Originally posted by snailhook:
Go to the Warehouse and see one of those "washboard and saucepan" shows that Snailhook puts on. Plenty of new and different stuff is out there, it's just that most people won't find it until it's on Seth Cohen's iPod.[/b]
most of the "great" guitarists mentioned so far are absolute jokes. i think rhett nakatestes' list is interesting, but still limited to his beloved alt-country. the majority of the current great guitarists are not found in the indie rock or punk world. they can be found in obscure bands playing challenging experimental music to avant-jazz ensembles to grindmetal to acoustic fingerpicking [/b]
I think great still remains relative. It all depends on what you're looking for in music. For innovative and challenging guitar work, yes - most new, incredible players are going to be found in the realm of music where things are still innovative and challenging. But I don't think that makes the other guitarists mentioned an absolute joke.
I also don't think comparing bands to one another is idiotic. Yes, it may be lazy journalism, but at the same time, points of reference are what allow people some measure of insight into sound. Describing sound with words is a problem to begin with - often times the best way that somebody is really going to understand what you're trying to say is if you can provide some way of connecting it to what they know. Of course the White Stripes are doing more than borrowing from Zeppelin, and came out of a bigger scene. But speaking to your average joe, if you reference the late '90s early '00s Detroit scene, nobody is going to have a fucking clue of what you're talking about.
