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Looper's Delight
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| the question of experimental...yeah, i don't really have an answer either.... when ted was talking about adrian belew, i loved his albums from the 80s (lone rhino, twang bar king, desire caught by the tail, etc). certainly at the time in the 80's, he was one of the high profile experimental guitarists, since he played w/ zappa, and talking heads, used a huge amt of effects and was trying to get different sounds out of his guitar.... but the funny thing when i listened to those albums again awhile back (on tape mind you!), i was amazed at things that i thought were so radical and out there, didn't sound like that to my ears 25 yrs later. a lot of time i'd think, oh its chorus or flanger w/ a bit of echo or delay. granted in the 80's i dreamed of having effects, but they were too costly, now they are relatively cheap and available to all. the other funny thing is listening to both rhino and twang bar, that they sound like pop music-maybe slightly bent or w/ a twist, but not all that far out than talking heads and stuff (real rhythmic etc...). of course the desire album is instrumental and uses the early roland guitar synth... . But certainly Mr. Music Head and Young Lions and his other early 90's albums had a very Beatle-esque pop quality to them. I always laugh when i watch his electronic guitar vid from the 80's about his use of the electro-harmonix 16-sec delay pedal-he calls it his "digital tape loop" box.-how new technology (digital) uses antique terms to describe function (tape loops) also in answering the "experimental"-i suppose FRIPP is one of the leading lights in experimental guitar w/ looping from the 70's, but listen to Heros w/ Bowie, and the sustaining fuzz box lines he plays in that, are just the catchiest melody i think, maybe it's just that it's a great song, and bowie is a great pop/rock singer too... and lastly, i also loved ZAPPA's guitar playing, was always amazed at his interviews where he said that he was no virtuoso, he was just playing the things he knew in an improvised setting w/ his bands. i was also amazed that his later interviews he always said that once off tour, he rarely played guitar b/c he had to focus on other aspects of music making, and when he played again, it took him a bit to get up to speed on tours, etc. guess it shows that the maybe the important thing is the music and not so much the guitar playing.... my late 2 cents.... s--- www.myspace.com/scotthansen |