So. Lightning Bolt.

Okay so somebody has to start making some actual decent threads in here.

<img src=http://bluezeta.com/~tk/lightning.jpg>

<a href=http://laserbeast.com/>Lightning Bolt</a> is a two-piece experimental band that consists of a guy playing insanely fast drums and a guy playing a bass guitar. The bass is distorted and this guy does everything from thunderous rhythm to insane solos that you’d have a difficult time pulling off on a standard electric guitar (if you don’t know much about guitar-playing, bass guitars aren’t designed with crazy soloing in mind. It’s much easier to do that stuff on a standard guitar). Recorded, they are impressive as hell; live, they’re essentially the most insane thing on the planet and have the power to drive an audience out of their minds.

I went and saw them play two nights ago and it was one of the more intense things I’ve ever been involved in. It was so intense that when I removed my shirt because it was too full of sweat to keep wearing, I threw it at a basketball hoop and then couldn’t find it after the show. Whoops, that was my favorite shirt and was more or less irreplacable. Now I lost it because Lightning Bolt was so fucking amazing.

There are a lot of live MP3s on the web site (and also one of Muse trying and failing to cover one of their songs!). Download them, and then do yourself a favor and check the tour dates so you can find out when they come by your town so you can lose your favorite T-shirt.

If the shirt was irreplacable, why did you take it off?

You really don’t think about that sort of thing when you’re in the middle of a Lightning Bolt show.

They sound pretty cool, however theres only one decent experimental band for me, and thats the mars volta, and they will always be.

But they do sound good, and their live shows look great! I’ll download stuff.

Pfft. They are so much better than The Mars Volta.

I didn’t even know people called TMV "experimental." They don’t seem like it to me. But whatever!

Just go see Lightning Bolt! You can’t imagine how great their show is just from hearing recordings.

I downloaded 3 mp3s and think they sound good and pretty crazy, but definitely seem like a band that really only works live.

I’ve never met anybody who’s said they like to listen to Lightning Bolt recordings frequently. So yeah, the point of the band is the show.

I’d love to hear dracula mountain, purely so that I can hear how muse "failed" to play it.

i thought tmv albums were considered "concept albums", than anything else. I wouldn’t know what either meant specifically (referring to concept and experimental), but TMV is gr8. they are psychadelic rock

I’d love to hear dracula mountain, purely so that I can hear how muse "failed" to play it.

They got the sound completely wrong. It just sounds like a bunch of stupid guitar wanking. Basically it sounds as empty as you would think Lightning Bolt would with just one instrument; it has none of the fullness that makes them so amazing. I’m not dissing Muse (I’ve never even listened to any of their music), I’m just saying people really shouldn’t try to cover songs by bizarre concept artists who are fun to listen to because of a very specific inimitable sound.

But anyway, see for youself: <a href=http://bluezeta.com/~tk/lightningbolt_draculamountain.mp3>Dracula Mountain.</a>

… That’s some pretty crazy/ insane stuff. I don’t really like any experimental but this has totally changed my outlook on experimental.

They got the sound completely wrong. It just sounds like a bunch of stupid guitar wanking. Basically it sounds as empty as you would think Lightning Bolt would with just one instrument; it has none of the fullness that makes them so amazing. I’m not dissing Muse (I’ve never even listened to any of their music), I’m just saying people really shouldn’t try to cover songs by bizarre concept artists who are fun to listen to because of a very specific inimitable sound.

But anyway, see for youself: <a href=http://bluezeta.com/~tk/lightningbolt_draculamountain.mp3>Dracula Mountain.</a>
I’m more pissed off that they said they were "some pop band," sounding like a pair of stuck up asses.

And I have no idea what i’m missing, but the main riff sounds basically the same without the vocal sound. Blah.

Bumped back up because they’re great and their music should be heard.

Listening to Lightning Bolt, I see nothing special about it, at all, but that’s just me. When you described it to me as insane and experimental etc, I actually thought maybe it would be, but the performances don’t stand out for me in any way.

Some of their stuff start’s off okay but then it’s all over the place,I guess I’m not really into them.

hey how about posting a link to the craziest most experimental song of theirs that you have. I’m curious.

a member on another forum was curious about lightning bolt and wanted to talk about them. i was the only member that was able to do so, thanks to our very own tk. thanks tk!

