Les Claypool -  5 Gallons of Diesel
Bassist Les Claypool wears many hats, literally and figuratively, in the course of5 Gallons of Diesel, a comprehensive look at his many band and solo projects. Clocking in at well over three hours, including bonus material, this mostly-live collection finds the former Primus mainstay performing with no less than five different groups; all of them feature Claypool's amusing stage outfits (replete with an ever-changing array of crazy lids), supremely funky playing, decidedly strange songwriting, and so-so vocals, but each is distinctive enough to warrant its own monicker. They include Sausage, a kind of heavy industrial funk trio appearing in a very entertaining video for "Riddles Are Around Tonight" (imagine an ingenious set combining Rube Goldberg and the Blue Man Group and you get the basic idea); Holy Mackerel, best described as Egyptian surf music; Oysterhead, a virtual alt-rock supergroup with Claypool, former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, and Phish mainstay Trey Anastasio (whose guitar comes with a set of antlers--and yes, he does "play" them); the Frog Brigade, whose eight tunes (all live) reveal influences ranging from Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart to the Ramones and Jimi Hendrix; and Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, another star-studded outfit (with guitarist Buckethead and P-Funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell) whose lengthy metal-funk jams never quite coalesce. And wait, there's more: a live performance of "Riddles," another appealingly weird video (for "Buzzards of Green Hill"), behind-the-scenes and "making of" footage… it goes on. Claypool is not a great singer, and his songwriting is an acquired taste. But superb musicianship and an abiding sense of humor mean that5 Gallons of Dieselis never less than entertaining, and often a good deal more.--Sam Graham