LISTEN TO IT #72: OH EE EE OH EE EE OH EE!
Apr. 2nd, 2013 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
You know that rock music is still a male-dominated genre when everyone gets all amazed every time a female guitarist gets on stage and knocks out some Eddie Van Halen-style riffing and shredding.
Even years after everyone from Joan Jett and Lita Ford to Sleater-Kinney and The Donnas already kicked down those particular doors – to say nothing of all those YouTube videos of teenage girls knocking out metal solos – it’s still the gender of the guitarist that defines how many people react (and often as not, how hot she is).
At the moment, the two guitarists at the top of the “You play pretty good for a girl” list are Orianthi and Marnie Stern. Both of them are relatively new to me (having only been hipped to them in the past year by Mr Jason Franks). And they both have new albums out this year.
I am far more excited about the latter.
Here’s why.
For a start, it takes more than chops to impress me. LOTS of people can play guitar well. A smaller subset can play guitar INSANELY well. But if yr playing music that doesn't really connect with me on some level, I’m not going to get much out of it.
Orianthi is an INSANELY good guitarist whose style can be described as “all purpose”, which is why she’s able to collaborate with everyone from Michael Jackson, Adam Lambert and Carrie Underwood to Mary J Blige, Tokyo Police Club and Alice Cooper. And her solo work is, essentially, “all purpose” hard rock songs about standard rock topics. She’s very good at it, but it’s not really my thing.
Marnie Stern, on the other hand, is an INSANELY good guitarist who plays completely bonkers indie rock that sounds like some demented tribe of extraterrestrial winged unicorns from Arcturus backed by Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson of the B-52s.
Okay, I’m exaggerating a little. But seriously, her new album is startlingly idiosyncratic. And bonkers.
Listen.
It’s probably not for everyone. I can see a lot of people getting annoyed by her vocal style alone. But there’s something just insanely joyful about the whole album that appeals to me.
Immortals don’t die,
This dF
Even years after everyone from Joan Jett and Lita Ford to Sleater-Kinney and The Donnas already kicked down those particular doors – to say nothing of all those YouTube videos of teenage girls knocking out metal solos – it’s still the gender of the guitarist that defines how many people react (and often as not, how hot she is).
At the moment, the two guitarists at the top of the “You play pretty good for a girl” list are Orianthi and Marnie Stern. Both of them are relatively new to me (having only been hipped to them in the past year by Mr Jason Franks). And they both have new albums out this year.
I am far more excited about the latter.
Here’s why.
For a start, it takes more than chops to impress me. LOTS of people can play guitar well. A smaller subset can play guitar INSANELY well. But if yr playing music that doesn't really connect with me on some level, I’m not going to get much out of it.
Orianthi is an INSANELY good guitarist whose style can be described as “all purpose”, which is why she’s able to collaborate with everyone from Michael Jackson, Adam Lambert and Carrie Underwood to Mary J Blige, Tokyo Police Club and Alice Cooper. And her solo work is, essentially, “all purpose” hard rock songs about standard rock topics. She’s very good at it, but it’s not really my thing.
Marnie Stern, on the other hand, is an INSANELY good guitarist who plays completely bonkers indie rock that sounds like some demented tribe of extraterrestrial winged unicorns from Arcturus backed by Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson of the B-52s.
Okay, I’m exaggerating a little. But seriously, her new album is startlingly idiosyncratic. And bonkers.
Listen.
It’s probably not for everyone. I can see a lot of people getting annoyed by her vocal style alone. But there’s something just insanely joyful about the whole album that appeals to me.
Immortals don’t die,
This dF