Jamiroquai-esque bands and bassists

[Saulaac]

Jamiroquai's 'Emergency On Planet Earth' album was probably my first CD purchase in early the 90s after being perplexed by this britfunk band on MTV who appeared to be throwing out Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers, Parliament/Funkadelic and Mizell Brothers vibes. Then came 'Return of the Space Cowboy' (1994) and 'Travelling Without Moving' (1996) albums in the same vein.
My interest waned a little as the music seemed to get less funky and more poppy. However in hindsight they did produce a lot great tunes and pop ballads in later albums which have aged very well. The lead singer crazy hat guy, Jay Kay, is the only original band member still in the band afaik. (Mrs Waffles I thought too that Jamiroquai was the name of the lead singer Jay Kay at first!)

I'd like to create a thread to show appreciation for the world of Jamiroquai over the years. Did you know that the co-founder of Ozric Tentacles, Nick Van Gelder was Jamiroquai's first drummer? They were clearly into the space funk thing.

I see a lot of flashes of Jamiroquai basslines in other artists like Pharrell Williams, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars (thanks to posters on MB and SCD), and my ears continue to prick up when modern tunes have similar bass elements to that Stu Zender bass attitude of the early days. I would so much like 2024 to be the year I properly start learning the bass and post something in the "Play Something" thread, and I am inspired by these ladies who posted on YT a few years ago.

Feel free to post any thoughts related to Jamiroquai, britfunk, bass, or low register funk!

[grindy]

As usual I'm shoehorning Louis Cole into this. His solo stuff as well as Knower have some ridiculous bass playing, usually by Sam Wilkes, but also by the fantastic MonoNeon. Not sure how Jamiroquai-y it is but it's funky as shit and I'm posting it here.

I actually made a whole thread fanboying about this stuff.
https://scd.community/index.php?topic=445.0

[Saulaac]

Indeed Grindy, Knower is amazing! And probably more experimental in the sense that Jamiroquai just timed it well and put themselves in the mainstream commercial funk vibe. But I'm still partial to that vibe. I can't help it, I was a teenager in the UK in the 90s.

Louis Cole and Sam Wilkes/Mono are also so funky, to the point of breaking all the strings/keys on their instruments. Knower are class. Put it out there! 

[Guybrush]

I only know the hits, really. Never took the plunge.

I couldn't, really, because my younger brother was way into them and got a big, ugly jamiroquai tattoo on his arm. For a while, whatever he was into wasn't for me on principle.

But I liked the hits, though, with Canned Heat being my favourite. To my ears, their sound was really accomplished and well produced.

[Saulaac]

I need to go back into the last few years to see what they're doing.
I saw a couple of shows on YT where he sang brilliantly and he was soloing and descanting on his previous hits, which is always a bonus.

[Lexi Darling]

Yeah I only really know the hits as well, but I dig a lot of them. Though my favorite bass part I've heard on one of their songs is actually (I believe) a synth bass, from the song they did for the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack.

I'm never beating the synth nerd allegations, am I. 

[tristan_geoff]

Yeah I only really know the hits as well, but I dig a lot of them. Though my favorite bass part I've heard on one of their songs is actually (I believe) a synth bass, from the song they did for the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack.

I'm never beating the synth nerd allegations, am I. 

I wasn't aware ppl were saying these "allegations", thought it was only you lol

[Lexi Darling]

I wasn't aware ppl were saying these "allegations", thought it was only you lol

It is just me haha. I can accuse myself if I want. 

Never said it was a bad thing either lol.

[grindy]

Overall Jamiroquai should be a band that I like and I do really enjoy some of the hits. But whenever I try to get into an album or even a compilation (and I try this every few years, most recently yesterday) they lose me pretty quickly, not sure why. I think their songwriting often sounds a bit half-baked and uninspired to me and Jay Kay, while I generally like him as a singer, sometimes has this little mannerisms and hooks that annoy me a bit. I still think they're a cool band and I'd love to love them but I'm not there yet.

[Saulaac]

Yeah I only really know the hits as well, but I dig a lot of them. Though my favorite bass part I've heard on one of their songs is actually (I believe) a synth bass, from the song they did for the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack.

I'm never beating the synth nerd allegations, am I. 

I wasn't aware ppl were saying these "allegations", thought it was only you lol

As tristan_geoff alludes to. I don't think these are allegations either. It is proven that you are the resident synth nerd, Mrs. Waffles 

Overall Jamiroquai should be a band that I like and I do really enjoy some of the hits. But whenever I try to get into an album or even a compilation (and I try this every few years, most recently yesterday) they lose me pretty quickly, not sure why. I think their songwriting often sounds a bit half-baked and uninspired to me and Jay Kay, while I generally like him as a singer, sometimes has this little mannerisms and hooks that annoy me a bit. I still think they're a cool band and I'd love to love them but I'm not there yet.

