Keith (on the left channel) starts the song by playing with a lot of joy, and though his role in the group and in the song is as a rhythm player, playing backing chords rather than melodies, he can’t himself but play a line when the vocals first enter. After that, Keith dutifully plays great rhythm guitar through the next verse and two choruses, while Mick Taylor gets to shred non stop. In the third verse it’s almost like Keith can’t control himself and becomes compelled to answer Taylor’s embellishments, and to get a piece of the action in terms of fun guitar stuff. You can feel the personality in this performance. This is an example of depth, the song behind the song. The burgeoning conversation draws you into hidden areas of the tune.

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January 11, 2012

$$$ TWO-GUITAR MAGIC PART TWO $$$

Reading Keith Richards’ autobiography, Life, was a real thrill for me. I did it twice in a row. I had always been a fan of a couple of Stones songs but I don’t think I really felt the impact of what they did before having developed a certain amount of life experience. For example, the bleakness that permeates Exile On Main Street just sounded like mud before I understood what death was, what the feeling of desperately clinging to life was. Now Mick’s quiet vocals evoke a feeling of kind of noble struggle for me. It’s real life affirming music, not self-conscious at all. So when I read Keith’s book, I began to listen with newly opened ears to this stuff that I was just a casual fan of at the time, and that continues to be a rewarding process.

While they had been putting out some great songs on a regular basis for almost twenty years, my favorite period of the Stones’ catalog is when Mick Taylor was their lead guitarist (of course it’s not just him being there, it’s also the overall maturity of the band and their songs at that time). His soloing is cool but the way him and Keith play together adds so much depth to some music that would otherwise be really cut-and-dried. A great example is “Happy,” especially in the third verse starting at 1:36.

In case you can’t tell, that dude is one of the best lead guitar players in the world today. Easy...

You can get a lot out of people playing in unison with each other-- might make you feel like there is a really important message being communicated. You can also do a lot for the listener’s feelings with lyrics, or with intriguing sounds. Music doesn’t necessarily NEED the kind of conversational playing discussed here to be good. But it can be one of those hidden things that makes a tune really juicy to listen to. Check the details! You might hear something that at first strikes you as basic or repetitive, but always try to give it a second chance because there might be a whole world beneath the surface. So thus concludes the guitar series, next up... we’ll just have to see. Until then, the hustle continues.

January 30, 2012

$$$ TWO-GUITAR MAGIC PART THREE $$$

I like Keith Richards’ singing a lot but Khaira Arby is on a different level. Being able to perform with her on tour along with The Sway Machinery was one of the real pleasures of my musical life. She is one of these rare people whose singing will cause some crazy physical reaction in you. And behind her is a ridiculously good band featuring a 17-year-old wunderkind named Drahman on lead guitar (he was 17 at the time anyway... he probably won’t be 17 forever) and second guitar played by a guy who I believe is Khaira’s son named Barka. These two guys are able to showcase the kind of interactivity that you hear in the earlier two tunes but THEY SHRED MORE. Constantly in fact. The mellow bass and drum parts leave a ton of space for guitars to play with beautiful and exciting ornamentations, and the fancy guitar style complements the beautifully ornamented vocal style. “Youba” is a great one-- starting at 0:19, Drahman expertly weaves in and out of playing a complement to the main guitar line and playing an answer to Khaira’s phrasing.

April 10, 2012

$$$ SPRING HAS SPRUNG $$$

The last time I wrote something for my website, it was January and it's April now. So I guess in a way I've been slacking, although I have been doing a bunch of other stuff, working on more Nikhil P. tracks as well as the upcoming Sway Machinery EP and Akoya Afrobeat record, playing a bunch of shows in New York, Vermont, South By Southwest (Austin), Canada and Australia, and as always, teaching the truth to the youth.

So winter is over, and it was an unusual one. Typically, since my teenage years, winter would cause me to revisit music with a certain mood that I could most easily find in hip-hop. Specifically, hip-hop ranging from the mid-nineties (Enta Da Stage by Black Moon and 4, 5, 6 by Kool G Rap) to the very early 2000s (Obelisk Movements by the Micranots). In particular, Queensbridge artists from this time period like Mobb Deep tend to have a nihilistic and morbid point of view that fits well with the bleak NYC winter.

Maybe it's because it never really got that cold, but instead of revisiting my hip-hop standbys, this winter found me exploring heavy rock music. I've always loved the energy and impulse behind stuff with distorted guitars and yelling but a lot of times I've found I can't relate to the grooves or the songwriting. One of the rare exceptions to this was Soundgarden, who I always loved, and I think even people who dislike them can appreciate that they are unique. I had the pleasure of seeing them this past summer, and that planted the seed for me to investigate groups that play slower, groovier metal. I think the number one find for me has been The Melvins.

Check these two songs out, I'm very excited about this new connection:

On many levels, these songs have little in common. One is scary, sludgy metal and one is happy, bouyant 80's dancehall. But both tunes are built on really strong, simple grooves, and the little thing that really excites me is that both tunes prominently feature the kick drum playing eighth notes… wow. Just hitting the kick drum over and over again. Something about this simple musical gesture is incredibly evocative for me. It makes me visualize King Kong beating his chest, or somebody trying to break a door down. For what reason? Well, in this case it is either to have a party with your friends or to commit a violent crime. What an awesome, liberating feeling that can exist in two completely different contexts.