Discovering Hendrix and Radiohead...

During this period of time, after I got my electric guitar, naturally I started looking for songs that I could play on the guitar. I started seeing this guy appearing on almost every guitar magazine I could get my hands on. (to the left, to the left...)

Who is this guy, I thought? And what makes him so great? Why is he holding the guitar upside down? I found that his name was Jimi Hendrix.

I started listening to his songs, and truthfully initially I didn't get it. I was a pop listener up till this point and naturally listened to the vocals first and foremost. What I didn't listen to was the way he played the guitar, and he was playing all those while he was singing.

It was only I started listening carefully to the guitar playing on songs like Little Wing, Voodoo Chile and The Wind Cries Mary that I realised... man that is some guitar playing. It was kind of different from the chinese songs appergios and strumming styles that I had been playing up till this point. It was cool.

So I started learning his songs. And also started buying lots of pedals which I all sold after discovering Guitar Rig.



Another band I discovered during this period was Radiohead. Before really discovering them, about the only song I heard from them was the song "Creep". Which is a brilliant song, except that the Radiohead members themselves hate that song. Anyway I started listening to the albums The Bends and OK Computer. These two albums have been in heavy rotation on my player ever since. It opened me up to world where songs could be unique and yet still have that essence of pop in it.

Another thing about Radiohead. I don't know how they do it, their fans are really die-hard. They support them no matter what they put out. After the success of OK Computer, Radiohead followed with a series of really experimental albums, which frankly I didn't care for, except maybe three or four songs. They have achieved Cult status among the music world, totally free to do any kind of music they like and they will always have the support. That is really something to be jealous of.

Recently they came out with a new album called "In Rainbows" in which their marketing campaign sort of gives the traditional record company with their A&R executives the middle finger. They put their songs on the net, and customers can download the songs at ANY price they wished. All because they can afford to, because they are Radiohead.

Way cool.