Funny Rat: Could somebody explain what it's about

[TheMusicalMarine]

Just curious. I've read the first few posts, but I'm thoroughly confused. Figure it's got to be something because it's hundreds of pages and thousands of replies long, but I'm too dense to grasp it. Could somebody, in a sentence or two, summarize what the thread is about?

Thanks

[Jim Alfredson]

Avant-garde jazz.

[Jazz Kat]

hmmmm, whats that...?........

[jon abbey]

I believe it began as a recommendation for the Peter Brötzmann/Shoji Hano disc of the same name:

http://www.japanimprov.com/imjlabel/512/index.html

and it then proceeded to discussion of somewhat similar territory, basically a thread where a handful of people can give each other suggestions as they explore a common area of interest.

[David Ayers]

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[Guest Chaney]

Hope you don't mind my quoting myself but as this questions has been asked before...

The Rat began on November 7, 2003, with my letting folks know of the release of a rare Brotzmann side.  Read the first page (the first page! read the first two posts!) and note how little attention my thread received.  (Bless you Hans!)

Three weeks passed before the thread was resurrected by then new member David (Д.Д. - an M.V.P. from that other board) and his bringing to this board a little e-mail group made up of a few Big 'O' members and some new friends.  (David's e-mail box was getting FAT so we needed new digs!)  Picking right up where we left off, the Rat became our new home and the banter continued.  (Read page one and you'll see the greetings.)  For the most part, the most active posters within that thread are the members of the e-mail group.  The mission ( ) of the group was to simply make recommendations of recordings of non-traditional forms of jazz and especially to discover heretofor unknown (and usually tiny) labels.

I too have worried that the Funny Rat may have become a ghetto for that other jazz but I then remind myself of the fate of threads dedicated to jazz which may not swing in the traditional manner:  they tend to sink like stones. 

I'll sometimes start a new thread if I suspect there to be interest (Vandermark, Jimmy Lyons), otherwise the conversation continues.

Ever not check out a thread cuz it's too big???

By the way, my early enthisasm for Funny Rat, the recording, waned and so I sold it on eBay.

To further confuse folks, maybe I could change the thread title as I discover (or am led to) new musical wonders.

How does The Dirigibles Between Similarities work for everyone?

[Dan Gould]

I think Funny Rat is so settled into the collective consciousness that it should never be changed.

MM, here's all you need to know about Funny Rat, my earlier description:

No vermin.

Not funny.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I don't know why but i rarely check that thread.

Funny that whenever i do a search for something it's always one of the ones on call but I never take the time to weed thru it.

I do think it's perfect for what it contains ... you got to work hard and pay some attention for the avant garde to bear it's gifts.

[Big Wheel]

I don't know why but i rarely check that thread.

Funny that whenever i do a search for something it's always one of the ones on call but I never take the time to weed thru it.

I do think it's perfect for what it contains ... you got to work hard and pay some attention for the avant garde to bear it's gifts.

I think you can choose the "show topics as posts" option to display the exact post that contains your search query. Then there's no need to wade through everything.

[ghost of miles]

If you have to ask, you'll never know... OK, OK, sorry, couldn't resist.

I love the "Funny Rat" thread... lurker only (may have posted once or twice, but I'll be damned if I can remember), but most appreciative. Have drifted away from modern improv, but someone slipped me a new William Parker CD the other day...

[TheMusicalMarine]

Thanks folks, and Chaney, for the quote. I guess this weekend I'll have to wade through it.

[Jim Dye]

I am also a big fan of the Funny Rat thread! I suppose you could start a new one if that ever gets too big. Maybe Funny Rat 2 (electric boogaloo).

[RDK]

I check it out once in a while, but the thread is too damn big. Can't we start a Funny Rat forum instead? (I hate to ghetto-ize any type of jazz, but that single thread pretty much does so anyway.)

[Jim Dye]

[Guy Berger]

I check it out once in a while, but the thread is too damn big. Can't we start a Funny Rat forum instead? (I hate to ghetto-ize any type of jazz, but that single thread pretty much does so anyway.)

Someone else suggested this a while back... I don't see what the point would be, since the thread effectively ghettoizes whatever the heck is in there already.

Guy