Best Ever Albums

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

benpaco — Tue, 2 Sep 2014 04:00:53 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 09/02/2014 08:00

satiemaniac wrote:

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Half Gentlemen / Not Beasts by Half Japanese

obviously my vote is going to Fair; not only because i nommed him, but because his opponent is (along with Nick Drake, The Tallest Man on Earth, and a couple others) someone whose playing bores me beyond belief

Ended up only checking out this one and not voting, didn't feel like i had a feel for Fair yet. That said, I personally find Smith's guitar work more interesting than Drake's and that would be why I prefer Smith to Drake, so it's interesting you've lumped them together. Tallest Man I just don't know very well, tbh.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

RockyRaccoon — Mon, 1 Sep 2014 23:42:33 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 09/02/2014 03:42

Elliott Smith wins

17-11

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Hayden — Mon, 1 Sep 2014 11:45:40 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 09/01/2014 15:45

Jad Fair.

I don't think either will get very much further though.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Patman360 — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 18:22:51 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 08/31/2014 22:22

Smith by quite some distance for me.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 17:56:18 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/31/2014 21:56

Weirdly enough, Smith's guitar playing may be my favorite part of his music. Some of the advocates for Fair seem to be voting more for primitivism in general rather than Fair's particular style. I can definitely see the appeal of Half Japanese, but it seems to me that Fair's talent is more in expressing his inner child than playing guitar.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 15:38:52 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/30/2014 19:38

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Half Gentlemen / Not Beasts by Half Japanese

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We Are They Who Ache with Amorous Love by Half Japanese

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Enjoy Your Life by Jad Fair & Tenniscoats

are the three you should check out off the top of my head, benpaco.

obviously my vote is going to Fair; not only because i nommed him, but because his opponent is (along with Nick Drake, The Tallest Man on Earth, and a couple others) someone whose playing bores me beyond belief

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

benpaco — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 13:34:05 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 08/30/2014 17:34

Gowienczyk wrote:

I love that Fair "literally, in the early days at least, played an out of tune guitar with no pretense that he could even make basic chord shapes. He plugged his guitar into an amp and just made rhythmic noise" because it's the exact same thing I aspired to do when I first picked up the instrument and began to record "rhythmic noise".

I mean, that's basicall what I did on Soundtrack to an Anxiety Attack, so if that's really what he did, props for making it sound better.

In the meantime, I only know Fair's work with Johnston, is there a particular album I should check out of his? Listening to Live In Baltimore off Half Japanese's debut and it just sounds like a live and drunk rendition of No Tears for the most part now.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

mickilennial — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 04:10:36 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 08/30/2014 08:10

Even with Smith's career (and boy do I enjoy that), I love that Fair "literally, in the early days at least, played an out of tune guitar with no pretense that he could even make basic chord shapes. He plugged his guitar into an amp and just made rhythmic noise" because it's the exact same thing I aspired to do when I first picked up the instrument and began to record "rhythmic noise". Of course I was at the time more influenced by the folks in Steve Alibini, Lee Ranaldo, and Duane Denison. Love Fair's work as well, because this isn't just guitar envy.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:53:00 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/29/2014 22:53

Can't let the hipsters win Mercury 🤣 I'll vote both if I could

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Mercury — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:48:29 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 08/29/2014 22:48

If Jad Fair gets further in this tournament than Nick Drake then BEA has lost its marbles.

Elliott, easily.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

nachosbob — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:07:07 GMT

Author: nachosbob

Posted: 08/29/2014 22:07

Gotta go with Elliott, +1 for finding what must be the only picture of him smiling with a guitar.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

meccalecca — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:43:41 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 08/29/2014 20:43

Skinny wrote:

Well I thought that went without saying, but just to clarify - yes, the primary reason I'm voting for Fair here is because I prefer his playing to Smith's. It's more interesting to me. It's more fun. It captures the joyful abandon of a child discovering that if he claps his hands together it makes a noise. I like the noise he makes a lot. My apologies for not making that clear. I was just pointing out that what Half Japanese did certainly was noteworthy.

I just like being a pain in the ass. I know you like Fair for the same reasons we both like Johnston.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Skinny — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:40:30 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 08/29/2014 20:40

meccalecca wrote:

Yeah, because I'm sure Fair was the first untrained guitar player to do that. You're basically saying what makes Fair interesting is that he didn't know how to play guitar, and not that you like his playing. Sorry, but that's dumb. I'm a huge fan of outsider art, but if you're basing your vote on Fair being the first person to pick up a guitar and not know how to play it, that makes no sense. Just say "I like how this unskilled guitar player managed to create a sound I enjoy". It'd make much more sense.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

meccalecca — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:35:38 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 08/29/2014 20:35

Skinny wrote:

Anyway, I voted for Fair precisely because what he did was so noteworthy, and because his playing was, y'know, interesting. Unlike Elliott Smith's.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Skinny — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:28:04 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 08/29/2014 20:28

HazeyTwilight wrote:

Jad's guitar playing to me is honestly quite boring, there's nothing really noteworthy about it.

I could accept criticism of Jad Fair for being somebody who is actually shit at the guitar, somebody who lacks even the most basic training, and somebody whose playing is just tuneless noise which may not even really qualify as music at all. I'd disagree on all points (well, apart from the second one, obviously), but at least those criticisms would make sense. Saying that "there's nothing really noteworthy" about his playing just sounds like the sort of thing a person who has never actually taken the time to listen to his playing might say (it's cool, you can admit it). He literally, in the early days at least, played an out of tune guitar with no pretense that he could even make basic chord shapes. He plugged his guitar into an amp and just made rhythmic noise (and sometimes it wasn't even particularly rhythmic). But no, I'm sure there's nothing noteworthy about that whatsoever.

Link

Link

Anyway, I voted for Fair precisely because what he did was so noteworthy, and because his playing was, y'know, interesting. Unlike Elliott Smith's.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

HazeyTwilight — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:13:26 GMT

Author: HazeyTwilight

Posted: 08/29/2014 20:13

Jad's guitar playing to me is honestly quite boring, there's nothing really noteworthy about it. Elliott's playing is quite noteworthy even though most of it's either strumming or fingerpicking or both. But, there's the air of fragility about the way he uses both of these methods. Almost classical style guitar with modern style progressions is something that I love to hear. Those lines get stuck in your head for days on end. It's so simple yet it evokes a lot more. Compare him to Nick Drake all you like - it's quite an understandable comparison - but I can say from experience that Smith's songs are a lot easier to play, with the right tuning and positions. One of my favourites.

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Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

WindowAbove — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:56:37 GMT

Author: WindowAbove

Posted: 08/29/2014 17:56

Elliott, and there are two t's.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

meccalecca — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:08:00 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 08/29/2014 17:08

I don't know why but I've never really been sold on Jad Fair and Half Japanese. And from everything I've heard, there's nothing exceptional about his guitar player, while Elliot was quite a master of his instrument and alternate tunings.

Re: [Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

Skinny — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:06:02 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 08/29/2014 17:06

Jad Fair, easily.

[Closed] Best Ever Guitarist: Jad Fair vs. Elliott Smith

RockyRaccoon — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 11:56:30 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 08/29/2014 15:56

Jad Fair (of Half Japanese)

Nominated by satiemaniac

vs.

Elliott Smith

Nominated by HazeyTwilight

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