www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TrJox4VjZ0

Don’t want to get all yr hopes up about a new appearance, but check this clip from when J Spaceman and friends ripped shit on Letterman, shortly after the release of Songs in A&E.

Can anyone point me to a more torn late-night TV spot?

We interrupt our Best Music of the ’00s rundown to give you yet another list, this one comprised of those guitarists — of any decade — that we Contrarians feel are too often overlooked. Underrated by whom, exactly? Start with glossy rags like Rolling Stone and TIME and move right along to Guitar Player, etc. Some of the artists compiled below are more famous than others, but they all deserve more attention for their axework.

I only asked a few folks to contribute their faves, but if you feel compelled to add to it, well, that’s what the comments section is for. Our lists are after the jump.

Ethan Covey:

OK, here goes. Two conditions/clarifications: this is by no means a comprehensive list. It’s simply a few names who came to mind this morning while considering this. Also, you could argue that none on this list are ‘underrated’ in that those who know ‘em love ‘em. But all have far too little exposure. They deserve to be included in ‘great guitarist’ lists all ’round and ain’t.

Chris Gunn (The Hospitals; f. The Hunches)
With The Hunches, Gunn turned punk inside out, creating art-rock as raw and ravaged as his band’s Pacific Northwest winters. With The Hospitals he’s aiding in the reinvention of what experimental, guitar-based music can be.

David Pearce (Flying Saucer Attack)
The (too often) unheralded benchmark for much of what psychedelic guitar has come to mean over the past 15 years.

Richard Youngs
Youngs has been focusing less on guitar on recent releases, favoring instead synths, keys and voice. However, the dude can rightfully be put in an “underrated anything” category — for now, guitar it is.

Ibrahim Ag Alhabib (Tinariwen)
Tinariwen are gaining popularity daily — and rightfully so. Ibrahim’s guitar play is like hearing traditional musics blended with 50 years of rock trickery.

Scott Tuma (f. Souled American)
Rural Americana from the deep end.

Brian Gibson (Lightning Bolt)
Basses are guitars too, right?

Chris Woodhouse (Mayyors)
These slop-punk San Franciscans may keep their releases frustratingly rare. If yr lucky enough to grab a copy prepare to be stuck to your couch — or forced into spasmodic contortions — by Woodhouse’s axe-work.

Grady Runyan (The Bad Trips; f. Liquorball, Monoshock)
The high priest of West Coast underground psychedelia. Without Monoshock there would be no Comets on Fire. Hell, he may be the link between amphetamine-frazzled punk and beardo psych.

Robert Griffin (Prisonshake)
Proving that these two aren’t the only aging codgers who can still rock.

Mizutani Takashi (Les Rallizes Denudes)
Psychedelia 101

Oren Ambarchi
The drone world’s best guitar manipulator, capable of time-stopping beauty and, when needed, speaker-taxing aggression.

————————————

Bill Simmon:

Bruce Cockburn
Amid the pretentious sing-talking poetry about rainforests and rocket launchers, this guy plays some fucking amazing acoustic guitar. His folksy stuff from 1970-1974 is some of the best acoustic folk guitar playing you can find from that era. Cockburn is of the caliber of the John Fahey Takoma Records troupe, but rarely associated with the other finger-picking masters from the era.

Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)
Again, for his acoustic playing. Listen to the acoustic work on Aqualung (the album, not the song) — that’s all Anderson. He was great. Flute schmute.

Paul McCartney
The best guitar player in the Beatles.

Buck Dharma
I’ll let Casey tell everyone why.

Walter Becker
Though Steely Dan had so many sit-in players, I’m never sure who’s playing what when.

Whoever the guitar player in Ram Jam was.
I just heard “Black Betty” on the radio and that guy rocked it.

————————————

Casey Rae-Hunter:

Davey Graham
In my mind, the undisputed master of the acoustic guitar. Graham, who recently passed away having only just come back on the scene after a multi-decade absence, had an unique, lyrical voice on the instrument. Everything from folk ‘n’ blues to Eastern music to skiffle to Celtic Isles trad to rock ‘n’ roll to Django-style jazz were in his musical inventory, and he mixed and matched styles with verve and abandon. Still as hip as it gets, even in this late age.

Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult)
Buck made me the man I am today, and he’s influenced a lot of other guitarists, too. Yet he’s not often mentioned in “official” lists. A sublime technician with soul to burn, Buck’s leads are impassioned and inventive. Like the best musicians, I hear non-guitar influences in his playing, particularly the Gypsy shred of violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Of course, there’s also Robby Krieger, Jimmy Page, Jerry Garcia and Roger McGuinn in there, too. And Buck’s strong sense of pop hooks made him an invaluable songwriter/arranger for BOC. Dude deserves more credit.

Pat Martino
A titan of jazz guitar who had much of his career robbed due to a health calamity, Martino was one of the original architects of East-West fusion. His groovy 1968 exercise Baiyina, the Clear Evidence is, according to the LP sleeve, “a psychedelic excursion through the magical mysteries of the Koran.” And that ain’t the half of it! Sadly, Martino suffered a brain aneurysm in 198o, which resulted in amnesia. Lacking any memory of the guitar and or his musical career, Martino painstakingly re-taught himself how to play by listening to his own records. Plus he now only solos using minor modes, which makes him that much cooler.

Kim Thayil (Soundgarden)
Sure, he was in a mega-platinum act, but Thayil was always overshadowed by pretty-boy bandmate Chris Cornell. Lead singer-itis aside, Soundgarden wouldn’t have been shit without Thayil’s crusty pummel, which fused Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Motörhead in an exotic mix of ferocity and finesse. He’s laid low for most of the decade, but here’s hoping he makes some noise soon.

Scott Gorham & Brian Robertson (Thin Lizzy)
For a while, these two had it all: tone, ‘tude and locked-in, twin-flight guitar harmonies. Lizzy’s fallen leader Phil Lynott rightfully gets most of the credit for the band’s tough-as-nails yet soulful vibe, but these two guitarists are an integral part of the classic Lizzy sound. Though the band has been getting more popular with hipsters of late (maybe they just like how the logo looks on a -shirt), I rarely see Gorham or Robertson in top guitarist lists. A cryin’ shame, tis.

Daryl Rabidoux
My old bandmate remains one of my favorite guitarists in the world. He and I have completely different styles, favor different sounds and probably would find a way to disagree about whether the sky is actually blue or if the color is just “the way it was mixed.” Yet the stuff he manages to coax out of his instrument is always a defining element of whatever band he plays with. Daryl spends most of his time engineering and producing, but he’ll never not be a top-notch guitarist who deserves more recognition for his skillz.

This spring has seen a consistent flush of new, captivating sounds springing forth on a wallet-taxing level. Here are a few that have me hooked:

James Ferraro, (link NSFW), better known as part of skronky noiseniks Skaters, has released LP versions of two limited CDRs, Clear and Discovery on the Holy Mountain label. Holy Mountain is one of the most consistent underground labels operating and their stride hasn’t been interrupted here. I’ve so far only heard Clear but it’s aquatic drones have me hungry for more. While past records have stormed towards (and sometimes beyond) the boundaries of listenability, this is as pure and, well, clear as a fucking mountain spring. A dedicated listen brings to mind the kind of free-love kosmische jammed by bearded legions of Krautrock pioneers. This album could have easily slipped from a forgotten page of Julian Cope‘s Krautrock Sampler.

Cleveland-based Emeralds follow a similar path, tracking the far East through the lens of Western Europe’s ’70s psychedelic scene. Allegory of Allergies, released in a sexy 2xLP gatefold on the Weird Forest label, collects tracks recorded a couple of years back and originally released on cassette. Here’s the trio’s analog synth/guitar improvisations are thick and mossy, sounding like yr turntable’s needle is digging into a tangle of cobwebbed dark. Beautiful.

On the rock front, still enjoying dipping the mind into this sick set of international psychedelia posted by front-dude Comets on Fire Ethan Miller on his Silver Currant blog. Now if only you could download gel tabs…

More soon… In the meantime enjoy yr Sunday.

Discrimination

I don’t mind the human race.
I’ve got pretty used to them
In these past twenty-five years.
I don’t mind if they sit next
To me on streetcars, or eat
In the same restaurants, if
It’s not at the same table.
However, I don’t approve
Of a woman I respect
Dancing with one of them. I’ve
Tried asking them to my home
Without success. I shouldn’t
Care to see my own sister
Marry one. Even if she
Loved him, think of the children.
Their art is interesting,
But certainly barbarous.
I’m sure, given a chance,
They’d kill us all in our beds.
And you must admit, they smell.

