buckets and sticks gonna do the trick

January 24, 2011 5:18 AM

Chicago street drummers.
posted by flapjax at midnite (26 comments total)

Thumptastic.
posted by bwg at 5:25 AM on January 24, 2011

ah. we usually call them bucket boys. nice how the bridge bell contributes to the sound.
posted by lester at 5:32 AM on January 24, 2011

My god. It sounds like Squarepusher.

Why don't the dudes in the subway in New York sound this good?

[NOT CHICAGOIST]
posted by orville sash at 5:37 AM on January 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

I dunno. I normally like me some street drummers, and these guys are clearly highly skilled, but this strikes me as percussion masturbation.
posted by Bovine Love at 5:41 AM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Man, those 5 gallon industrial buckets have been a boon to percussion geniuses of the street. Those kids are great. I love how they are amazingly in sync and then give each other room for solos, seamlessly.
posted by nickyskye at 5:42 AM on January 24, 2011

Man, those 5 gallon industrial buckets have been a boon to percussion geniuses of the street.

True, nickyskye. In similar fashion, industrial junk and detritus served as the raw materials for a whole new type of percussive musical expression years ago down in Trinidad.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:51 AM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Now that everyone has a video camera in their pocket, it's somehow both vaguely sad and completely awesome that previously-fleeting moments like this get preserved for the whole world.
posted by mhoye at 5:58 AM on January 24, 2011

Bovine: While that might be true if this were in private, the motivation here is pretty clear. The virtuostic display is to captivate, entertain and impress an audience. Social context imposes certain constraints and demands on musical performance. This is fascinating and wonderful for those exact reasons.
posted by Jode at 6:31 AM on January 24, 2011

Man, there's nothing like a bunch of guys rolling off sixteenths and double triplets in perfect synchronization. My drum line used to practice the simplest patterns for hours to get the sound that tight. No doubt these guys have done the same.
posted by echo target at 6:42 AM on January 24, 2011

These guys are significantly better than most of the bucket bangers I've seen around Chicago.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 6:46 AM on January 24, 2011

Sure, it seems great. But when you work in the Loop and your office is near a group busking....and you have to listen to HOURS of it while trying to work....it gets old. Fast. At least the other most common busker in the Loop (living statue guys) are nice and quiet.
posted by Windigo at 7:05 AM on January 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

It's Stomp! taking a coffee break, isn't it? Isn't it?
posted by Mike D at 7:14 AM on January 24, 2011

I think that the best bucket drumming I've ever heard.

Best compliment I can give it is that it reminds me of Africa :)
posted by puny human at 7:22 AM on January 24, 2011

Windigo, I'd take it to "Meet the Flintstones" over and over on the saxophone any day.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:30 AM on January 24, 2011

Bucket Bangers vs. An Average Drumline. I would love to see that match up for about a minute.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 7:50 AM on January 24, 2011

I normally like me some street drummers, and these guys are clearly highly skilled, but...

They appear to have been trained for a half-time drumline. The original 1980's bucket drummer kid in New York was self taught, and there's a documentary about him that was shown on PBS. He bucket-drummed his way from a crack fueled home life in the projects to the David Letterman Show.

He would use his foot to lift and drop the bucket mouth on the pavement, getting a talking drum effect.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:00 AM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I always keep a spare buck on me when I go downtown, just for them.
posted by timsteil at 8:41 AM on January 24, 2011

StickyCarpet: Larry Wright (not to be confused with Lawrence Wright). Here's a documentary clip of him from when he was 14. More video.

NYC vs CHI street culture! Let it begin!
posted by jng at 8:45 AM on January 24, 2011

I've seen this crew downtown many times. They usually run a tight drum line, downtown wouldn't sound right without them. I wish I could hear something like that playing outside my office.
posted by MrBobaFett at 11:29 AM on January 24, 2011

They're fun for tourists, but people that live there find the noise disturbing.
posted by twintone at 12:59 PM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow. They're GOOD. Usually you see the bucket kids and it's...not so good.

I wonder how long it took them to get kicked out from in front of the Wrigley Building.
posted by bibliogrrl at 3:09 PM on January 24, 2011

Where's Paul Simon to turn that into music?
posted by eperker at 11:34 PM on January 24, 2011

Where's Paul Simon to turn that into music?

Please tell me that was a sarcastic joke. Please.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:41 AM on January 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Almost have an Ed Blackwell thing going on there.
posted by Wolof at 4:51 AM on January 25, 2011

Haven't thought about Ed Blackwell in a while. He was such a great drummer. Gotta dig out some classic Ornette now.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:25 AM on January 25, 2011

I'm thinking the light sound and the rudiment-heavy yet musical approach with a touch of Africa thrown in, but any excuse to listen to Ed Blackwell is a good one.
posted by Wolof at 6:10 AM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]