Guitar Sounds Revisited

I got all worked up when I read Doc Confusion's post on guitar sounds and wanted to post a comment with a list of my own. Once I started rambling on, however, I figured I might as well just 'blog it' and be done with it.

Here's a few of my faves, just to see what's what:

The Flaming Lips (What's that you say??) - That's right, check out Transmissions from the Satellite Heart for some great bass-heavy distorto-rock madness. "Slow Nerve Action" in particular has a sound that straight-up hits like a Samurai sword in between your earbuds.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Everybody Knows This is Knowhere - Need I even say anything? Well, just in case, Everybody knows that "Cinnamon Girl" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" have influenced more rock guitarists than china white, and "Round and Round (It Won't Be Long)" is about as luscious as an acoustic sound recorded in 1969 can be. Personally, I've always dug the rhythm guitar on "Down By the River" too.

Dinosaur Jr., Green Mind - It's crunchy, it's muddy, it's your run of the mill Les Paul/Marshall stack sound with a heavy, fuzzy, bassy distortion. It's the kind of set-up that so many players work with, but few make it sound as punchy and as alive as J. Mascis. His open chord style is different as well, considering most rockers of the Green Mind era would have gone the way of the 'Power-Chord' in expressing their angst.

Hendrix, Electric Ladyland - It's cliché to pull out Hendrix, but I can really get behind some of that sharp, crisp, perfect tone that he was known to lay down. I especially love the fuzzed-out sound mixed with some phaze and those super-heavy gauge strings, which gave the tone an awesome 'pop' and kept it from turning to mud under all that distortion.

Robert Fripp - Well, I guess somebody was bound to say it, right? Maybe it's just me. Anyway, I'm into the 'Frippertronics' in general, but his work on Bowie's Scary Monsters reigns supreme in my opinion. "Fashion" has this sweet plastic distortion that I think is bombs, "Teenage Wildlife" is both laid-back and uplifting in its Prog-Rockiness with Fripp's all-over the place background noodlefesting and rock-anthem slow riffs, and let's just say "Because Your Young" is about to get kicked out of my MP3 player for being a cooler track than I should be allowed to listen to. Fripp is all over Peter Gabriel's early stuff too- same sound, but it doesn't get old to me……..

Mark Ribot - His sound on Tom Wait's Big Time and Elvis Costello's Spike is not for those prone to nightmares. It's sharp, and very very darkly-percussive, like an evil marimba that dreamt it was a guitar and awoke plugged into a '63 Fender Twin. (The Horror, The Horror.)

Television, Marquee Moon - What can I say about this album? Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd got the goods, and they certainly come correct. And, it's not just the fabulous back and forth riffing, but the pristine sounds as well. Every note strangled from every guitar string on this record sounds like it was coddled and cared for like a baby wolf-cub that would one day grow up to eat its loving master. And every track just drips guitar coolness as those fuge-like siamese riffs blossom into a single concrete web, as inseparable as city sidewalks and streets. I can only imagine that if you found yourself lost in NYC, circa 1977, you could just as easily find your way with a copy of "Venus de Milo" in hand as you could with any map bought at a service station.

Ok, I just realized this list could go on for a while……………. I'm gonna go listen to some music.

.m