–Kenneth Rexroth

For a band that has been a global phenomenon for nearly half a century, and has been so heavily archived to boot, it’s impressive how much of a storm The Beatles can still brew up.

Yesterday, someone on YouTube leaked what was purported to be an unreleased cut by the Fab Four — specifically a lengthy, doo-wop version of Revolution 1.

This track, supposedly Take 20 from the recording sessions, begins with John Lennon squealing “take yr knickers off and let’s go!” before the band settles into a loose, stoned saunter through the song. The real kicks begin halfway through when the take dissolves into a collage of tape-loops, feedback and vocal improvisations.

It’s anyone’s guess whether the cut has truly seeped from some secret vault or if it’s the work of a dedicated—and rather creative—contemporary remixer. Beatles guru Richie Unterberger is claiming the tune sounds real, though his rationale is basically that the voice at the beginning of the tape sounds like John and he wouldn’t put it past the group to make such a version. Not exactly debate-winning arguments.

One more potentially revealing piece of evidence is that EMI swooped in scary-fast and took down all the YouTube vids that contained the track.

Thankfully, nothing ever truly vanishes from the web: You can stream the track in its entirety here.

My hope is the next leak will be a Wibbling Rivalry-style compilation of the boys battling it out in the studio. 10 bucks says Geoff Emerick would have kicked all their asses.

The New York Times today has an article regarding the financial freefall hitting Middle Eastern jet-set destination Dubai.

Real estate prices are down 30% over the past couple of months, leaving the wealth-chasing foreign workers who make up 90% of the city’s population scrambling to cover the expense of their lavish lifestyles. The local construction boom has ground to a halt and the government is rumored to be revoking 1500 work visas each day. Adding insult to injury, those who lose visas are required by law to vacate the country within a month. So much for that dream job…

How bad is it? Area papers are reporting the Dubai airport has turned into graveyard for luxury cars. Over 3000 whips have been ditched in the airport’s parking garage, many with notes of apology taped to the windshields and maxed-out credit cards littering the interior.

And the fate of the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s signature palm tree-shaped artificial island complex? Word is not only is the archipelago sinking, when visitors to the island’s hotels turn on their faucets in place of water they get a steady stream of cockroaches.

I guess now’s your chance to get a piece of The World at deep discount. What better vantage point to watch the region go to shit than your own private (manmade) island?

Now that’s I hairstyle I could hang with…

Website Nineteenth Century Images of Albinism has, as one would expect, a collection of photographs of albinos from the 1870s-1809s. Albinos were sought out by showmen such as P. T. Barnum for traveling sideshows. Photos of the “performers” were available for collecting and trading—sort of a convoluted set of circus baseball cards.

My fave is undoubtedly the fantastically hirsute Rudolph Lucasie and family, who were “obtained” (yeck) by Barnum during a visit to Amsterdam in 1857.

Thanks to kickin’ photography blog  I Heart Photograph for the link.

“Is this real life?
Why is this happening to me?
Is this forever?”

I hear ya, kid. . .

Case in point: Indie torch-songsters Antony & the Johnsons‘ third album The Crying Light topped the European pop chart, grabbed the silver in Spain and Sweden, bronze in Denmark, #4 in France, Holland and Norway, #9 in Italy and #18 in the UK.

In the States the album debuted at number 65 on The Billboard 200, selling a respectable but less-than-stunning 7,837 copies.

Frontwoman Taylor Swift, the country-popping teenybopper, held onto the pole position, shifting just under a gajillion units.

For those current and ex-Vermont readers out there, unfortunate news today that former Seven Days political columnist Peter Freyne has passed away.

Those familiar with 7D know Freyne for his witty, barbed coverage of the VT political scene. He had a style of writing and reporting that made the daily banalities of Burlington and Montpelier government sparkle. It’s no wonder he was consistently voted the top VT journalist in yearly best-of polls.

To many of us young writers that worked with Freyne he was constantly an enigma, frequently an inspiration and occasionally a right bastard. The dude knew his craft and was dedicated to his writing in the way that far too few are.

He will be missed.

Seven Days has an official obit here.