Ocean
May 6, 2010 8:32 PM   Subscribe

 
If you were wondering, sometimes the Trio has a drummer and a bassist.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:44 PM on May 6, 2010


Holy shit. That was everything I've ever wanted to be able to write and actually play. Amazingly beautiful and well done. Good show.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:50 PM on May 6, 2010


CREEPY FINGERNAILS
posted by stargell at 8:55 PM on May 6, 2010 [5 favorites]


Thank you for posting this. I like it. I like it alot.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:03 PM on May 6, 2010


nice... my fingers hurt watching it...
posted by HuronBob at 9:11 PM on May 6, 2010


I was skeptical before I clicked the link, but boy howdy was that worthwhile.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:22 PM on May 6, 2010


Check out his other versions--they're just as beautiful, or more so.

Also, I'm glad you put this up. Ocean is one of my all time favorite songs.
posted by myelin sheath at 9:46 PM on May 6, 2010


I know about as much about the intricacies of acoustic guitar as I know about Russian cooking ... but this nevertheless reminds me of Steve Howe, in all the right ways..
posted by philip-random at 9:46 PM on May 6, 2010


Why the missing g-string?
posted by woodblock100 at 9:50 PM on May 6, 2010


Why the missing g-string?

You didn't think he made his money just playing guitar, did you?
posted by Navelgazer at 10:10 PM on May 6, 2010 [8 favorites]


Wow, very cool.
Thanks
posted by dougzilla at 10:43 PM on May 6, 2010


Yeah. Awesome.
posted by Korou at 10:48 PM on May 6, 2010


I've never heard of these guys, never heard of John Butler, and I'm not sure I like his music.

Actually, I do like it. I don't know why.

I'm surprised.

I went "Holy Shit."

Never seen anyone play guitar like that.
posted by Vamier at 11:28 PM on May 6, 2010


He is obviously incredibly talented, and even though his music is too "comfortable" for my tastes, I can appreciate it.
posted by spiderskull at 11:37 PM on May 6, 2010


Great stuff. Is he the new Leo Kottke?
posted by zardoz at 4:28 AM on May 7, 2010


I love the John Butler Trio. I've never seen them live. I had a ticket to see them once but unfortunately I had to go to hospital instead. This is the song that I love the most.
posted by h00py at 4:32 AM on May 7, 2010


If you were wondering, sometimes the Trio has a drummer and a bassist
You know, I was torn about this, as it is obviously Butler's own song, and I had at first written 'John Butler's Ocean', but then on preview I added the 'trio': 1. I think you can hear the drummer keeping time, unless that's Butler's foot; 2. Maybe the bassist helped with some of the chord progressions or composition; 3. they're up there giving him moral support (he seems to be kinda shy onstage, which coupled with his blinding virtuoisty I think is pretty cool); 4. if you're going to look for this record it'll be recorded as the J-B-trio (I know I'm going to!). So, I credited the Trio, as the video poster did too.
posted by Flashman at 5:43 AM on May 7, 2010


Oh wow, haven't thought of Victor in a while.

Also: this is awesome.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:14 AM on May 7, 2010


Wow...
posted by LakesideOrion at 6:56 AM on May 7, 2010


his music is too "comfortable" for my tastes

I can relate to this feeling. This was great, no mistake thanks for posting it. But maybe "comfortable" means the tension/release ratio is low. There was plenty of dynamics. But being a long time Kottke fan it is hard not to be listening for a more intricate melodic line that does not lead so often to triumphant flailing. It really does not seem fair to criticize the guy though; great playing.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 7:12 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


@ Mei's lost sandal et all
I agree with the Kottke distinction, but constrast their ages. Someday maybe John Butler will arrive to where Leo is now.
posted by allelopath at 7:24 AM on May 7, 2010


In similar style, with more pedal looping-ness, see Scott Huckabay. I can't find his most rocking song, Labyrinth, on youtube anywhere though =(
posted by nomisxid at 8:00 AM on May 7, 2010


his music is too "comfortable" for my tastes

I literally cannot understand what you mean here.


