An Eruption Of Virtuosity In Indie Rock
There's an aesthetic shift brewing in indie rock, or so says a great piece in the New York Times exploring the virtuoso guitar accumen of a couple of indie ladies on the rise, Marnie Stern and Kaki King. They write:
Which is certainly not to say it was Nirvana. Ms. Stern’s debut, “In Advance of the Broken Arm,” released last month on the venerable punk label Kill Rock Stars, does fit into the punk tradition of hollered vocals and serrated melodies that that famous Seattle group helped popularize. But her flamboyant guitar approach also connects it to the ornate, virtuosic traditions of progressive rock and heavy metal: genres that punk once aimed to vanquish with a return to the three-chord simplicity and raw primitivism of early rock. Yes, virtuosity is now a virtue in the indie world.Guitarist Carrie Brownstein (of the sadly defunct Sleater-Kinney), herself a technical adept, explained the reason for the shift:“We were just talking about Van Halen’s ‘1984’ and what a great album that is,” Ms. Stern said via phone from a van last month in the midst of her first tour, citing a record that cutting-edge rockers in the Nirvana era would have been reluctant to admit owning, let alone loving.
“And I think that with the mainstreaming of a lot of indie music, people are looking for something that has an oddity to it,” she continued. “I think that virtuoso playing is polemical in some ways. People either find it really appealing or they’re turned off by it.”Of Van Halen's approach to the six-string, Marnie Stern said: "That style of guitar sounds just so good to me." Sounds just so good to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, too! But while pioneer Eddie is in rehab during his band's induction to the Hall tonight, best you can do to relive his frenetic fret-tapping magic is to watch him set his fretboard afire on this vintage clip of "Eruption." And his overalls match!
Name your favorite indie rock virtuoso. But if their ability isn't obvious, you gotta make your case!
Posted at 6:32 PM in Video
Tags: Kaki King | Marnie Stern | Van Halen
J Mascis, the "eddie van halen" of indie rock.
Score = 1
bow to Carrie Brownstein....I saw the ladies' last show in NYC this winter....so sad to see them go. RIP, S-K...
My new guitar crush is Megan Hickey from the Last Town Chorus - she plays lap steel...
Carrie/Megan sandwich, please.
Score = 0
I could listen to Stephen Malkmus guitar solo for a looooong time.
"One Percent of One", anyone?
Score = 0
Mine is Mark Kozelek, we all know he's metalhead in sheep's clothing.
This whole trend thing is pretty funny to me. People won't stop trying to be different, even if that means your music losing any meaning along the way...
Score = 0
his guitar looks slanted & kinda enchanted.
greg saunier's a drum and songwriting virtuoso.
Score = 0
Dave Knudson of Minus The Bear - not exactly Eddie Van Halen, but his virtuosick finger-tapping ways are jaw-droppingly awesome, AND his band's music is always high quality (being from Seattle).
Score = 0
Bob Mould
Score = 0
Blake Sennett of Rilo Kiley and the Elected has unlimited ability to shred, but has been restrained until now. Still, the periodic outbursts, such as the deuling solos he and Mike Bloom indulge in on The Elected song "Biggest Star" make me want to request Free Bird at the top of my lungs. And that's just this morning on the bus. Talk about awkward.
Score = 0
I've got 2 - dave davison of maps and atlases (myspace.com/mapsandatlases) and sam zurich of make believe (myspace.com/makebelieve)...
but isn't this sort of finally acknowledging math rock? even prog rock? or am i just confused?
Score = 0
Michael Hedges.
Two words: Aerial Boundaries.
Score = 0
Nels Cline
Score = 1
Dan Auerbach.
Marty Morris (Cyril Lords, SSM) is an unknown guitar God.
Parker Griggs of Radio Moscow.
Jason Simon of Dead Meadow.
Score = 0
Ummmmmmm
Where was the NY Times 30 years ago WHEN TELEVISION'S MARQUEE MOON WAS RELEASED??????????
Man.....these guys are consistently behind in EVERYTHING.
Score = 0
Doug Martsch. Deal with it.
Score = 0
Besides Martsch, Mascis, and Malkmus, I submit Andrew Whiteman.
Score = 0
Ted Leo is my personal favorite, but J Mascis is a rock god.
Score = 0
Kaki King is so friggin' great. I don't even know how she does it. Plus, she's a 4 foot-tall Italian Lesbian, which gets her novelty points.
Score = 0
Kaki King is so friggin' great. I don't even know how she does it. Plus, she's a 4 foot-tall Italian Lesbian, which gets her novelty points.
Score = 0
Jose Gonzalez.
Flawless.
Just because he makes it look easy doesn't mean it is.
http://mybigmouthstrikesagain.blogspot.com/
Score = 0
Ani DiFranco, hands down.
Score = 0
j mascis and ted leo are really the ones that stand out in my head. just watching them perform is unbelievable.
Score = 0
Nels Cline
Mick Barr
Colin Marston
Score = 0
I love Sleater-Kinney (RIP), but I'm astonished anyone could call any member of that band "technical".
Score = 0
The guys in the Clor put out one record that has a ton of really interesting, virtuosic (though never wanky) guitar playing. And then they broke up. Too bad.
