The thing that puts some people off about "absurdism" in music is that they often detect a slight whiff of arrogance in it; a sort of sidewise allusion to the artist's sense of superiority to his audience. This is most clearly felt when encountering Zappa; the man was a genius, knew it too well, + it colored his relationships with his fans, the media, and his times; +, arguably, swallowed his creative abilities whole by the (sadly too soon) end. Many subsequent absurdist artists in jazz and rock consider themselves his spiritual heirs; and have adopted, with varying results, his tendency to see everyone else below him as dumb human cattle.
I don't know if that's how Claypool feels or not; all I know about him is that his bass playing is almost "otherworldly" even to an experienced "conventional" bass player. His tunings are idiosyncratic, his techniques are even more so. His 'voice' on the instrument is more distinctive than even his singing voice. Is he a genius, or just uniquely quirky? Who can say.
I keep coming back to the idea that "music is language" - the music itself conveys emotional ideas when it finds a receptive audience.
The successful absurdists tap into that - as if the nonsense smuggles the message past our filters. I can understand how the ability to do that would inflate one's ego!
The thing that puts some people off about "absurdism" in music is that they often detect a slight whiff of arrogance in it; a sort of sidewise allusion to the artist's sense of superiority to his audience. This is most clearly felt when encountering Zappa; the man was a genius, knew it too well, + it colored his relationships with his fans, the media, and his times; +, arguably, swallowed his creative abilities whole by the (sadly too soon) end. Many subsequent absurdist artists in jazz and rock consider themselves his spiritual heirs; and have adopted, with varying results, his tendency to see everyone else below him as dumb human cattle.
I don't know if that's how Claypool feels or not; all I know about him is that his bass playing is almost "otherworldly" even to an experienced "conventional" bass player. His tunings are idiosyncratic, his techniques are even more so. His 'voice' on the instrument is more distinctive than even his singing voice. Is he a genius, or just uniquely quirky? Who can say.
I keep coming back to the idea that "music is language" - the music itself conveys emotional ideas when it finds a receptive audience.
The successful absurdists tap into that - as if the nonsense smuggles the message past our filters. I can understand how the ability to do that would inflate one's ego!
If you have not heard these, I respectfully submit:
Else, I show myself out as usual.
"Muffin Man" (FZ/Mothers and Captain Beefheart) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwgYSfqO0fg]
and
"Ice Cream For Crow" (Captain Beefheart) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eCgyK2CyFg]
His band cooks - just sayin'
Definitely weird - and now I'm hungry.