Well, he does almost exclusively play notes from a single major scale. Not a bad thing, necessarily, of course.
posted by IjonTichy at 8:06 AM on May 7, 2010


Betterman is probably my favorite JBT song - but damn, Ocean's fighting hard for consideration now.
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:31 AM on May 7, 2010


In similar style, with more pedal looping-ness, see Scott Huckabay

Scott's extraordinarily talented. He blew my mind with his live performance at last year's Burning Man (or maybe it was just the contact high.)

Then I saw his Dolphin Power website, and… not so much.
posted by Ben Gertzfield at 9:01 AM on May 7, 2010


Some observations:
1. I see he's playing the highly popular "12-string with the fucking hair-thin G-string removed" guitar. Seriously, he would have broken that Goddamned thing about 15 times strumming like that.
2. Wonder what tuning that was. Someone with more familiarity with open tunings than I have could probably recognize it just by watching the fingerings. I'd probably just hedge my bets and guess DADGAD.
3. I guess I can see the "too comfortable" thing but I do feel that the dynamic variation made up for the harmonic simplicity.
4. Reminded me a bit of Kaki King in the use of a strange tuning and vigorous strumming, although really the similarities about end there. Still, if you liked that, you might like Kaki King's Playing with Pink Noise too.
Ok, music nerd wannabe done yakkin.
posted by valrus at 10:08 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


Reminded me of Air Tap.
posted by Evilspork at 10:17 AM on May 7, 2010


This was great, thank you. It did make me realize how far out of the loop I am on pop culture matters, when I saw that this video has over 7 million views, and they've been on Letterman. Neither of which detract a bit from the quality!
posted by mkhall at 12:07 PM on May 7, 2010


If we're swapping favourite John Butler Trio songs, mine is Zebra.
posted by djgh at 1:29 PM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


The John Butler clip is fun - reminds me of Rico Loop and his RC-50 demos.
posted by and for no one at 7:21 PM on May 7, 2010


An 11-minute version of Ocean (self-link)
posted by cogat at 7:37 PM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wow wow! This is enough to make me relearn guitar! ('S like a bicycle, right? You never forget?)
posted by Michael Roberts at 7:40 PM on May 7, 2010


I'd never even heard of John Butler until a friend sent me this YouTube link yesterday. Cogat's link encouraged me to do some investigation: he's Australian-American.
He's from Perth. And he's touring all over North America starting on the west coast in a couple of weeks.
posted by Flashman at 8:28 PM on May 7, 2010


(doh - it's huckabay that reminds me of rico)
posted by and for no one at 9:34 PM on May 7, 2010


I saw the JBT when they played a tiny, tiny little show in Bendigo about 5 years ago. They weren't too well known then so it was half empty. But it was still great.

John Butler isn't (or wasn't then, at least) a performer-with-a-capital-P. Not a lot of banter with the audience or playing to us, that sort of thing. Friendly and obviously deeply passionate about his music and the stories behind his songs.

But their actual playing is charismatic as all get-out in person, a real 'Wow, i'm lucky as hell to have seen musicians this good up close' sort of feeling. If you get the chance, highly recommend seeing them live.
posted by pseudonymph at 1:35 AM on May 8, 2010


Nice. The slower first half reminds me a tad of Jimmy Page's Bron-Yr-Aur. At least, it seems like maybe it's the same tuning.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:46 AM on May 8, 2010


I saw the JBT once when they opened for Guster. I was almost too young to really remember the concert, but I remember dragging my dad after the show to buy the CD. I wish now we weren't too far back to really see them play. Wow.

We were, however, much closer to the stage when we saw Rodrigo y Gabriela a few years ago. Watching their hands fly blew my mind.
posted by lilac girl at 2:03 PM on May 8, 2010


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