Why Most (sub-reddit /r/guitar posters) Are Idiots

[negative potential]

So, I've been spending a lot of time recently at the Sub-Reddit /r/guitar, and occasionally I'll try to fight the tide of mediocrity by promoting players like Andy Gill, Tom Verlaine, and Keith Rowe.

But as anyone who has ever set foot in a musical instrument shop knows, most guitar players are musical idiots who think music begins with Clapton and ends with Metallica.

So anyway, Spin magazine just came out with a list of their "greatest guitar players of all time", and it's actually not a bad list for a mainstream "alternative" publication like Spin. Placing the guys from Sonic Youth in the top spot is oh-so-predictable, but in general it's a nice list, with people like Andy Gill, Andrian Belew, Lydia Lunch etc.

Anyway, you should see how the wheedly-deedly hesher brigade gets so outraged at this offense of a list that doesn't feature the same predictable bullshit picks like Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen.

I think in terms of the construction of musical canons, there are two constituencies: "musicians" and "record collectors", and the truth is, "record collectors" have much better taste.

Here's the link: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments ... t_top_100/

[surfer]

Best ranters on IHM:

1. Captain Hate
2. JKud
3. Faster
4. leroysghost
5. neg po
6. dialecticbricks

thanks Alex, at least I know what a "hesher" is now.

[negative potential]

Seriously, at times like this I regret having picked up an instrument so closely associated with hard rock. The ahistoricism and narrowmindedness of most guitar players is appalling.

The Jazz-centric nature of Saxophone players is at least understandable, given that Sax hardly has a prominent role outside of Jazz most of the time. But guitar is a fucking centuries old instrument that is present in most genres that people have ever heard!

[patois]

The typical ihm poster:


Seriously tho, when measured against Keith Rowe (and I'm paraphrasing here; something along the lines of "anyone can become a 'guitar player'; few make it to 'musician' status... i wanted to transcend 'musician' and become an 'artist') it is a terrible list of 'best guitarists'... but about time perhaps.

[negative potential]

Yeah, honestly, I'm so sick of people trotting out the term "hipster" anytime anyone has the audacity to suggest that something less popular or even obscure is actually better than popular stuff. The anti-hipster backlash is more obnoxious than hipsterism itself.

And I now actually regret any iconoclasm I may have indulged in previously with regard to Keith Rowe. It's pretty apparent to me now what a bunch of fucking oddballs we are to 99% of the people who consider themselves "music fans".

[Jesse]

wait alex, is your contention what you put forth in the thread title, or specific to guitarists?
plus, did you hold some idea that it is otherwise? i.e., most humans are idiots, how would musicians deviate from that?
[ better thraed title: i hate musicians].

[negative potential]

wait alex, is your contention what you put forth in the thread title, or specific to guitarists?

Good point. Let's put it this way: most bass players and drummers I've known have tended to have much broader tastes than the other guitarists I've known.

plus, did you hold some idea that it is otherwise? i.e., most humans are idiots, how would musicians deviate from that?
[ better thraed title: i hate musicians].

Yeah, you're right, I can't shake my inherent idealism, the idea that reality should somehow be different from what it is.

[Charon]

It's pretty apparent to me now what a bunch of fucking oddballs we are to 99% of the people who consider themselves "music fans".

Damn I love this thread. I think to most people we're beyond 'oddballs', really. I mean, 'oddball' is having tastes that most people consider a bit odd. I think most people consider what we like as not even being a 'taste' at all, more like something pathological.

[Jesse]

i don't think any of the music discussed here rises to the level of most people thinking about it at all.

[Charon]

i don't think any of the music discussed here rises to the level of most people thinking about it at all.

True, unless they happen to overhear us listening!

[Jesse]

this is how we balance out the world, an insignificant, small number of humans listening with keen attention to barely audible music.
i am almost perfectly content to be in this number.

[faster]

I'm glad it's so easy for us to find ways to consider ourselves special.

[Jesse]

nothing says *special* like small and insignificant!

[faster]

fwiw my response wasn't directed at you, jesse.

[J.F.]

....

(still too early here to write a coherent post)

[Jesse]

didn't think they were, joe, i'm joshing too. except about being real content to like what i like, however insignificant what i like is to, well, everyone else.

[notoriousd]

What is the point of this thread? Most people are idiots, whether in music or not. How can you be surprised about the forum users reaction? Most people listen to Lady Gaga!
Obviously that guitarist list is a joke, its tailored for the readers of a shitty populist magazine which IHM users don't care about.
I'm actually offended that you think it's a nice list, it basically ignores most jazz (Joe Pass hello?), and favours guitarists who've played in perceived edgy or alternative bands, rather than those who can actually play a guitar.
And how does this thread explain WHY musicians are idiots?

Can one not be a record collector and a musician?

fail thread is fail

[cheerios]

Two words: Masayuki Takayanagi

[bkudler]

wait I thought making generalizations about groups of people was bad....or does Badiou say that is "okay" now? If so: Most meat eaters are philanderers, most DJs drive monster trucks, and most people who have released something on Erstwhile aren't potty trained.

[orangettecoleman]

1. why would anyone waste time reading said Spin list?
2. why would someone take the time to ask a bunch of dudes on a message board who play in lousy VH cover bands their opinion on said list?
3. why would anyone consider the result surprising enough to be worth commenting on?