Log #6 - More Than One Way to Play a Guitar

Not a classic week this week, with only one album keeping it's spot this weekend; Efterklang's Piramida. The sumptuous Efterklang have just released a new album actually (Leaves) which has been described as some sort of interactive opera which they will be performing at the Barbican, London, early next year. I've heard a couple of tracks and am wondering, although it is admirable they continue to push the envelope, if they may have over stretched their ambitions this time. However in the meantime the effortlessly graceful Piramida continues to impress. If you like this one check out Magic Chairs next, their previous album which contains most of their best known tracks.

1. Efterklang - Piramida
2. Al Di Meola - Cielo e Terra
3. Tricky - Maxinquaye
4. Curtis Mayfield - Love's Sweet Sensation
5. Soft Machine - Third
6. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi

As a keen amateur guitarist I used to listen to alot of classical repertoire as a student - John Williams, Julian Bream, Segovia, Narcisco Yepes and John Mills. I was also keenly aware of the most revered electric guitarists out there - David Gilmour, Rory Gallagher, Neil Young, Andy Latimer, Richie Blackmore (who is reforming a version of Rainbow I hear), Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix of course, although I missed the point at first and snobbily frowned upon these electric maestros for not using their little finger of their left hands (right in Jimi's case) and barring the bass strings with their thumbs (a no-no for the classically trained). In a similar fashion I also dismissed any electronic music at the time for not using real instruments and therefore not requiring skill (my favourite band as a teenager was ELO as they played proper instruments like violins - and wasn't Jeff Lynne great at the last Glastonbury?).

I was completely unaware of whole areas of guitar playing in between these two extremes of classical and rock - acoustic, flamenco, blues and jazz for instance. I remember this began to change when a friend played me a record called Friday Night in San Francisco by three legendary acoustic guitarists I had never heard of - Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia basically jamming at breakneck speed in front of a live audience. Skillful and exciting that record paved the way towards my love now for the visionary acoustic players like Tommy Emmanuel and Will Ackerman. Having said that the featured record in this list, Al Di Meola's Cielo e Terra actually sounds a bit dated now and is very reminiscent of the 80s guitar fashions of synth-guitars and Ovation electro-acoustics. It is similar to Pat Metheny's revered Offramp album which I play a lot more. I always like the cover though, reproduced above, and there is at least one stand out track in the 9-minute Traces (Of a Tear).

On the other hand Tricky's hip hop masterpiece Maxinquaye still sounds fresh and current. It came out around the time of Portishead's stunning debut album Dummy. Maxinquaye is as good.

Curtis Mayfield's album may be a compilation. It's smooth and sensual as you'd expect with several well known tunes. Mayfield's latter years were unfortunately dogged by ill health after a serious injury resulting from an on stage accident where a lighting rig fell on him.

I used to have an old cassette of Soft Machine music. I don't know what the music was but it had a lovely organic groove with organ and drums - the lack of a guitarist was interesting. Their albums are called 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. Most of their music is instrumental which is a good thing when drummer Robert Wyatt is your vocalist. This one, Third, has lots of jazz honks and squeaks and not much groove. The rest of the family call it "car-crash" music.

I have never heard anything like Boards of Canada. Their instrumental electronica music literally sounds out of tune, but is strangely entrancing. Completely original - it is a different kind of "car-crash" music and it's brilliant.