Look what the Hippies are doing...

[ajblaise]

A lot of the best jam bands and progressive rock bands are hardly known to people who aren't already really into these genres. And it's unfortunate because much of this music is some of the best contemporary rock music around, taking over where 60's psychedelic rock left off.

So here are just two songs by one band that I guarantee you'll like assuming you have ears, just make sure to listen to the whole songs.

YouTube - Umphrey's McGee - Glory - 11/3/2006
YouTube - Umphreys McGee JaJunk JITD 2005

[pure_mercury]

I can't stand most jam bands, but I never cared for the more improvisatory end of 1960s rock, either. I put a major premium on concise, hooky songwriting.

[ajblaise]

Originally Posted by pure_mercury

I put a major premium on concise, hooky songwriting.

Pop music?? Top 40 stuff?

[disregard]

Nice tunes.

[pure_mercury]

Originally Posted by ajblaise

Pop music?? Top 40 stuff?

Not necessarily, but I'd rather hear half an hour of Usher than this music. I watched that first video, and it was really, really annoying. Nice guitar tone, but there is nothing even approaching a song. That was SUCH a long 5:40. I went to a Phish concert once, and it was damn near intolerable without a lot of weed.

[ajblaise]

Originally Posted by pure_mercury

Not necessarily, but I'd rather hear half an hour of Usher than this music. I watched that first video, and it was really, really annoying. Nice guitar tone, but there is nothing even approaching a song. That was SUCH a long 5:40. I went to a Phish concert once, and it was damn near intolerable without a lot of weed.

I guess we have really different tastes. Improv and progressive music seems to be better enjoyed by NP's. I'd shoot somebody if I had to listen to an hour of Usher. You might like the 2nd one better, it's kind of Primus-like.

I'm curious on why you didn't think it even approached a song. Because it didn't have the mandatory hook, verse, chorus...template? It had an intro, buildup and climax though.

[rhinosaur]

I like Umphrey's McGee.

See also:
Disco Biscuits
Lotus
The String Cheese Incident (my personal favorite out of this list)
Pat Metheny
Govt Mule
etc.

And of course the obligatory Phish bootleg. There are some Reba's that bring me close to tears.

[pure_mercury]

Originally Posted by ajblaise

I guess we have really different tastes. Improv and progressive music seems to be better enjoyed by NP's. I'd shoot somebody if I had to listen to an hour of Usher. You might like the 2nd one better, it's kind of Primus-like.

I'm curious on why you didn't think it even approached a song. Because it didn't have the mandatory hook, verse, chorus...template? It had an intro, buildup and climax though.

The guy pretty much soloed the whole way through. If you look at it in terms of jazz, it makes more sense (i.e., soloist and acommpanists), but not when it comes to pop songwriting. That was NOT hooky. I do not dig most contemporary instrumentals, so that is another issue (I really dig Joe Meek, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, et al., the occasional Eric Johnson or Joe Satriani song).

Here is an example of a psychedelic pop song that I love:

YouTube - ELECTRIC PRUNES - I HAD TOO MUCH TO DREAM LAST NIGHT

[ajblaise]

Originally Posted by rhinosaur

I like Umphrey's McGee.

See also:
Disco Biscuits
Lotus
The String Cheese Incident (my personal favorite out of this list)
Pat Metheny
Govt Mule
etc.

And of course the obligatory Phish bootleg. There are some Reba's that bring me close to tears.

If we're making a list know, I'll have to add a few:

Sound Tribe Sector Nine
moe.
Bela Fleck
The New Deal
Medeski Martin & Wood

[colmena]

It sounds suspiciously like dorky American cheese mixed with fretboard wankery.

But it made me laugh.


I watched Good Morning, Vietnam the other day, and have gone all Motown again. Now there's some quality American cheese. "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, baby" *dances*