36. Bob Mould
A long long time ago, waaaaay back before all the cool kids had the internet, with its fancy bloggers and mp3s and hipster sites to tell them what bands were cool this week, we had to find out about indie music–which, at the time, simply meant music on independent labels, not some particular “sound”–in all sorts of arduous ways: from mixtapes handed down from someone’s older cousin, via thankyous and shoutouts in CD and tape liner notes, 120 Minutes (which meant being really drowsy on Monday), magazines like SPIN and Option, and, believe it or not, paper catalogs from labels like SST.
I had one of these paper catalogs from SST: they put them in the CDs and tapes that they sold. I think mine came from Sonic Youth’s Sister. That’s how I learned about Hüsker Dü and Bob Mould. I found New Day Rising on tape. This is easily one of the best “hardcore” records ever made–whatever that label means, I don’t know what it means, but some people call Hüsker Dü “hardcore” music–I don’t know. Sugar, Bob Mould’s other band, did some awesome stuff too.
Hang on, what was the point of all that stuff about the internet and record catalogs? I forget. Oh, yeah. Kids today have it too easy. Grrr. Arrgh.
Hüsker Dü covers The Byrd’s “Eight Miles High”:
37. J. Mascis
Speaking of SST guitar heroes…
I saw Dinosaur play a couple of years ago, the reunited version with Murph and Lou Barlow. They played at the House of Blues in Orlando, which is in this weird Disney-mall thing. I don’t know quite how to explain it. It was a Disneyfied downtown (although that also describes Orlando’s real downtown). I was pretty drunk and I couldn’t really get into. I really wanted them to play “In a Jar,” and they played it for like their third song, and that was kind of it for me. And then, when I went to the bathroom, there was a uniformed bathroom attendant, which was kind of depressing for me also. I mean, I just don’t think that’s very rock’n’roll. It didn’t bother me that J. Mascis looked like a really fat Edgar Winter.
38. Tim Gane
Most people don’t think of Stereolab as a guitar band. Actually, most people don’t think of Stereolab at all, probably. I really like Stereolab though. Tim Gane’s got this completely understated style, this mid-tone perfect rhythm that propels and leads the band. No solos.
39. Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr also has an understated style, and I really like that. His guitar lines for The Smiths were somehow melodic and rhythmic at the same time, and he always made room for Morrissey’s gorgeous voice and the killer rhythm section of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce. And he was always careful to not rock too much.
40. Matt Friedberger
My love for Fiery Furnaces is well-documented on this site, so I won’t rant about their awesome albums and clever lyrics and seemingly unstoppable prolificness. I won’t! Matt’s guitar-playing has this squawky, nervous energy that resolves into moments of brief, assuaging beauty before going into more perfect awkwardness. Live, the man is a beast. He plays like Michael Jordan; id est, with his tongue hanging out.
Biblioklept 