But nobody even tries to sound like Keith Moon.

some people do

people who try often end up being quite bad drummers. whereas people who work off the bonham model are usually pretty good drummers, or at least decent.

but this guy who played in this band, oranger. he played with preston school of industry also, i think. anyway, whoever he is, he is a very good keith moon-style drummer. the drummer guy for mirroramerica is less spaz than keith moon but also very good in that way, sorta. the guy for deerhoof is also moonspaz kind of good.

clem burke, of blondie, he is maybe the gold standard of post-moon moonspaz drummers. so great!

anyway, keith moon is not crap with a bullet. all instrumentalists in the who were NOT CRAP.

Wow, really? Clem Burke? I never would've guessed that. He seems like such a solid four-on-the-floor guy, but I don't think I've ever heard or seen any Blondie live material.

I look at Bonham as a point on the graph that you can never quite reach, like that old paradox of "how can you ever reach point B from point A, since the distance between A and B can always be cut in half?" In other words, with diligence, you can approach Bonham-hood. Keith Moon, though, I don't even know how you'd teach yourself to play like that if you weren't already divinely wired. But then, I'm not a drummer. Tim, what does your drummer think about the Bonham/Moon divide? (Actually, come to think of it, I can think of some Moon-ish moments from Michael.)

Yes, the Who is not crap. I kind of feel the way about the band that I do about Moon. The Stones are a good comparison here. Thousands of bands have made a go at sounding like the Stones, and some have pulled it off for brief stretches and individual songs. But I can't think of a band that really "sounds like" the Who--Eddie Vedder would like to think his terrible band gave it the old college try, but no way.

I mean, in the Who you've got a drummer who always sounds like he's about to violently derail the song, a bass player who plays like a lead guitarist, and a guitarist who can't solo so he does the bassist's job. Then you add Little Lord Faunterloy on the mic. Weird...

husker du reminded me of the who

just in terms of general impact and desire to smash in that kind of floatingly chaotic and melodious way

gmilner wrote:Wow, really? Clem Burke? I never would've guessed that. He seems like such a solid four-on-the-floor guy, but I don't think I've ever heard or seen any Blondie live material.

I look at Bonham as a point on the graph that you can never quite reach, like that old paradox of "how can you ever reach point B from point A, since the distance between A and B can always be cut in half?" In other words, with diligence, you can approach Bonham-hood. Keith Moon, though, I don't even know how you'd teach yourself to play like that if you weren't already divinely wired. But then, I'm not a drummer. Tim, what does your drummer think about the Bonham/Moon divide? (Actually, come to think of it, I can think of some Moon-ish moments from Michael.)

Yes, the Who is not crap. I kind of feel the way about the band that I do about Moon. The Stones are a good comparison here. Thousands of bands have made a go at sounding like the Stones, and some have pulled it off for brief stretches and individual songs. But I can't think of a band that really "sounds like" the Who--Eddie Vedder would like to think his terrible band gave it the old college try, but no way.

I mean, in the Who you've got a drummer who always sounds like he's about to violently derail the song, a bass player who plays like a lead guitarist, and a guitarist who can't solo so he does the bassist's job. Then you add Little Lord Faunterloy on the mic. Weird...

Clem Burke is great, no question. However I would say Rat Scabies is a little closer to Moon's fury.

tmidgett wrote:husker du reminded me of the who

just in terms of general impact and desire to smash in that kind of floatingly chaotic and melodious way

That's true--I never really thought about them that way before, since I'd always thought of them as "the Beatles" because of the hummability, etc. But yeah, they were Who-like, and Grant Hart could be an inspired drummer in kind of a Moon-like way with the bashing and the crashing. Until the drugs got to him. For a laugh, go back and listen to "Warehouse" and count the number of songs where Hart plays the exact same hyper-syncopated rhythm.

gmilner wrote:But nobody even tries to sound like Keith Moon. What he did was just too weird. It was like he was always playing a fill, even when he wasn't. Somehow he held the songs together (having a rhythm guitarist like Townsend helped), but it's like alchemy--you can never figure out quite how he's doing it.

My buddy, Jim Lindsay is the closest I've seen to this that you describe. It is a true pleasure to watch him play. He was in Oranger and PSOI, now he slings for the High Water Marks. I have never seen him in a band that could match what the fuck all he is doing. Rocktopus.


Jim's not bonkers bonkers, but the drumming........rather in the vein methinks. I've never heard a recorded thing of his that matched the live hitting, though.

Sorry to drag this off topic.


Moon is Goon is Good.


Faiz

Funny...Tim mentioned Jim earlier in his thread. sorry, I didn't see it.



Faiz

kerble wrote:Funny...Tim mentioned Jim earlier in his thread. sorry, I didn't see it.



Faiz

yeah! that is his name. he can bring it in that way.

I'm intrigued that two of you thought of this guy independent of each other. Now I really want to hear him. Rock drumming is such a lost art. What's the best record he's played on?