“In the mood”  - part two (click to see part one)

Communicating the mood:

‘Plage’ by Crystal Fighters. Lighthearted and free spirited.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/star-of-love/id408771710

‘Glory box’ by Portishead. The distinctive atmosphere was emphasised by the use of two drummers when they played live. The snare tone is kind of edgy but the overall effect translates as very fine. So might Catherine’s ghost have rattled the windowpanes of Heathcliffe’s moorland house.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dummy/id853254

‘Conversations 16’ by The National. Don’t think I’ve ever heard The National without shivering all over. They just destroy me.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/high-violet/id368054407

‘Three days’ by Jane’s Addiction. All you need for a tropical island getaway. Breathes in the spirit of a lazy summer afternoon, and the promise of the soft dark of evening.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ritual-de-lo-habitual/id251006633

‘Maralinga’ by Midnight Oil. This strange and obscure track is one of my highest rated of all time, and was my first experience of just how powerful and haunting drums can be. This song invokes the spirit of all wastelands; their desolation, space and timelessness.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-remastered/id288955281

“So you think you can choreograph?”  - part two (click to see part one)

These constructions stand out as being particularly well crafted.

‘Maria’ by Rage Against The Machine. RATM build the hell out of their songs and never disappoint.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-battle-of-los-angeles/id192816635

‘Allies’ by Mutemath. So much going on throughout this track that it sounds like a carnival in full swing, but a choreographed one, so no one misses a beat.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/odd-soul-deluxe-version/id460486723

‘Searching with my good eye closed’ by Soundgarden. Every track on ‘Badmotorfinger’ was a darkly tangled landscape that drew you in and never quite let you get your bearings.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/badmotorfinger/id94747

‘Milk and sticks’ by Boy and Bear. Beautifully put together.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/moonfire/id449085132

‘Queen of the air’ by Everclear. Another one that stands out because it’s so well done.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/sparkle-and-fade/id16616009

‘L’via L’viaquez’ by the Mars Volta. The same effortless grace that Jon Theodore brings to his playing guides us through many changes in scenery, more like a journey than a song.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/frances-the-mute/id47127069

‘Had a dad’ by Jane’s Addiction. Love the use of different styles and the way the beat keeps changing with the mood.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nothings-shocking/id411805474

“It’s not what you put in, it’s what you leave out”  - part two (click to see part one)

Experts in the strategic use of white space:

‘Sabotage’ by the Beastie Boys. Always been a fave of mine for construction. Love the spaces among the drum beats.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ill-communication-remastered/id317676435

‘I do not want this’ by Nine Inch Nails. TR created using interesting and stark spaces. He understood the value of emptiness; didn’t fall into the trap of filling every available space with wall-to-wall guitar.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-downward-spiral/id109214

‘Missing Rib’ by Preference. Every one of their tracks is uniquely and brilliantly crafted.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/greed-death-time-money/id386208499

‘I’m shipping up to Boston’ by Dropkick Murphys. Wouldn’t be the same without all the gaps and pauses.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/departed-music-from-motion/id200692332

‘Mic check’ by Rage Against The Machine. Character and suspense just explode out of this.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/the-battle-of-los-angeles/id192816635

‘The Devil’s Work’ by Miike Snow. Breathlessly dramatic.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/devils-work-single/id487900225

‘43% Burnt’ by The Dillinger Escape Plan. Physics tells us that episodic pulses can be more destructive than a sustained force. Not actually sure if Chris Pennie obeys the laws of physics, but this track is a pretty convincing demonstration of unleashed and merciless power.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/calculating-infinity/id67965140

“Of the Well of Life to taste”

If there’s one band who are not afraid to taste of the well of life, it’s Jane’s Addiction. Not just taste, but strip naked, dive in, and invite a few guests to join them. Their musical inspiration revels in the whole gamut of human experiences, or at least all the ones likely to get you laid. Which means Stephen Perkins plays some of the most diverse drum parts ever.

Jane’s Addiction’s music is free-spirited and unrestrained. Nothing is off limits. Their taste for the exotic inspired a kaleidoscope of drumming styles, with constructions that capture their wide-awake, mercurial, curious spirit. Anything goes, from tribal toms in ‘Three days’, steel drums in ‘Jane says’, a snare and marching beat for ‘My cat’s name is Maceo’, to power playing with trademark confidence in ‘Hypersonic’ and ‘Mountain song’. Stephen Perkins proves that intelligent composition can be even more compelling than flashy technique.

Couldn’t pick a fave so I just let shuffle decide. Senores y senoras, here’s ’Standing in the shower thinking’ by Jane’s Addiction. Buen apetito.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/nothings-shocking/id411805474

“Complexity theory”   - part two (click to see part one)

Structural interest in rhythmic patterns …

‘Freedom’ by Rage Against The Machine. Declare war on boredom.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rage-against-the-machine/id191450810

‘Chanbara’ by At The Drive In. Crazy freaks.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/this-station-is-non-operational/id318541403

‘Good loops’ by Ghoul. I know you’ve never heard of them but it’s always good to get some variety in your diet. Especially when the man has this much style.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/dunks/id415281359

‘Irresistible force’ by Jane’s Addiction. Never plain vanilla from these guys.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-great-escape-artist/id470797956

‘The collector’ by Nine Inch Nails. Just enough to keep you off balance.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/with-teeth/id59580206

‘Party smasher’ by The Dillinger Escape Plan. Because there’s nothing like mathcore to wash away the last lingering taste of mediocrity. Why settle for 4/4 when you can have z_n+1 = z_n² + c ?

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/ire-works/id265229827

“A higher state of awareness”  - part two  (click to see part one)

More on famous and influential drummers later. These tracks are to show how having the drums as the musical focus can lift a song out of the ordinary …

 ‘Save me’ by the Tea Party. Majestic.

• (http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/splendor-solis/id306802096)

‘Mace spray’ by The Jezabels. Moody and thunderous.

• (http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/dark-storm-ep/id393077011)

‘Slow divers’ by Jane’s Addiction. Laid-back and intimate, like a campfire at the beach.

• (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/kettle-whistle/id298689179)

‘Percussion gun’ by White Rabbit. Military detail used to embellish not just drive the beat.

• (http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/its-frightening/id337430956)

‘Emperor’s new clothes’ by Sinead O’Connor. The drums and guitars swap their usual roles.

• (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/so-far…-the-best-sinead/id15946971)

‘Jesus Christ Pose’ by Soundgarden. Nailed.

• (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/badmotorfinger/id94747)

And if you don’t believe there’s a dimension-distorting Escher equivalent in the drumming world, listen to ‘Schism’ by Tool and tell me what time signature / plane of reality it’s in. The rhythmic patterns are fascinating enough by themselves, but they also perfectly describe the physics of a communication breakdown - all those waves of emotion that radiate out from people, interacting and confounding and deflecting back again.

• (http://www.toolband.com/)