Feeding Back (book featuring Jason)

[angelsighs]

this book is a must buy for me. just check out the guitarists featured. you can read a preview of the first chapter on Amazon.


Feeding Back: Conversations with Alternative Guitarists from Proto-Punk to Post-Rock offers a counter-history of rock music through the lens of interviews with musicians including Richard Thompson, J Mascis, James Williamson, Bob Mould, Tom Verlaine, Lydia Lunch, Lee Ranaldo, Johnny Marr, and John Frusciante. Individually, the book’s in-depth discussions explore these subjects’ ideas and innovations; taken together, they document an alternative-guitar tradition with roots in free jazz, punk, avant-garde, folk, and garage rock styles. Of all the conversations in Feeding Back, the most compelling is the one among the guitarists themselves, the way they both influence and respond to each other while redefining the instrument and the rock genre. From the proto-punk of the Stooges to the post-punk of Sonic Youth, from the krautrock of Neu! to the post-rock of Tortoise, the book charts this alternative thread as it makes its way through rock guitar from the late ’60s to the present.


Introduction: The Quine Machine
1) …If You Dug It: Lenny Kaye
2) The Individualist: Richard Thompson
3) Don’s Secret: Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad)
4) Doing the Work: Wayne Kramer
5) Riff Appeal: James Williamson
6) Forst Exposure: Michael Rother
7) Infinite Delay: Richard Pinhas
8 ) Love Theme from The Twilight Zone: Tom Verlaine
9) They Say the Neon Lights are Bright on the Bowery: Cheetah Chrome
10) Gun, Guitar, Bullhorn: Lydia Lunch
11) Meta Box: Keith Levene
12) Purloiner: Rowland S. Howard
13) The Shi(f)t: Fred Frith
14) The Shakespeare Squadron: Glenn Branca
15) Starting with Thunders: Bob Mould
16) Infinity Suitcase: Lee Ranaldo
17) The Believer: Johnny Marr
18) Purple Sparkle: J Mascis
19) Reverend Spaceman: Jason Pierce
20) Furtive Gestures: David Pajo
21) The Joy of Despair: Kim Deal & Kelley Deal
22) The Radiant Guitarist: John Frusciante
23) Psychedelic Sound Freak: Michio Kurihara
24) Fennesz + Not-Fennesz: Christian Fennesz
25) Black Wolf, White Wolf: Ben Chasny

[Sim]

Thanks, great find! You can also see quite a bit of Jason's chapter.

[angelsighs]

true, but I don't wanna spoil the surprise!

[Kurious Oranj]

whoa this looks great thanks for this

went ahead and ordered it

have to admit im unfamiliar with about half the names on there

[angelsighs]

yeah i'd say i'm unfamiliar with about 1/4 which isn't too bad but hopefully will introduce me to some great new guitarists as well.

one tiny bugbear I've got is that Tom Verlaine always gets the kudos for Television, but Richard Lloyd is just as incredible a guitarist.

also got to thinking that I'd love to see an interview with Doggen one day.

[Kurious Oranj]

always remember this richard lloyd picture



heh

from "please kill me"

[angelsighs]

he was one good looking git when he was young

[simonkeeping]

Got my copy in the post a few days ago. It's a nice book!

Jason's interview is from around the A+E era so it's taken David Todd a while to put the whole thing together. It's a good read though.

There's a quote from his interview which I hope It's okay to post on here but it's one of those things you read which make you glad to alive. It's so fucking cool.

I don't sit and play guitar. I can't think of anything worse than people who put guitars on then say " I've got a song I want to play to you". That's so far away from my image of Rock and Roll. Im more like, "I'm going to put his thing on in the corner. I'm going to be making a fucking racket. If you're interested, you can come have a listen". But I ain't playing these songs, you know. I'm doing this thing that's really fucking important.

[angelsighs]

yeah nice quote there. I think it also sheds light on Jasons stage presence (or lack of)- Spz are not a band to plead for your attention, they just sort of make this noise and it's up to you to get sucked into it or not. its a strange mixture of arrogance and shyness this lack of engagement can annoy some people though.

its a great book isn't it? the only thing I'd say is that there isn't really a 'common thread' uniting all the interviews, apart from maybe some vague ethos of all the guitarists avoiding cliches and all the trad rock blues scales in particular. (would have been better if he had asked at least some standard questions to all of them). the opening chapter does a good stab of summing it all up and drawing some parallels, but on the whole its 'just' a book of some interviews with some cool guitarists, nothing more, nothing less.

[Multi]

How is the chapter on Rowland S. Howard?

[mh]

Also interested in the Keith Levene chapter.

[angelsighs]

didn't find the Rowland S Howard chapter that interesting to be honest, but then I'm not familiar with his work so don't really have a context. he talks about how he came up with new sounds simply using the tremelo bar and lots of reverb- and utilizing lots of space between notes

the keith levene interview I really enjoyed. his playing is also known for its sense of minimalism and space, but he was one of the most proficient punk guitarists around, and had to strip his sound right down and reject a lot of his instincts to get that minimal sound. he also sounds a little wistful that he has not really worked with other bands since leaving Pil. wasted talent?