Favorite guitarist
I have two strong opinions about guitarists - First, being a lover of the blues and classic rock, I do appreciate a good riff and the technical difficulty of playing the guitar. Second, being also of the post-punk generation, I do not wish to hear some dude finger tap and pull on his wammy-bar for half the song. Soloing for the sake of soloing is masturbatory and lends little to a good tune, IMHO. I guess a lot of it depends on the genre - blues guitarist are exempt from my strict"no wanking" policy. I suppose it is hard to define what I consider a good guitarist but here are some of my favorites in no particular order:
Carrie Brownstein - Sleater-Kinney
Since Sleater-Kinney has two guitarists, I should probably also include Corrin Tucker on this list since the unique sound they generate together is what I love about them. But Carrie is clearly the lead guitarist and despite the glitzy cheese of this video the guitar is nicely featured. The little solo adds just the right amount of machismo to an otherwise very girly song about the misogyny of rock-n-roll.
Joey Santiago - the Pixies
Sometimes, on Pixie's songs like on "Debaser," I find myself humming the main riff rather than singing the words. This version of "Vamos" contains mild guitar wanking but the frenetic energy he generates is necessary to keep up with Frank Black's Spanglish vocal spastics.
Bradley Nowell - Sublime
I love the mix of ska rhythms and punk thrash that Bradley plays. It's too bad there are so few videos of Sublime performances because I truly regret never seeing them live. Everything on YouTube looks like it was shot by a drunken surfer.
Elliot Smith
If you've ever tried to play an Elliot Smith song you know what a guitar genius he was. Also I love how softly he plays and sings. It's almost heartbreaking.
Doug Martsch - Built to Spill
This is about as close as I get to liking a jam band. The album "Keep it Like a Secret" is almost always in rotation in one of our vehicles, partially due to the guitar work.
Honorable mention:
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Jack White - The White Stripes/The Raconteurs
Charlie Campbell - Pond
Johnny Greenwood - Radiohead
Donna Dresch - Team Dresch
Kurt Cobain - Nirvana
Ani DiFranco
1 comment:
Now I really have to get my listening ears on. You describe guitar playing in terms I've never even thought about. I just figured the more notes, the more difficult, the more skill required. To think there's a finesse about it, well I'm going to pay close attention to the videos!
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