• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Indie Bassists

#22
+1 to Eric Judy, Steve Popson, Mike Watt

i tend to like more of the older, louder, post-punk / post-hardcore / mathy stuff, some bands with great bass players not yet mentioned include:

Clint Conley (Mission of Burma)
Fred Erskine (June of 44)
Joe Lally (Fugazi)
Jeff Goddard (Karate)
Jason Black (Hot Water Music)
Nate Mendel (Sunny Day Real Estate)
Matt Tennessen / Scott Schoenbeck (Pele) - SS has also been in other bands, some good (The Promise Ring) and some not so good (Dashboard Confessional)
there were like three different bass players in Bear vs. Shark, that band was like a chinese fire drill and they were all good
 
#24
comfortstarr said:
If by Indie we mean: not likely to be played on commercial FM radio in America (as good a definition as any I think):

--David Allen (Gang of Four)
--Colin Moulding (XTC... I think he was mainly responsible for the bass parts)
--Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen)
--Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, solo)
--Bundy K. Brown, then Dan Bitney (Tortoise)

Edit to add: whomever was playing bass on those early-ish flaming lips records (Michael Ivins, Steven Drozd?). That's good bass playing.
Click to expand...

good stuff, doug mccombs plays more bass than anyone else in Tortoise... doug needs his props.
 
#28
check out the bass player in Yeasayer - really loud in the mix, jamerson-inspired and beautiful basslines, really unusual to hear such classic and funk/motown inspired bassplaying in a brand new indie band, plus there's no loud distorted guitars in this band, which in my book is a BIG bonus - very refreshing in this genre. Link Removed

also on a different tip, don't forget Rob Wright from Nomeansno, amazing every time:
 
#30
Phe said:
I have to add The National. Not because of the bassplayer, I have no idea what he is playing, but because the compositions are amazing and the whole band is so good.

And some might classify Wilco as indie, so I'll add that too. Again, no idea about the bass, but c'mon! Nels Cline is killing on that guitar!
Click to expand...

hey that's awesome, you know i really love chopin's work for solo piano too, i mean, there's not even a bass player in it, but that's not what this thread was about, right? it was? oh. sorry.
 
#31
Oookay then.
Let's phrase it this way: The bassists in the bands mentioned above are doing what they are supposed to do; play for the song. And the songs they play are so good that I wanted others to lend an ear to them. I'm guessing neither one of them is a slouch, seeing what caliber of musicians they play with.

Okay, I admit it, I went little off-topic. Sorry.
 
#32
Depends on your definition of indie but id say;

Smashing Pumpkins; technically now an indie band by one definition, was once signed to a major but now (like radiohead) records and distributes their own music

The Cure
Radiohead
Jeff Buckley
Elliot Smith
Interpol
British India (aus)
Faker (aus)
The Butterfly Effect (aus)
Children Collide (aus)
Mystic Valley Band
Karnivool (aus)
Birds of Tokyo (aus)
Regular John (aus)
Cold War Kids
Death Cab for Cutie
Greenwheel
Gyroscope (aus)
Jebediah (aus)
John Butler Trio (aus)
Kaiser Chiefs
Kisschasey (aus)
The Living End (aus)
Modest Mouse
My Bloody Valentine
The Pixies
Powderfinger (aus)
Silversun Pickups
Something with Numbers (aus)
The Subways
The Vines (aus)
Wolfmother (aus)

Plenty more where that came from.

Any artist I've got with the word (aus) next to it means they're Australian (as am I). I'm not sure how big those bands are overseas but many of them are HUGE here. You might be hard pressed finding some of there stuff in an American CD store (or anywhere else) but they are all on itunes and you can find their tabs on sites like ultimate guitar. Its also a chance to listen to some kickass new music you might not be familiar with :)

A lot of the bass lines tend to be very simple but suit the songs perfectly and are fun to add your own fills and style to it. Hope this helps...
 
#37
I'm into indie... :bassist: I saw that Minus the Bear and Deerhoof were both already mentioned; they're great.

Andrew Bird- not a bassist, but all of the playing on his albums is good and very tasteful
As Tall As Lions- some of the coolest grooves
Battles- I guess they're kind of indie?
The Black Keys- their album Attack & Release is good for bass, albeit simple
The Dead Weather- same bassist from The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes, also indie
Fleet Foxes- simple playing, fits the music well
Maps & Atlases- cool, catchy mathy stuff, a good bit of tapping
Portugal. The Man- I can always hear good tone
Russian Circles- indie? I suppose...
White Denim- YES! Just everything about them does it for me...
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back