Music Banter - Albums You're Digging II

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Originally Posted by SATCHMO (Post 1127968)

Oysterhead's The Grand Pecking Order is really good. Oysterhead is a supergroup that went underneath a lot of people's radar and consists of Claypool on bass and vocals, Trey Anastasio from Phish on Guitar, and vocals and Stewart Copeland from The Police on drums. I will say that there are times where the album seems to be deciding whether or not it's a phish album or a Primus album, instead of something original in it's own right, but when the three find their groove it's amazing.

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I also am pretty partial to Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel's Highball With the Devil. I think it takes everything that most have come to know and love about Primus without so much of the cheesy schtick that has gotten in the way of a lot of their music.

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Gotta love Oysterhead. I listened to this album for a few years before even bothering to ask myself "who's the other singer.... who's IN this band with Les?" and finding out it was Anastasio and Copeland was jaw-dropping information. I was luckily able to enjoy the hell out of this album without the thought ever crossing my mind of whether they were 'trying to figure out if they were a Primus or a Phish' or a Police. I don't think the album has that problem, but perhaps the individual listener might have to come to terms with the information and process it. I think it's generally great musicianship and quality songwriting.

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Originally Posted by RVCA (Post 1127969)

Just looked up Frog Brigade. This is pretty sick.

Frog Brigade just has an utterly awesome lineup. If nothing else, Live Frogs 2, the Pink Floyd Animals cover, is worth getting and adoring forever because its not just Animals done by Claypool and friends. It's a whole new flair for the Animals album. I prefer the Frog Bridage to the original now, and that's not to say I no longer enjoy the original. Love the Frog Brigade.

My favorite non-cover song they do is "Running the Gauntlet" in which the other performers all (I believe) get prominent solos. Skerik, Todd Huth, Eenor, etc. and it comes together as such a fantastic little song. I love the lyrics, I love the playing, I love the members. I've dug deep to find all of Skerik's works since finding the Frog Brigade over a decade ago and still can't find the bands Crack Sabbath or Dead Kenny G's (Skerik bands) or anything the other guitarist, Eenor has put out (if anything), but what I've taken from Frog Brigade alone is enough to soothe my soul for years.

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Originally Posted by bob. (Post 1128173)

i have to agree with you all about my just kind of loss of interest in Primus.....for years they really were one of my favorite bands.....but even with this new album they released this year i just came to the realization that its just not for me anymore.....personally i hold Frizzle Fry in high regards still....but like others said....it only takes a few songs till i'm just tired of it

i never looked in The Flying Frog Brigade.....but i definitely enjoyed that Oysterhead album when it came out

I mentioned this in another Les Claypool related thread, but I just don't understand how Primus or Claypool fans in general don't see Green Naugahyde and/or the stuff Les has done in side projects the last 10 years as just as great as his 90s material. Maybe it's a matter of aging or the times. I'm not sure. I don't listen to Claypool stuff every day like I used to, but I still hold him near and dear to my heart. I adore his work. I love his patented bass funkiness and never once ever considered it pretentious or wanker-y.

I don't get the idea that they're not for me anymore. I don't know who they'd be for? Kids? Doubt it. And I refuse to admit that Claypool and his type of music might cease to exist sooner than later. I want him to make records forever and ever as impossible as that is. I'm not sure what makes a certain fan tick and not enjoy the Claypool family and their work anymore, but I'm happy I haven't reached that point and hope I never do.

On the new album there's "Last Salmon Man", the fourth part of The Fisherman's Chronicles series that sporadically appear throughout Primus' discography. I think it's poignant and rockin'. And I'm glad he's tying things together on a macro level. Most know Les is a big fisherman type and it's nice to have this little mini-series of fishing related songs. "Fish On" is one of my favorite Primus songs. "Ol' Diamondback Sturgeon" is another in the series as well as "The Family and the Fishing Net".

Besides the fishing and what, I think G N has a solid bunch of rockin tunes to be enjoyed on album and live. Extinction Burst, HoinFoDaMan, Moron TV (is awesome), Lee Van Cleef, Tragedy's a Comin, Eternal Consumption Engine, Hennepin Crawler. I dunno, the album is full of singles in my opinion that I'm more than happy to play along side some of the classics. Almost more so.

I think the weirdest thing Claypool did was The Fancy Band, which I had the pleasure (yeah, I still call it a pleasure) of seeing live. The highlight of the fancy band by far is Skerik on sax, because I adore his style. The young lady Gabby La La was what made it weird with the ukelele, the theremin, and the sitar, but weird is ok. She's quite good at what she does and she worked herself into the group well, I just think it was one of the more 'off' projects Claypool's done. I think this is the moment I've pinpointed as where fans of Claypool started to scratch their heads and wonder if they were ever going to hear a Primus album or anything similar again, and most in fact assumed they wouldn't and left Claypool by the wayside. As G N came out, only some of those fans that left came back to give Primus a new shot.

I still love them. I have no qualms. Everyone in the Claypool universe is amazing at what they do, they're all still having fun I think and that's important, and I hope Les continues on and on.

Wow I wrote and wrote didn't I?