7/08/2013

Spin the (empty moonshine) Bottle

Unless it’s done to conceal or rehabilitate a damning past or water down a perhaps too strident orthodoxy, revisionism is not necessarily a bad thing. By definition, its intent is to challenge pre-existing views or theories. Nothing wrong with keeping us all honest. But when it’s done as a clear but feeble attempt to blithely alter a paradigm, or worse, to appear cool and/or be subversive, it has wandered into sad, unfunny joke territory. To wit: Spin magazine’s recent list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.

We have neither the time nor inclination to go any further into dismantling the list, but any aggregate of this nature which includes Skrillex (?!); has Jack White and Steve Albini (?!) ranked higher than, say, Robert Fripp; and features Jam Master Jay (??!!) in its top 10, is just an exercise in douchebaggery. Simple as that.