Your favourite Side Projects

[The Curmudgeon]

Over the next couple of days, I'm going to ask you to delve deeper into your own personal music collections, and pick out a few choice side projects and solo records from your favourite bands.

This thread is dedicated to Side Projects (Solo Projects comes later). A fairly tricky one to be specific about; I mean, are the Gorillaz a side project of Damon Albarn who first found fame in Blur, even though the Gorillaz made more impact (in the States, anyway) than Blur? Are the Dead Weather or the Raconteurs a side project of Jack White, even though the White Stripes are no more? Your call, amigos.

I'm not going to bog you down with music videos, so I'll give you just two (very different) examples of side projects from my record collection.

First up is a bit of a Supergroup, consisting of James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins, Bun E Carlos from Cheap Trick, Adam Schlezinger from Fountains of Wayne and Taylor Hanson from, well, Hanson. They called themselves Tinted Windows and released only one record (so far) of good time drive rock, an affectionate nod to 80's rock and roll with big choruses and big guitars. You can't get the album over here in the UK but Mrs C bought me it on import for my birthday. I fucking love this album.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndwtfOHg2Kc

The next choice is an ongoing side project from Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch. An ode to 60's girlpop, it's an album that has a few songs from earlier B&S records (this time sung by girls) and a collection of new material written by Murdoch, all telling stories from a female point of view. It's been a bit of a critical hit, and it's now spun out into another EP and even a movie starring Murdoch and other Scottish indie guitar kids.

Think of those breezy, innocent sounding songs you've heard from long forgotten, will never be cool 60's records. This could be one of them, and I'm kinda addicted to it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAZOmYUh6wY

That's two of mine for now. Let's hear yours; weird one off singles, supergroups, alter ego's... get picking.

[trashcanman]

Christ, I had the idea the other day to start literally this exact thread. First, I'll go with the latest CD I bought that kind of inspired me to want to do this, The Damned Things. Featuring both of Anthrax's current guitarists with members of Fallout Boy as the rhythm section and the singer and yet another guitarist from Every Time I Die. The result is a kind of music you don't really here any more, regular old rock. Not alternative, not metal, not punk, not classic, but kind of a mix of all of them at once, kind of like a heavier version of the Foo Fighters. They've only got one video and it's a killer one (and nerdy as hell) so it's an easy choice. Dig.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMANR-wrg7o

Second we've got an album I searched for long an hard back in the days before the internet made finding obscure music so very easy. I live in Hanford, California right in the middle of the state. I finally found this one tucked away in the used section of a music store 90 miles away. The band is Neurotic Outsiders, and the members are Guns n Roses' Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum on guitar and drums, Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols on lead guitar, and the bassist from Duran Duran on bass. The singer changes depending on the song, KISS-style, although Jones usually takes the lead. I just found out this minute that they actually have a music video, but I'm not crazy about their choice of song so I'm giving you a track that is one of my favorite punk rock songs of all time. Unbeatable.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gepQtETSheI

It just feels wrong to only give you such accessible, listenable stuff so I'm going to throw you into the pit of weird with this supergroup, Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, named for the members: Claypool and Brain of Primus on bass/vocals and drums, Bernie from Parliament on keys, and the incomparable Buckethead on guitar. The best vids of these guys are live instrumental jams, but I'll go with the opening track of the album detailing the origin story of the geekiest guitar hero of all time.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lItXAvIjEQ0

[The Curmudgeon]

Wow, OK, I'm tapping out to the obscure choices from Trashy.

I think you've forgotten the first clip (there's a space with no link).

The second track is great. Sounds a bit like Redd Kross to me. Who's singing in that?

I'm glad I live in a world where a record by a band called Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains exists. Fucking weird at the start, like Machine Go Boom or something, but when the bass kicks in it's pure Primus. Excellent.

[trashcanman]

First link fixed. Fuck my life.

I believe it's Steve Jones singing on Angelina based on his voice in the one video they made with him on vocals, but there is no footage of them playing or live or information concerning who sings what track so it's hard to be 100%.

Oh and I forgot my favorite side project of all time, S.O.D. featuring Scott Ian of Anthrax (again) along with the drummer Charlie Benante, Billy Milano (unknown at the time) "singing", and Dan Lilker of Brutal Truth on bass. They pretty much invented the hardcore punk/thrash metal crossover genre.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsoxVf4z72w&feature=related


And another killer metal side project from Max Cavalera (Sepultera/Soulfly) and Alex Newport of Fudge Tunnel in Nailbomb. Just the two of them and a sampler/drum machine.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXWgfrQjD0k&feature=related

[The Curmudgeon]

Jesus, that Freddy Krueger song is intense. So.. "Speak English or die" is, like, a joke.. right?

"Proud to commit commercial suicide." Man, that statement is more bad-ass rock and roll combined than any band this century. The S.O.D track is cool, but not really my thing. This one was more my taste. Fucking excellent music, man.

[trashcanman]

Yeah, Speak English or Die is a troll song. The original premise of the band was that they were musically embodying a character Scott Ian created that is the epitome of nastiness and fascism taken to a comical extreme. Thy like to point out how funny it is when they play in non English speaking countries and people still sing every word to the song.