all intents and purposes, a gimmick: the super-abrasive guitar-and-drums sound just isn't very comforting and is extremely difficult to listen to for more than a few songs at a time.

Peter McFerrin · #8 04-15-2003, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KeithPas
IMHO I really don't like the stuff that passes for R&B or soul these days (ie Alicia Keyes). To me it looks like a nice looking young woman playing three chords on a keyboard for about ten minutes while the band tries not to fall asleep. It is not funky, original or soulful. Its just boring.

You know, I saw a neo-soul band with a good-looking young woman (Angela Johnson, the pride of Utica) playing Rhodes and singing, and I can't agree with you. Her band was funky as hell and asses were being shaken left and right.

Keys is just one performer. Macy Gray, D'Angelo, people like that--they've got killer bands working for them. The increasing prominence of live instrumentation in hip-hop should help to ensure the continued survival of the bass guitar.

KeithPas · #9 04-15-2003, 03:12 PM

I stand corrected Peter, I was really thinking about Alicia Keyes. I am alittle bit familiar with some of the other performers you mentioned and I agree that they are doing musically interesting things.

**john turner** · #10 04-15-2003, 03:24 PM

you know, i don't think adding bass to those mp3s would've stopped them from sucking as bad as they did. in a sense, i'm glad that no poor bass brother of ours had to endure the gut-wrenching torture of playing with those losers.

**rickbass** · #11 04-15-2003, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by john turner
you know, i don't think adding bass to those mp3s would've stopped them from sucking as bad as they did. in a sense, i'm glad that no poor bass brother of ours had to endure the gut-wrenching torture of playing with those losers.

What would make me laugh my ass off is to get onstage with these "pretenders" and shut them down, rhythmically and melodically.....no matter if what was with your mega-strings or my 5-strings.

What bothers me most is the exposure they are getting from the major labels whose sales are shrinking at an incredible rate and the fact they are giving the young guys/girls nothing but garbage to which they can aspire. I long for the days when what I heard on the radio/in the store challenged my skill level.

I remember when the bassists I heard made me think, "How does he/she do that?!?!" instead of, "Yeah, the pre-frontal lobotomy doesn't scare me about my future on the bass."

KeithPas · #12 04-15-2003, 04:59 PM

Quote:

[i]Originally posted by rickbass

What bothers me most is the exposure they are getting from the major labels whose sales are shrinking at an incredible rate and the fact they are giving the young guys/girls nothing but garbage to which they can aspire. I long for the days when what I heard on the radio/in the store challenged my skill level.

I remember when the bassists I heard made me think, "How does he/she do that?!?!" instead of, "Yeah, the pre-frontal lobotomy doesn't scare me about my future on the bass." [/b]

I glad I'm not the only person that feels this way. Whenever I hear some record exec weenie snivel about their awful sales I only wish I could tell them how well deserved those awful sales are.

The Mock Turtle Regulator · #13 04-15-2003, 05:03 PM

I don't mind the yeah-yeah-yeah's - they're better than the White stripes, for whatever that's worth.
the UK music press are lapping them up like they did the White Stripes- "wow- US garage band! we want them!"

the drummer can at least do a passable semblance of drumming, unlike Meg White, and the singer has a better voice.

but still Siouxsie and the banshees did their thing far better, a good 25yrs ago, and with bass....

dancehallclasher · #14 04-15-2003, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rickbass

What would make me laugh my ass off is to get onstage with these "pretenders" and shut them down, rhythmically and melodically.....no matter if what was with your mega-strings or my 5-strings

suuuuuure you would, hotshot. the yeah yeah yeahs put on an incredible live show, for your information. since you say they're a white stripes imitation, you obviously don't spend any time listening critically once you find out there's no bass involved, because those bands could hardly be less alike.

parrott · #15 04-15-2003, 06:55 PM

Personally, I really dig the Yeah Yeah Yeahs - I don't care that they don't have a bass player, and IMO, they don't need one.

Again, they're going for quite an abrasive sound, quite in-your-face, truly emphasised in the live shows - Karen O is the best frontperson I've ever seen.

They're just doing something a bit different, and, again IMO, doing it well.

volker · #16 04-15-2003, 07:36 PM

Thin Lizzy's version of "Whiskey In The Jar" doesn't have a bass in it, but still I like it a lot better than Metallica's!
Not that I really like it, but stuff like for example Justin Timberlake's songs have veeery little bass in it, so that trend is also going on in other genres than just the garage rock one.

elzie · #17 04-15-2003, 07:58 PM

Ahhhhhh!

That was so bad it crashed my browser. I need to go play now just to make up for that.....

LZ

Freaky Fender · #18 04-15-2003, 08:25 PM

Personally, I dig the white stripes, i think it's cool on what they do, and it work. I agree with Peter, they arn't going Multiplatnium anytime soon, but, they're going to start taking a bassist on tour, IRCC.

volker · #19 04-16-2003, 12:00 AM

I only know two songs by The White Stripes - "Hotel Yorba" and this one

**rickbass** · #20 04-17-2003, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dancehallclasher
suuuuuure you would, hotshot. the yeah yeah yeahs put on an incredible live show, for your information.

All I can say is - that's the kind of comment I would expect from someone still playing the campus dormitory scene.

Quote:

...because those bands could hardly be less alike.

How curious they showed up only after White Stripes showed it could be profitable.

Take away the incredible marketing hype and the gimmicky fashion sense, and neither band would last 5 minutes if they had to rely on their musical ability.

One day, you'll get older and see through all these momentary "fads", coldshot, and see that the music is the truth, not the packaging and the paper thin facade that will keep them a hot item.....till September.