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All because of the drumming thread, it got me thinking about the Subdudes, and what an incredible live show they put on—the drummer sits up front, in a wooden chair, mainly playing a tambourine, a kick drum and one cymbal, while he does about half the singing.

A New Orleans band of my youth, they are still together, performing Americana —pretty much, if you like Ry Cooder, you will like them. And every time I see them, (they hit the SF Bay Area about once a year) I forget how impressive the guitarist is—he just keeps wailing away, song after song, in completely different styles, from TexMex to whatever, always nailing a style perfect solo…

If you’re not familiar with them it was hard picking a video…

 
After the NYT story on Blackbraid, I got drawn into some discussions with my wife's Mohawk crit/theory academic friends about pretendians in metal (FWIW, the dude's a well-meaning fraud with the Native American stuff, sad to say). That led to a trip down the rabbit hole surfing the internet for Native black metal bands, lingering on the thriving Navajo & Pueblo rez metal scenes.

A random glance through a merch site led me to Black Belt Eagle Scout, who is kind of local to me and provided a refreshing end to a day of (sometimes ugly, sometimes cool) research. Even this video was not entirely without controversy: my wife and I couldn't agree on whether her design is more Coast Salish or Northern Formline in style. But I totally dig her sound. Note: not black metal at all :cool:

 
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FWIW I grew up with Trout Mask and went through a long-ish phase of listening to it on cans before going to sleep (every night, that is). I completely get that it’s not everyone’s taste but it still appeals to me as formative to my musical development (whatever that may be).
Funny I used to listen to Captain Beefheart when I was younger too due to my brother introducing me to them! Always loved their music. I haven't listened to either of the above tracks in a LONG time. It popped up and knew it was worthy of sharing!
 
FWIW I grew up with Trout Mask and went through a long-ish phase of listening to it on cans before going to sleep (every night, that is). I completely get that it’s not everyone’s taste but it still appeals to me as formative to my musical development (whatever that may be).
And he could do his unique version of the three minute pop song in later times, as in ‘My head is my only house unless it rains,’ ‘Her eyes are a blue million miles,’ etc. Those are great compositions by any standard …
 
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