DeAngelos Voodoo Just Bass and Drums

[LittleOcean]

So this is the whole record. Every song with the drums and bass isolated.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmP5lRgyFJ3dhtv6oLjXQa9D_Bd2TpTzU

This album is the natural implementation of J Dilla's sloppy beat. Ahmir Thompson (Questlove) worked extensively trying to undo his years of perfect timing to create a live version of the drunk drummer.
Nowadays countless genres are borrowing and reinterpreting this idea. This is the root of all neo-soul, lo-fi beats, etc, etc and it's worth a careful listen.

You may not be under its spell just yet but I guarantee that if you asked the artist inspiring you today about DeAngelo and Pino Palladino and those Electric Lady sessions, best believe it is somewhere up the chain of inspiration.

The role of the bassist has been reinvented to a certain extent over the past few years but it's important to remember what the original role of the bassist is. This is a good place to start. You start with where the notes are, not so much with which notes they happen to be. Groove is in time, where the notes bloom, and how long they last.

The bassists on Voodoo are DeAngelo himself, Raphael Saadiq, Charlie Hunter, and Pino Palladino.
Who are your top 5 bassists, top 5 bassists? Probably some of these guys.
Listen to it

 

[andare]

I don't get this album. The snare is tuned too high, the bass is under water, the vocals are unintelligible.
I understand the groove but not the tones. Maybe I'll give it one more chance one day.

 

[Auer]

I find it stale compared to "Black Messiah".

D'Angelo and The Vanguard was great.

 

[LittleOcean]

I don't get this album. The snare is tuned too high, the bass is under water, the vocals are unintelligible.
I understand the groove but not the tones. Maybe I'll give it one more chance one day.

Yeah tbh I listened to it like 10 years ago a few times after hearing so much hype about it and thought the same thing... 3 years later I gave it another shot and came around to it. Pretty much everything that came out of those sessions sounds like that. Mono drums. It's a bit pretentious but the reason is the same reason you can't hear the diologue in a Christopher Nolan movie, it's mixed for the purist and screw the rest of y'all with mediocre headphones. Chris Nolan mixes for Dolby Atmos. Don't bother to watch the movie if you're not in a theater. The same applies. Listen thru a nice pair of monitors and it makes so much more sense. This is an understandably controversial approach but alas...

 

[LittleOcean]

I find it stale compared to "Black Messiah".

D'Angelo and The Vanguard was great.

Yes it feels wrong but Chris Dave does something quest could never do. Chris Dave does something no one has ever done. I got to see Chris, Isaiah, and Pino at the blue note in NYC with Robert glasper and I haven't fully recovered. I'm going again in April too. It's insane.

 

[andare]

Yeah tbh I listened to it like 10 years ago a few times after hearing so much hype about it and thought the same thing... 3 years later I gave it another shot and came around to it. Pretty much everything that came out of those sessions sounds like that. Mono drums. It's a bit pretentious but the reason is the same reason you can't hear the diologue in a Christopher Nolan movie, it's mixed for the purist and screw the rest of y'all with mediocre headphones. Chris Nolan mixes for Dolby Atmos. Don't bother to watch the movie if you're not in a theater. The same applies. Listen thru a nice pair of monitors and it makes so much more sense. This is an understandably controversial approach but alas...

I've listened through decent headphones. Still doesn't do much for me as a listener. I'm interested as a bass player but it's hard to get through. Not much of a neo soul fan I'm afraid.