Pfft. They are so much better than The Mars Volta.

I didn’t even know people called TMV "experimental." They don’t seem like it to me. But whatever!

Just go see Lightning Bolt! You can’t imagine how great their show is just from hearing recordings.

They have been called alot of things.

Progressive, Emo, Metal, Jazz, Experimental, Phsychadelic (sp?) Rock, Concept Rock, Aternative Rock, Post Rock, Punk, Ethnic and Indie.

Some of them are bullshit, like Ethnic..!? Anywho, I think they are pretty experimental, in their live shows they go on 12 minute plus outbursts (per song) of untabbed keyboard, guitar (both bass and electric), drums and percussion, and their (live) songs change indefinately every time.

Oh, and Cassie, as far as I inderstand it they are also concept…which means that their albums are "one huge song" basically.

But this has nothing to do with Lightning Bolt, so anywho, they sound VERY good actually, I decided to take another few listens after re-visiting this thread, and would be interested in seeing them live.

Some of them are bullshit, like Ethnic..!? Anywho, I think they are pretty experimental, in their live shows they go on 12 minute plus outbursts (per song) of untabbed keyboard, guitar (both bass and electric), drums and percussion, and their (live) songs change indefinately every time.

MAybe I’m misunderstanding, but isn’t that just jamming?

I think you guys are misinterpreting the term "experimental." It’s really not a musical genre, as far as I know, and it isn’t synonymous with "crazy" either. It just means they are doing something weird and untested. In this case, making a shitload of noise with just drums and a bass, doing rhythm and lead at the same time.

rezo: I’ll update this post later with a link, I guess, but I don’t think that there is a "most experimental" song because of the first part of this post. I’ll decide on the craziest one, though.

I know what experimental means >=\

I just figured whatever song they tried out the oddest things in would be a fairly crazy song since people seem to like describing them as loud hectic music that is hard to listen to for long periods of time. But if the experimentation is just referring to them just using only drums and a bass and nothing compositional, then it’s far less interesting. =\

My point is, I don’t think "experimental" is compositional. How could it be?

Anyway, I would just go to the web site and listen to all the NYE MP3s. They are the best of the ones on the site, and should give you the best idea of what they do. Just make sure you listen to it loud, because it loses a lot if it’s quiet.

My point is, I don’t think "experimental" is compositional. How could it be?

Coming up with odd mixes of styles and such in the writing of music and seeing what sticks. The performance would just be a means to an end. The alternative is playing a more conventional style in an odd way. Like… "I’m going to drum… but my drums will be plastic chairs and t-cups!"

every single element that goes into making music can be experimented with =\

but ok I’ll go to the website

I think you guys are misinterpreting the term "experimental." It’s really not a musical genre, as far as I know, and it isn’t synonymous with "crazy" either. It just means they are doing something weird and untested. In this case, making a shitload of noise with just drums and a bass, doing rhythm and lead at the same time.

rezo: I’ll update this post later with a link, I guess, but I don’t think that there is a "most experimental" song because of the first part of this post. I’ll decide on the craziest one, though.
When I said earlier that I don’t like experimental, it’s because of just that. It’s untested and weird. Many times I don’t like it because the experimental I’ve heard, is like a mixture of keyboard crap with rock or just some other random genre. Most of the time, the music doesn’t sound right to me so I don’t like experimental. But this band seems to stand out as an experimental band. Also, on a side note, what is that thing that the drummer wears on his head when playing?

It’s a weird mask. He has a microphone in it, which is what gives his voice that weird muffled sound.

Coming up with odd mixes of styles and such in the writing of music and seeing what sticks. The performance would just be a means to an end. The alternative is playing a more conventional style in an odd way. Like… "I’m going to drum… but my drums will be plastic chairs and t-cups!"

every single element that goes into making music can be experimented with =\

Well I guess, but I think that all composition is basically experimentation when it comes down to it, since you never just do something exactly the way it was done before. It just feels wrong to me, maybe because I do so much composition myself.

I think you guys are misinterpreting the term "experimental." It just means they are doing something weird and untested.

Yeah, I would say this is true actually, but weird and untested? Listen to Frances The Mute, there isn’t hardly anything much weirder…and untested really.

So, I just downloaded any songs by them, I wonder if they have any videos to download? So, yeah I love Hello Morning and Wonderful Rainbow..