MonoNeon Archives - Page 7
Richard Bona and MonoNeon: Engingilaye
One of the best parts about social media is the spread of great art and inspiration. Bassist Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas has a knack for harnessing that inspiration into new creations by taking existing videos and adding his own bass line to them to put a new spin or idea on the original. Here’s a great clip he took of Richard...
Sharay Reed, MonoNeon, Federico Malaman, Joe Cleveland and Young Chuck: Bass Cypher
Here’s a great video of a roundtable of bassists Sharay Reed, MonoNeon, Federico Malaman, Joe Cleveland and Young Chuck. The clip is a “cypher”, which the video explains is “anything cyclical. If you’re freestyling, you get down in a cypher (one after the other). Interrupting another man will break that cypher (unless he’s next in line and the dude behind...
MonoNeon Envisions John Cage on Soul Train
Ever thought about what it would have been like if avant-garde composer John Cage had performed on the funkiest show on TV back in the 1970s? Well bassist/experimental composer Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas Jr. has. And he, with the help of microtonal guitarist and composer, Michael Vick, has created a 5-track EP called, appropriately enough, John Cage on Soul Train. MonoNeon,...
Georgia Anne Muldrow Releases “Ms. One” with MonoNeon
MonoNeon, a lefty known for playing a right-handed bass upside down, has brought his style to Georgia Anne Muldrow’s rap/experimental EP, Ms. One. Muldrow, the daughter of musicians — her late father invented instruments for Eddie Harris — has put together a rap collection that still harkens back to a love of 70s jazz/soul/funk sounds. It’s the first full rap...
Bass of the Week: MonoNeon’s Microtonal Bass
Most No Treble readers will recognize MonoNeon as a forward thinking bassist with a unique style that blends R&B with modern experimental music. He often plays with microtonality, meaning he uses quarter tones in addition to semi-tones that are created on fretted instruments. “My fascination with microtonality is ‘casual’, similar to my fascination with Dadaism, Color Field, and other visual...
MonoNeon: Joe’s Apartment – The Bathroom Scene
MonoNeon adds a crazy amount of groove to everything he plays on, even if it’s a bunch of singing bugs. “Here is a new video of me playing along with a scene from the 1996 musical-comedy, Joe’s Apartment (first film produced by MTV Films),” the bassist shares. “This was and still is one of my favorite movies, I used to...
MonoNeon: KNOWER’s “Lady Gaga” Medley
KNOWER makes fresh remixes of pop songs. Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas takes songs and adds his own inventive style on top. When the two come together, it’s killer. Here’s MonoNeon doing his thing on KNOWER’s “Lady Gaga.” “On this video I am playing an arrangement/medley by KNOWER (Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi),consisting of 11 Lady Gaga songs mashed together into one...
MonoNeon: Donyea’s Slo-Soul Arrangement of James Brown’s “I Feel Good”
YouTube brings out a lot of collaboration and inspiration in people. Here’s an awesome video by Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas adding his own flourishes to producer Donyea Goodman’s arrangement of “I Feel Good” by James Brown. It’s a totally different groove from the original and brings a new flavor to the song.
MonoNeon and Kriswontwo Release “WEON”
MonoNeon has teamed up with producer Kriswontwo to release WEON, an instrumental album that draws on experimental hip hop, avant garde, and funk to create an inspired collection of new music. The duo worked over the internet by sending tracks back and forth to each other until they were finished. Each of the songs, which were composed by the two...
MonoNeon: Theme Song to the Martin Lawrence Show
A while back, we shared a video of MonoNeon jamming out part of the soundtrack to the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. Now he’s back with a bass cover of the theme to the Martin Lawrence Show. Who knew one minute of music could be so funky?
MonoNeon Releases “Southern Visionary”
Forward-thinking bassist MonoNeon is kicking off 2013 with a new album called Southern Visionary, available on BandCamp. The effort blends the composer’s unique interests of southern soul and microtonal music to create a completely unique sound. “On this album I’m presenting my minimalistic idea of ‘microtonal-southern soul’ with compositions, ‘Micro-Johnnay Taylor’ and ‘Micro-Staple Sangus’,” MonoNeon writes. “The title track, ‘Southern...
MonoNeon: Sonic the Hedgehog “Green Hill Zone” Theme
Video game music has always held a special place in my heart. Looking back I realize that a lot of the themes from the games of my youth had really sweet bass lines, and I think MonoNeon realized that, too. Check out his play-along of the theme to the Green Hill Zone from the Sega Genesis classic Sonic the Hedgehog,...