Friday, January 22, 2010

Guitarist Marc Ribot, 1999


Originally posted on July 31, 2008

Electric guitarist, bandleader, conceptualist Marc Ribot has been a darling of the downtown NYC scene for some time. So why am I just catching up with his 1999 album Yo! I Killed Your God (Tzadik)? No reason, just haven’t until now. He plays with a quartet live on this one, sometimes plus or minus a few musicians. There is a jagged, cubist, post Captain Beefheart thing happening, some raving rave-up punk insanity, along with an anything goes approach to avant rock that uses no safety net and sometimes succeeds wonderfully, sometimes falls 100 feet into a glass of water (remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon with that feat?).

So those receptive will appreciate this. Those not predisposed will probably hate it. He can play, for sure, in his own way. The spirit of sarcastic fun prevails. It’s worth picking up if you like edgy Rock with a kind of irreverent, macabre humor.

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