Technical Difficulties

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Kottke vs Fahey

 I've been looking forward to hearing Leo Kottke's first album again when I noticed the library had purchased a copy. When it was originally released, it was a great leap forward for acoustic guitar playing, but it never resonated with me. I was curious why, and I hoped hearing it again would give me some clues.

There's no question that Kottke is an amazing guitarist, and technically, he has Fahey beat. But I respond to Fahey's music, and though I can appreciate the mastery of Kottke, I get no emotional connection. 

I recall on a Zappa album, Steve Vai is credited with "stunt guitar", and that's how I think of Kottke, and then I thought of the perfect metaphor: Kottke is Superman, and Fahey is Spider-Man!

There were two camps back in the early '60s era in comics: you were either DC (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, etc.) or Marvel (Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, etc.) Me? Make mine Marvel all the way. DC comics were like puzzles: how will the superhero defeat the villain THIS time? Whereas with Marvel, the plot was usually secondary to the whole presentation. The hero's personality, motivation (and self-doubt!) were just as important as the villain's arsenal and dreams of world conquest (and sometimes, even the villain had some deep-seated personal fears and doubts that ultimately motivated him, unbeknownst to him but not to us).

So, as a Spider-Man fan, I was naturally in the Fahey camp. And as much as I can appreciate Kottke's skill and talent, it's all too much cape and blue tights for me. As the Simpson's Comic Book Guy might say, "Best. Analogy. Ever!"