Wilco’s November deluxe reissue of their seminal album Summerteeth was my favorite rerelease of 2020. Besides a remastered version of the actual album, it contained a disc of demos and alternate takes, and an entire live performance from 2000. Beyond being chock full with great music, the boxset reminded me of just how good Wilco is. It inspired me to take a deep dive through their discography.
Continue reading Wilco Will Love You, Baby: Ranking Their DiscographyCategory Archives: Features
Why I’ll Never Do A “Best Guitarists” List
The guitar. What’s in a guitar? It’s an instrument. It’s a symbol. The guitar is the symbol of rock, to be sure, but beyond that it’s essentially emblematic of popular music in general (at least in the past century). It means youth and sound and excitement and rebellion. It symbolizes sonic possibilities and is a shorthand for “cool.” Weilding a six-string transcends music and becomes emblematic of an entire worldview.
That’s the reason why rock fans love to talk about guitarists. Besides being the primary musical driver in most bands, a guitarist’s style and sound also helps define the musical and aesthetic values of the listener. Whom do you like, and why do you like it?
Last month we lost one of the true titans of rock n’ roll, Eddie Van Halen. He was the embodiment of the guitar shredder archetype, who’s flash, technique, and energetic performance fundamentally reshaped how people conceived of the guitar as an instrument and as an icon. Along with the rest of his namesake band, Van Halen almost single-handedly defined the sound of hard rock for the entirety of the 1980s, and in doing so altered the path of popular music. Not bad for a career retrospective, right?
Continue reading Why I’ll Never Do A “Best Guitarists” List
The Act You’ve Known For All These Years: Ranking The Beatles’ Albums
This weekend was my thirtieth birthday. Before looking forward at what is to come, I took a moment to look back at what has come before. It’s fitting that I return to that which got me started. The Beatles and Beethoven were the bedrock of my exposure to music, so it’s fitting that I go back to them and get into doing what I’ve most enjoyed about this blog: making lists. Here’s my ranking of Beatles albums.
Continue reading The Act You’ve Known For All These Years: Ranking The Beatles’ Albums
Heavy vs. Hard: It’s All In The Vibe
“That’s heavy.” We all know what that means. The thing in discussion carries weight, either emotionally, philosophically, or physically. But what about in regards to music? Two terms often used to discuss music are heavy and hard. Some may think that the two can be used interchangeably, but this is not the case. They are adjectives that describe two related but separate concepts. Since I write about music and use the terms often, I think it’s worthwhile to define them.
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This Is Just To Say
I have found a new band that is called Arbouretum
and are grungy hard rock mixed with mystic hippie folk
Forgive me they are such a vibe with such a deep back catalogue
“Fashion Sense Is a Little Whack:” Ranking The Weezer Discography
I recently had a conversation with my brother about the best Weezer album (because that’s what brothers do during quarantine). That turned out to be a pretty easy decision, but looking at their discography is like looking at the best and worst of alternative rock. Weezer is an interesting band. They burst upon the scene in the mid-90s with immediately catchy songs that gave voice to every dorky kid in the nation. And the thing is that they rocked pretty hard too. Rivers Cuomo is one of the best melodicists of the past couple decades, and has a naturally great singing voice to back it up. He and Brian Bell’s guitar playing nods toward both 70s hard rock and classic power pop, and the band has a uniquely quirky sense of humor about themselves that is undeniably endearing.
At the same time, those very same positive qualities often produce truly baffling music. At some point Rivers decided he wanted to be a pop star, and their music took a noticeable turn toward the lightweight. His songwriting became more superficial, losing the honesty that makes their best stuff so worthwhile. And their humor just began to come off as cringeworthy, like they were trying way too hard.
As such it has become fashionable over the past few years to dismiss Weezer. And yet… they’ve kind of undergone a late career renaissance, consolidating their musical identities into one that is different, yes, but also entertaining. The story of Weezer is what you expect from a bunch of geeks who become rock stars: they constantly veer from reacting to critical perception to sticking to their guns, experimenting yet trying to honor their classic sound.