Score = 0
Also, for the sake of discussion, are you talking about only showy, melodic solo guitarists, like J Mascis? There are a bunch of really good guitarists who play difficult, though more textural rhythm parts that would be pretty tough to pull off. Robyn Hitchcock comes to mind, and to a lesser extent, Peter Buck. Also, both the guitar players in Radiohead are pretty amazing, but that may have more to do with inventiveness than regular old chops.
Score = 0
Don Caballero
Duh
Score = 0
Andrew Bird? Whistling/violin virtuoso?
I'll also throw in....Gustav Estejes? (Dungen!) and his whole touring band. Simply the greatest live show I've ever seen. It felt like seeing a "supergroup" in their prime a la Cream.
Score = 0
The guy you'd never really think of unless you've seen him live is Jon Auer of the Posies. When he's not drunk and falling over (i.e., a typical Posies show), he's an amazing guitarist.
Score = 0
Elliott Smith was a virtuoso unlike ANY other.
What he could do with guitars, pianos..ANYTHING, was amazing. He had an ear that hasn't been matched in the indie world since he passed away.
Score = 0
dave longstreth/dirty projectors has the best voice around, he's been honing it for the last 5 years, your jaw will drop when you hear his next record, he sings circles around beyonce
Score = 0
Hands down, Doug Martsch from Built to Spill.
Seeing them live was one of my first concert experiences.
Real mindblowing to watch him get engulfed in a guitar solo.
Score = 0
Eddie is a nutjob. Great footage. That said, I can't wait this without laughing and thinking of Back To The Future.
I'm with everyone on Nels Cline. Someone mentioned Elliott Smith...so, I'll add Jon Brion. The dude plays everything, and plays well. And if any of you haven't heard Chris Thile play the mandolin outside of his main gig (Nickel Creek), you're missing out. Might I suggest searching for "Fast As You Can" by Fiona Apple, featuring Chris Thile on mandolin and Jon Brion on acoustic guitar?
Score = 0
Doesn't he ever stop? I went to the toilet and when I came back he was still on it.
Score = 0
the guitarist in auto!automatic!! ...i saw some earlier comments mentioning minus the bear, maps and atlases, and make believe, i'd put this right along those lines...some pretty insane fingertapping going on....
Auto!Automatic!! Myspace
Score = 0
oopss forgot to put the link
www.myspace.com/autoautomatic
Score = 0
Everyone in BATTLES.
Score = 0
Half-baked idea for a Times article.
Jonny Greenwood has been producing fascinating art noise for years now.
Score = 0
Ira Kaplan's solo at the end of YLT's "Pablo and Andrea" is pretty damn breathtaking. Also, Steve Malkmus, "Animal Midnight."
Score = 0
Ted Leo and Malkmus. Duh.
Score = 0
Please, Malkamus is competent at best, and as far as his improving, well there are many people who do it much better and as long as Trey is alive, malkamus should stick to what he's good at, everything on pig lib was masturbatory.
Infact, what a surprise, indie is becoming the new prog, oh man, I totally did not see that coming.
Eliott smith was great tho. Just cause you can fingertap some bullshit and scales doesn't make you a Virtuosity. Neil Young can do more with a one note solo than I've ever seen any indie guitarist do.
Post-rock on the other hand, that's a different kettle entirely.
Score = 0
nels cline
jonny greenwood
Score = 0
pretty obvious now that wanky virtuosity is still pretty crap. Nice try though
Score = 0
I am surprised the name-droppers havent mentioned Sonic Youth yet. Three cheers for the end of indie rock meaning "i dont know how to play my instrument".
Score = 0
im with station agent.
blake sennet is amazing. i have an mp3 lying around somewhere of an extended version of "does he love you?" by rilo kiley where blake and jenny are BOTH just shredding away. i had no clue that either of them had it in em. ive never heard it from jenny again but blake definitely cuts loose on some of that elected stuff. that reminds me that i gotta go pull out an elected album later today...
Score = 0
annie onymous, i really need to hear that. got a sendspace link?
Score = 0
nigel tufnel
Score = 0
haha frank wins
Score = 0
Now that they've turned their focus toward generally compact, song-oriented indie rock (a la Minus The Bear), I'll put in a vote for erstwhile jam-band The Slip. Saw them recently and was amazed, and yet their songs are quite intentional. No outré noodling there. Like Return To Forever playing Shins songs.
Score = 0
John Squire
Reni
Score = 0
"return to forever playing shins songs" is great stuff. if only chick corea could sing.
What about Dean Ween? Does Ween get any indie cred anymore? He's unreal. And drunk as hell most of the time.
Score = 0
jonny greenwood, lee ranaldo
Score = 0
I second the Ani Difranco motion.
Also, keep your eyes out for a gal by the name of Kelly Rudick. She did the coffee shop thing out in san diego for a while and recently moved out to NYC. Rumor has it righteous babe has signed her.
Score = 0
Jazz:
"Besides Martsch, Mascis, and Malkmus, I submit Andrew Whiteman."
For sure.
Also Nick Zinner.
Score = 0
Mike Bloom is at the top for me. That Rilo Kiley live mp3 someone above mentioned is probably Bloom and M Ward shredding at the end of "Does he Love You?" They did it at Bonaroo 2005. Jenny doesn't play guitar on that song. Have you ever seen Mike Bloom play guitar live? he's amazing! and he plays on his own and with The Elected as well.
Score = 0