I had been thinking about going to the Pitchfork Music Festival this year. Being a prior attendee, I got an email from them about the festival, the 3-day pass, etc. But I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go, etc. Then the 3-day passes sold out much faster than I had anticipated and, being a cheapskate, it was psychologically difficult to pay more for the same product by purchasing individual day tickets, still unsure if I’d be able to go. And then it sold out altogether.
But, never fear, they have a pretty cool webcast of the show. Unfortunately, I totally forgot about this, and missed Friday’s ‘fork ‘cast altogether, so didn’t get to see the Liars. And they didn’t webcast Broken Social Scene’s perf, which I would’ve liked to have seen.
On Saturday, I caught the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Of course you’re missing a lot by seeing it on a computer screen instead of in real life, but still, it’s really nice to be able to actually see the performers up close, listen without earplugs, and above all, not deal with standing up in crowded conditions for hours on end, with some annoying dude (or me!) blocking your vision. JSBX were really great; they’ve still got it. Judah Bauer plays the more complex guitar stuff on his Tele, but I was also pretty impressed with Jon Spencer’s noisy work on his no-name shit guitar. And of course, Russell Simins keeping it all together. At the end Spencer finally busted out the theremin, but also had some other noise box, which seemed a bit too much to control all at once.
Saw a bit of Panda Bear. They were webcasting the band’s video show rather than video of the band actually playing. It was alright. I dunno, the reverby vocals thing with electronic & acoustic sounds thing started to sound all the same after a little while.
LCD Soundsystem. You know, James Murphy can really sing. Like, on pitch and stuff. It’s an interesting topic, why do some bands play things repeatedly and it sounds repetitious, whereas others can use repetition towards an expression of the ecstatic?
On Sunday, I forgot about it and missed Girls, but did browse in time to see Beach House. You know, I like them, but even though I recognize some of their songs, they do all kind of sound the same at some point. Maybe a change of tempo now and again might be in order.
Also saw some of Lightning Bolt’s performance. Quite energetic, and the crowd seemed to be into it. It’s a funny sort of dance music to me, in that I enjoy them more in person than listening to them in a more removed setting.
Ah, and then St. Vincent. I used to think she was a bit gimmicky, but now I just think she’s great. Such talent. I love her stuff and am seriously envious of her hair.
Then I waited around for the highlight, finally seeing Pavement, reunited after all these years. They were scheduled for 8:30 CDT, specific 6:30 Pacific. I tuned in, but they were showing highlights of prior ‘fork fests, such as King Khan’s awesome perf of “Welfare Bread”. The time rolled around and passed. Okay, a little late setting up. But then it got to 30 minutes late. Did someone miss a flight?
I cancelled out and refreshed the page, to discover that Pavement had suddenly been removed from the list of bands to be webcasted. WTF? This the fuck, apparently. “One band member has a beef with Pitchfork’s editorial department”, probably Spiral Stairs. So you agree to do the Pitchfork Music Festival, take there money, and actually play there, but at the last second you nix a webcast because you hate Pitchfork so much? Um, okay, that doesn’t really make any sense.
Well, as indie rockers the world over say, “next year in Chicago”.
Speaking of Telecasters, someone (but not me, as I am overwhelmed by life as it is) should research and write a post on why it is that the Telecaster seems to be the guitar of choice for the current crop of local bands. I mean, I get that it’s a popular guitar, what with Judah Bauer using it, and “the Boss” and even the Who in that video clip down the page a bit from us. But lately I’ve been going out to try to see more of what Houston’s local music scene has to offer, and I’m enjoying myself immensely, but I’ve just lately happened to notice that almost every guitarist seems to play a Telecaster. What’s up with that?
I’ve noticed that too. I always figured it was due to the heavy influence of country music (where Tele’s are of course ubiquitous) in Texas, but perhaps something else is at work?
It seems like if it was the influence of country, it would’ve been consistent throughout the years, but honestly I’ve only really noticed the Teles making a huge comeback in the last couple of years.
I blame Keith Richards.
This is the case in Austin too. My theories:
1. The influence of the Black Lips and other super-twangy garage bands, who are widely imitated in Austin. Although IIRC the Black Lips play Strats, their sound is easy to imitate with a Tele.
2. All-around versatility, durability and value. The Tele is the most difficult-to-break guitar in existence- not just the body but also the input jack and strap buttons. They take effects well and work in a lot of different musical settings, including the “big sound” indie rock which has been growing the last few years. Because of the simplicity of the design, the cheap ones don’t suffer overmuch in quality relation to the expensive ones. It’s an easy choice for people who are just getting started in bands, don’t know or care much about gear, or who are on a budget.
3. Because the Tele was the first mass-produced electric guitar, it has a unique appeal as a historical signifier, much like LPs (*sigh* and tapes), so some use may be driven by retro fetishism.
4. The influence of hardcore and post-hardcore on indie rock in the ’90s resulted in a disproportionate number of Gibson guitars on the small stage. I remember seeing an SG at every show in high school. This influence has largely dissipated in favor of the trends named above, resulting in a shift “back to basics,” i.e. simple Fender guitars.
All that said, I’m getting tired of the Tele-Twin combo in indie rock. Call me tasteless, the loud, piercing clean tone is getting old. Or maybe I’m just tired of competing with Stu.
I don’t think it’s a mystery. Classic design. Plug ‘n’ play simplicity. Built like a tank. And yeah, even the cheap ones are well-built machines that always seem to be in tune.
Although I’ve converted to Strats, I have much admiration for Teles. Especially when compared to the uneven quality and general irritability of other classic guitars, especially the Les Paul. I’d play a Les Paul if I had a guitar tech standing around all day. For those of us that don’t, your vanilla Strats and Teles are the best option.
Pavement: Kings of Irony (if you can call it that). Hilarious. or is it Hypolarious?
I don’t think a Tele is the best option for a person trying to learn, for this reason — the classic Tele is a single-coil with a fairly unforgiving tone. They are real crisp and don’t do much to alleviate the steep learning curve. They are tanks, though, that’s for sure. I’ve always historically preferred the Les Paul sort of sound, personally, but in the last few years I’ve come around. My favorite guitar now is a humbucking Ibanez Art Core semi-hollowbody which rules for sounding heavy while remaining fairly clear, and feeds back with a ton of control. It’s voicing is first class and it was cheap as fuck for what it gives me. I think it blends the best of the Les Paul camp and the Fender sounds all while cutting down on either’s shortcomings as well as anything.
Honestly I still prefer the Strat for playability, but the Les Paul for sound, and the best of both worlds as far as sound goes are P-90 pickups. Sure, they hum like a muthafukka, but they SOUND great. The bite and snap of single coils, but the warmth and midrange thickness of a humbucker. On a dense Les Paul, they sound amazing.