Thundercat knows bass guitar – and it's always interesting when a virtuoso musician breaks down the music they admire. And so it proves here when Pitchfork asked the man born Stephen Lee Bruner to choose his absolute favourite basslines from history for its Under The Influences series.
"The bass plays the role somewhere between melodic, harmonic and rhythmic," he explains on the unique between-worlds nature of this instrument that "chose him".
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He selects some absolute gems as examples of the craft too, and relative simplicity driving the song is a common theme; including Raphael Sadiq's bassline on D'Angelo's Lady, Jack Bruce's Sunshine Of Your Love with Cream and Larry Graham's pioneering slap bass.
But the best part is how Thundercat learned a lesson from every one and how they tell a story about what makes great bass.
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“Maybe I’m writing a song and it doesn’t follow the exact rules of songwriting. Or maybe this word doesn’t make sense next to this one, but that’s how I speak”: Beabadoobee says that “missteps” are more important than perfection in songwriting
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