Continue reading “Fashion Sense Is a Little Whack:” Ranking The Weezer Discography
The Curious Case of Jimmy Page
A pale, thin man with long black hair stands astride center stage, shrouded in mist. His garb is bestroon with images of dragons and zodiac signs, and around his neck is slung a guitar. He plays his axe not with a pick, but with a viola bow, which conjures eerie sounds out of the electric instrument, sounds that remind you of a dark night, a full moon, faerie forces on the periphery of human knowledge. As this ritual continues, he builds the sound up to a buzzing crescendo, the bow a wizard’s wand and the guitar a conduit for magic. Once the astral sound hits a peak of climax, the man tosses away the shredded bow and launches into the most face-melting guitar solo you will ever hear.
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Chester Bennington, Nu-metal, Poptimism and Human Dignity
On the night of July 19, 2017, Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington committed suicide. One of the first comments I saw online under the announcement was, “Now that we know it was all real and not just teen angst, Linkin Park is a masterpiece.” Many seemed to agree. The emission struck me on two accounts: first, it fed into society’s wont to lionize newly departed musicians; second, it acknowledges the dirty secret that will be buried behind every eulogy published over the next few days – Linkin Park, for most of its existence, wasn’t considered to be very good. Continue reading Chester Bennington, Nu-metal, Poptimism and Human Dignity
Out of Touch and Out of Tune: The Grammys
Hello….it’s me, your face in the crowd music fan. I’m not sure whether the Recording Academy can hear me. As with every year, those like me are confronted with the inevitable Grammy controversy, in which some supposedly deserving artist is snubbed by someone deemed less worthy by the cultural media. It happened in 2015 when Beck upset Beyonce for Album of the Year (neither was the best album of the year) and in 2014 when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat Kendrick Lamar for Best Hip-Hop album (a crime that only becomes more unforgivable as time goes on).
This year, of course, Adele’s 25 defeated (can’t really say “upset”) Beyonce’s Lemonade for Album of the Year. The collective internet exploded over this slight to Queen Bey, and immediately accused the Academy of having a race problem. They cited both the 2014 and 2015 incidents as examples. I agree that the Grammys have a race problem, but obviously not because the voters are outright maliciously voting against minority races.
The Academy is actually just out of touch – with the current music scene, with modern music fans, and with current artists. Continue reading Out of Touch and Out of Tune: The Grammys
Rolling Thunder: Top 15 Bassists
Welcome to my first ranked list! I plan to present many such lists in the future, as they are always a fun challenge for me and stir up interesting conversation and debate. Please keep in mind that, as with everything on this site, it is based solely on my opinion and does not reflect some universal mandate.
The inaugural listicle is going to be my top 15 bassists. The topic has been spurred on due to the unfortunate passing of Yes’ Chris Squire, who surely appears here. It got me to thinking about the roll of the bass guitar in rock music. It obviously doesn’t receive the glory of the electric guitar, and bassists are usually relegated to secondary members on stage within the collective cultural consciousness. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth – the bass is a vital part of any ensemble. It provides the rhythm, the deep bottom end that gives music its power and inspires people to move. It can serve as a counterpoint to the main melody. Finally, there are lots of bassists that have left their unique mark on the instrument and the world of music. Here are my favorite, ranked from 15 to 1.
Note: As per the main breadth of this blog, I am going to focus only on musicians that can fit primarily into the broad spectrum of “rock” music. As such, there are some fantastic players inherently left off, such as Charles Mingus, James Jamerson, Robbie Shakespeare, Jaco Pastorious, Victor Wooten, and Aston “Family Man” Barrett. Also, this isn’t necessarily saying who is all-around “better;” rather it is my preference ranking based on their style and skill.
Then Play On 