Monsters and Robots
Encyclopedia
Personnel
- BucketheadBucketheadBrian Carroll , better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a guitarist and multi instrumentalist who has worked within several genres of music. He has released 34 studio albums, four special releases and one EP. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists...
— guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(all tracks), bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(tracks 1, 8 and 11) - Les ClaypoolLes ClaypoolLeslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
— bass (tracks 2, 3, 5, 10, 12 and 13), vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
(track 3) - Bryan "Brain" MantiaBryan MantiaBryan "Brain" Mantia is a contemporary rock drummer. He has played with bands like Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis and Godflesh, and with other popular performers such as Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Buckethead...
— drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(tracks 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13) - Phonopsychograph DiskDJ DiskDJ Disk is a San Francisco Bay Area turntablist of Panamanian, Colombian, and Nicaraguan descent. Born Luis Quintanilla on October 7, 1970, in San Francisco, Disk began scratching and mixing vinyl at a young age...
— turntablesTurntablismTurntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
(tracks 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 13) - Bootsy CollinsBootsy CollinsWilliam Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
— vocals (tracks 1, 4 and 9) - Ovi-Wey — rapRappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
vocals (track 9) - DJ Eddie Def — turntables (tracks 4 and 9)
- Max Robertson — vocals (track 11)
- The Chicken Scratch Choir — background vocals (track 3)
Production
- Tracks 1, 8, 11 recorded at Horn of Zeus.
- Produced & mixed by Pete Scaturro & Rob Beaton.
- [Jowls originally recorded by Howard Johnson @ Different Fur Recording]
- Recording assistance on 8 by Mark Weber, on 11 by Mark Weber & Eric Ware.
- Tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13 recorded at Rancho Relaxo studios.
- Produced by Les ClaypoolLes ClaypoolLeslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
. - Engineered by Oz Fritz.
- Produced by Les Claypool
- Tracks 4 & 9 recorded at the Embalming Plant.
- Produced by Extrakd.
- Track 6 recorded at Orange Music.
- Produced by Bill LaswellBill LaswellBill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
. - Engineered by Robert Musso.
- Produced by Bill Laswell
- Additional production on tracks 1, 4 & 9 by Bootsy CollinsBootsy CollinsWilliam Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
at Bootzilla Re-hab P-form School. - Mastered by Don E. Tyler at Precision Mastering.
- A&R direction: Warren Schummer.
- Design, illustration & photography: Dave McKean @ Hourglass.
- Cover illustration for Buckethead No. 2: Bryan Frankenseuss Theiss.
- Photographs on pgs. 3, 6, 7 & back inlay: Warren Schummer.
- 3-d programming: Max MacMuffin.
- Production manager: Gina Grimes.
- Product marketing manager: Kenny Nemes.
The Ballad of Buckethead
"The Ballad of Buckethead" was chosen to promote Monsters and Robots. It is one of the few Buckethead songs to prominently feature vocals, which are performed by PrimusPrimus (band)
Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
' Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
. Drums were performed by long-time Buckethead friend (and then Primus drummer) Bryan "Brain" Mantia.
The song is split into three verses, with the chorus following the first and third verse. The song, as its title suggests, tells the (fake) story of Buckethead's life, particularly his upbringing. According to Buckethead's official biography, he was raised in a chicken coop by chickens, and the lyrics to the high-octane narrative continue this theme:
A video clip using 3D models and reassembling themes from the lyrics was made by English artist Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
, and gained airplay on several music related television stations.
The song was included to Primus' live set in October and November 1999, when Buckethead made stage cameos.
"The Ballad of Buckethead" features samples from the 1996 movie Sling Blade
Sling Blade
Sling Blade is a 1996 American drama film set in rural Arkansas, written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who also stars in the lead role. It tells the story of a mentally impaired man named Karl Childers who is released from a psychiatric hospital, where he has lived since killing his mother...
.
Also, the music video has been nominated for the "Best New Artist - Modern Rock" on Billboard's Music Video Awards.
Credits
- BucketheadBucketheadBrian Carroll , better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a guitarist and multi instrumentalist who has worked within several genres of music. He has released 34 studio albums, four special releases and one EP. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists...
— guitar - Les ClaypoolLes ClaypoolLeslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
— vocals, bass - Bryan "Brain" Mantia — drums
- Phonopsychograph DiskDJ DiskDJ Disk is a San Francisco Bay Area turntablist of Panamanian, Colombian, and Nicaraguan descent. Born Luis Quintanilla on October 7, 1970, in San Francisco, Disk began scratching and mixing vinyl at a young age...
— turntables - The Chicken Scratch Chior — background vocals