Defo agree that many of his songs sound a little bland. Was listening to his latest album Automaton from 2017 and Summer Girl is probably the best one for me. But even then it's a medium tempo ballad, not exactly a mind blowing masterpiece. However they still manage to get some old school sounds and beats in there so I look forward to listening to any new new material, especially if it reflects their early stuff.

[grindy]

As tristan_geoff alludes to. I don't think these are allegations either. It is proven that you are the resident synth nerd, Mrs. Waffles 


Defo agree that many of his songs sound a little bland. Was listening to his latest album Automaton from 2017 and Summer Girl is probably the best one for me. But even then it's a medium tempo ballad, not exactly a mind blowing masterpiece. However they still manage to get some old school sounds and beats in there so I look forward to listening to any new new material, especially if it reflects their early stuff.

What would you say is their strongest, most consistent album?

[Guybrush]

Was listening to his latest album Automaton from 2017 and Summer Girl is probably the best one for me. But even then it's a medium tempo ballad, not exactly a mind blowing masterpiece. However they still manage to get some old school sounds and beats in there so I look forward to listening to any new new material, especially if it reflects their early stuff.

Gave Summer Girl a spin.. Your description is fairly accurate to me. It's a nice enough song, but definitely lacks the vibrancy of their early hits and, like you say, doesn't feel very inspired.

[Saulaac]

What would you say is their strongest, most consistent album?

Glad you asked that question, grindy because it prompted me to go through pretty much the entire discography again. It's a hard one because each album is quite different. If an interviewer were to stop randoms in the street and ask what album title they would associate the band with the most, I would say The Return Of The Space Cowboy still. Maybe it would depend on the person's age.

I've listed one or two favourite songs from each album in the spoiler below. Those are the one's I found to be brillant, through the new lens. I should make a compilation for the car when I get the time.

Surprisingly I think Rock Dust Light Star is their strongest recent album, and a turning point (at least for me) where I accepted that they are never going to go back to the 90s, and that their new electro soulful pop funk direction is not that bad after all.

Gave Summer Girl a spin.. Your description is fairly accurate to me. It's a nice enough song, but definitely lacks the vibrancy of their early hits and, like you say, doesn't feel very inspired.

I hope she enjoyed it, Guybrush..

Indeed the earlier hits somehow sounded familiar. And there were some critics saying they sampled too much, such as the basslines from "When you gonna learn" is taken straight from Weldon Irvine's 'We Gettin Down' / Herbie Hancock's Chameleon / Johnny Hammond's 'Los Conquistadores Chocolates'. Or that "Alright" is copied from Idris Muhammad's 'Could Heaven Ever Be Like This' and Eddie Harris's 'It's Alright Now' etc. etc.
OK, so perhaps they may or may not have been carrying the flame "a little too brightly". EDIT: I don't really care either way. But let's celebrate this fact!
(BTW I took the word "celebrate" from the French word "célébrer", which I think means 'let us come together and broadly agree publicly on this event or gathering'.)


So in the spirit of Lisna's music resolutions for 2024, I will try to love Jamiroquai again! 

Spoiler

Emergency On Planet Earth - (1993)
When You Gonna Learn*
Music Of The Mind*
Emergency On Planet Earth
If I Like It, I Do It

The Return Of The Space Cowboy - (1994)
Just Another Story*
Stillness in Time
Manifest Destiny*
Scam

Travelling Without Moving - (1996)
You Are My Love
Do You Know Where You're Coming From
Travelling Without Moving

Synkronized (1999)
Planet Home
Soul Education

A funk odyssey (2001)
Main Vein
Black Crow

Dynamite - (2005)
Dynamite*
Seven Days In Sunny June
(Don't) Give Hate a Chance
Starchild*

Rock Dust Light Star - (2010)
She's A Fast Persuader*
Two Completely Different Things (according to YT comments, this has been heard in Big Lots, CVS Pharmacy, Home Depot and Hotel Paisano in Marfa. Top quality muzak!)

Automaton - (2017)
Summer Girl
We Can Do It
Vitamin

[close]

[Saulaac]

Music satire needs to come back. Any musical comedians in the wings?      

[Hope]

Music satire needs to come back. Any musical comedians in the wings?   

My husband and I were coincidentally travelling by boat in Prague and I noticed across the way, "Jazz Boat". We couldn't stop talking to each other for the rest of the night in that voice.  ...Great!