Comments on: Good Lick Fingering

Good Lick Fingering

Pastabagel — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:35:37 -0800

He is the chicken-picking, pop-locking, nunchuking avant-garde guitarist that is part giant robot and part Michael Myers. In his 15-year recording career, he has released over forty albums with the likes of Bootsy Collins, Bill Laswell, Iggy Pop, and Viggo Mortensen. His work under a pseudonym inspired William Gibson. He toured with Guns 'n' Roses and was offered a job by Ozzy but refused to perform without the bucket. His best conventional work may have been with Praxis, but his solo work is not to be ignored. His real name is Brian, but you can call him Buckethead. For your consideration 1 2 3 4.

By: stifford

stifford — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:58:59 -0800

Buckethead is a fun show to catch, if he ever comes through your town.

By: o2b

o2b — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:59:39 -0800

I'd never heard of Buckethead. He's really really good, wow.

By: lester

lester — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:05:55 -0800

ha. i read somewhere that chinese democracy was delayed for a bit while they built a chicken coop in the recording studio for him.

By: Kwine

Kwine — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:09:52 -0800

I saw him with Primus at, I think, OzzFest '98. He never moved his feet during the set-just stood there swaying and fingering. I went home and had a nightmare where he was swaying outside my bedroom window.

By: maryh

maryh — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:21:16 -0800

I first became aware of him because of this Hieronymus Bosch inspired music video. He's pretty amazing, and amazingly odd. Thanks for the post.

By: stifford

stifford — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:22:09 -0800

He has another tour starting in September. I've seen him twice solo (once just him, and the next time in a trio), as well as at the first Bonnaroo as part of Col. Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:25:22 -0800

He'll show up randomly at Primus/Les Claypool shows. The man's got some incredible chops, and obviously the bucket isn't keeping him from making a living - he's put out something like an album a year or the past ten years, plus touring with Guns & Roses. I highly recommend the first Praxis album and Monsters and Robots.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:34:23 -0800

Well, I'll be damned. So that's the guy I saw at 1 in the morning on PBS. I almost posted in AskMe to find out who he was. Thanks, Pastabagel!

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:47:16 -0800

I had only heard of him, and even then it was incorrectly linking him to Nine Inch Nails. A few weeks ago I saw the #2 video, and my jaw hit the floor. Funny how youtube turns out to be a great way to discover new music. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of the Praxis stuff and his older solo albums, like Colma and the Death Cube K stuff, are out of print.

By: unSane

unSane — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:47:29 -0800

Anyone who read Guitar Player in the 90s is familiar with Buckethead's column. Scratch him and you just find another metal kid, sadly.

By: freebird

freebird — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:47:48 -0800

Yay! I loved Praxis, and always wondered what else Buckethead did. Nice post.

By: swordfishtrombones

swordfishtrombones — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:40:37 -0800

Excellent post. I had heard the name, but never actually heard any of his music. That video that maryh links to is absolutely awesome. Scary, but awesome.

By: hototogisu

hototogisu — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:56:40 -0800

Buckethead really puts the fun back into gratuitous guitar wankery. That Bosch video is awesome...

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:00:01 -0800

Interesting post. Thanks, Pastabagel.

By: bokeh

bokeh — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:57:47 -0800

My metacarpals just exploded.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:09:32 -0800

Video #2 is acoustic, for those who don't like electric guitar. It's also very, very dark. Like, they should turn a light on.

By: trinarian

trinarian — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:36:58 -0800

Les Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains one of many, many side projects.

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 16:41:30 -0800

Been meaning to see this guy for years-- thanks for the post.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:35:23 -0800

I think Buckethead should team up for an all-star session, sharing the stage for a blisteringly anonymous performance with everybody's favorite giant-eyeball-heads the Residents, and those shakuhachi playing monks who wear baskets.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:50:22 -0800

They can never hold that concert for the same reason you should never meet yourself if you go back in time - spontaneous apocalypse. I kind oflike the idea of anonymity in performers. Too much of music today is focused on how the performer looks - think of all those 80's guitarists with long hair and absurd clothing. Now, the hair is short, but you have to have pierccings and a tattoo-covered torso. But by wearing a mask, he strips away all the pose from the performance. Watching that Guns n Roses clip, it becomes apparent that the guy with the bucket on his head is the least absurd-looking person on stage.

By: illovich

illovich — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 19:20:23 -0800

>i>Anyone who read Guitar Player in the 90s is familiar with Buckethead's column. Scratch him and you just find another metal kid, sadly. Really? I find his obvious love for ODB sort of touching, even if it's sort of silly at the same time.

By: illovich

illovich — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 19:20:44 -0800

Bah, I messed up the quote there, sorry.

By: djeo

djeo — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 21:51:06 -0800

Nice post! He's going to be in my town Oct 11 and I plan on being there.

By: metaplectic

metaplectic — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:48:57 -0800

While there is no questioning Buckethead's manual dexterity, I find his playing tedious and unmusical. :>

By: lumpenprole

lumpenprole — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:57:06 -0800

Buckethead is a fun show to catch, if he ever comes through your town. Well geez, I hope it's better than that #1 video. I mean, if I want to see maladjusted white boys in funny hats stare at thier feet while trying to recreate Eddie Van in their heads, I'll just hang out at my local Guitar Center.

By: stifford

stifford — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 07:47:23 -0800

Well geez, I hope it's better than that #1 video. I mean, if I want to see maladjusted white boys in funny hats stare at thier feet while trying to recreate Eddie Van in their heads, I'll just hang out at my local Guitar Center. If they also do knunchuck routines while playing, and zombie -head puppet shows to WuTang songs, I may need to start hanging out at Guitar Centers more. But maybe he's not your thing. Tix are usually pretty reasonably priced though (about $15, when I've seen him) Although these days, Eddie Van Halen may actually look scarier.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 08:15:06 -0800

Not to to start an arugment here, but I think guys like Buckethead, Satriani, and Vai, and others are much better guitarists than Eddie Van Halen. They can all play his material, I doubt he can play theirs. That said, he certainly writes more popular tunes, in a pop but that doesn't speak to his guitar playing ability or his ability to write music that explores and expands the range of the instrument. Also, I think Buckethead's music, like Whitewash for example, are very memorable, and don't have the gratuitous wankery that people like Malmsteen throw into their music.

By: troybob

troybob — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:50:48 -0800

i'll never forget the first time i saw the infomercial for the rejuvenique facial toning system...the portrayals of reclining women wearing expressionless white masks creeped me out (i was most certainly stoned at the time), and yet i was intrigued by it and decided that i wanted one really badly, and i wanted to wear it all the time, but without the cord attached, of course...i thought of buying one (so this is how those infomercials hook people), but my partner wouldn't let me pay the $200 or so for the full facial system just to get that particular mask... ...and then one day i saw buckethead, and not only did he have the mask, but a chicken bucket as well, and i thought it was brilliant, though i was a little upset that he stole my idea... ...the thing is, as attracted as i was by the look, i never really checked into this guy, so thanks for the post...fascinating...