What Kind of Music Do You Like?

(Originally posted on Myspace.com on August 23, 2007; Republished on "Moment of Truth" on Friday, February 29, 2008)

You know, this use to be such an innocent, simple question. People strongly identified with a particular music genre and its accompanying subculture, whether that be the folk scene in Greenwich in the early sixties, or rock and roll, or grunge and the the Seattle scene in the early-to-mid nineties. Even now, there are many emo kids and the like. And yet, more and more it seems that people of our generation keep saying the same damn thing: "Oh, you know, everything."

Even in the late nineties, I could catch people on this by following up with, "even country?" and they'd be like, "well no, except country." But even that caveat no longer holds true these days, with country being one of the top-selling genres of the past ten-to-fifteen years, and increasingly a staple on Top 40 radio and MTV (you know, between 2 and 5 in the morning, when they show music videos?). What has happened to our once-powerful identification in particular forms and kinds of music?

In truth, I too frequently say "everything," or at least want to say it. But that's not really what I mean. To me, a genre is not a good or bad thing in and of itself. Rather, it's a mode of expression, within which one can excel or dramatically fail. Indeed, it is within genres that I make my distinctions. and every genre is fair game. I maintain to you that almost any genre or subgenre has its good, its great, and its awful musicians/artists. example: within hip-hop/rap/whatever you want to call it, we have the great: Jay-Z. and the good: Kanye West. and the awful: Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy/just shut the fuck up already, no one cares anymore. Similarly, hair metal has its (sometimes) great progenitor Van Halen, its (occasionally) good Def Leppard, and its (generally) awful Bon Jovi (oh boy am I gonna get shit for that one - ok, just pretend I said poison!)

Anyways, my point is this: It's ok to like every kind of music, but pick the good music from the bad. Not all songs are created equal!

In addition, don't dismiss a song or band by its genre - that's like judging a book by...well you know what I mean. Country music has given us Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, and even metal has its moments (some of Metallica's early albums contain some astonishing melodic sections, not to mention brilliant soloing).

And finally, when I ask you what kind of music you like, all I'm trying to do is engage you in a conversation about music. If you truly don't like music (or at least don't like to talk about it), then fine, say "oh, you know, everything." But if you wouldn't mind a discursive tangent on the relative merits of some of your favorite bands (I'll let you pick - I'm musically omnivorous), give me something to work with!

Top 5 Electric Guitar Instrumentals of All-Time

(Originally posted on "Moment of Truth" on Tuesday, January 15, 2008)

This is a subject I care deeply about. But seriously, it is difficult to make an instrumental pop track that is truly compelling. I feel that the following tracks meet that requirement. They also showcase some truly incredible playing!

1) Stevie Ray Vaughan, "Little Wing" - The original, composed by Jimi Hendrix, is a pop masterpiece, and (naturally) contains some great guitar playing. The song has been covered numerous times, most notably by Derek and the Dominos (Eric Clapton + Duane Allman = best band to record only one album? that list coming soon...)

2) Eric Johnson, "Cliffs of Dover" - You may not have heard of this song, but if you've listened to hard rock radio much, I guarantee it will sound familiar to you. The best original composition for an instrumental guitar song ever, with only one other that even comes close, IMHO (see #5, below).

3) Yngvie Malmsteen, "Canon in D" - Fans of this classical classic, if you've ever wanted to hear this song truly rocked out, Malmsteen's version is a must-listen. I have to point out here that there is a video of an amateur guitarist playing Canon in his bedroom on youtube, and this video happens to be the 10th most-viewed and 2nd-most favorited video of all time on Youtube (as of this writing). And it is a good rendition. I still prefer Malmsteen's version. That's how good it is.

4) Jeff Beck, "A Day in the Life" - An instrumental of one of Beatles' greatest and most highly regarded songs, this track was recorded for inclusion in George Martin's In My Life, an album of Beatles covers put together in 1999 (George Martin produced most of the Beatles' music, including Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's, and Abbey Road, as well all of their early stuff). This album may be better known for Sean Connery's version of "In My Life," but "A Day in the Life" is the true highlight.

5) Santana, "Samba Pa Ti" - From the classic album Abraxas, Carlos Santana demonstrated early on that his guitar was the true lead singer of Santana.