“I confess I’ve been increasingly dissatisifed with the direction of modern pop, which has more and more privileged screechy and/or whiny vocalists who are utterly unable to play any instrument themselves, and thus, usually, unable to actually write music or songs themselves.” Over at Collision Detection, Clive Thompson points to a recent article by Chuck Klosterman about how YouTube is reviving musical virtuosity. Klosterman:

One of those depressing paradoxes about rock ‘n’ roll: Very often, profoundly exceptional guitar playing is boring to listen to… It’s difficult for nonmusicians to appreciate world-class guitar playing through solely sonic means, mostly because a) the difference between great guitar playing and serviceable guitar playing is often subtle, and b) every modern listener assumes production tricks can manufacture greatness. (As a result, radio audiences are automatically skeptical of what they hear.) Guitar brilliance usually comes across as ponderous. But that changes dramatically when one adds the element of video; somehow, watching changes the experience of hearing. There are certain things that sound good only when (and if) you can see them. And YouTube lets you see them.

Two comments on the side:

One, for great example of YouTube sanctifying musical skill, check out the video of Stanley Jordan playing “Autumn Leaves” that I linked to earlier. Seeing is believing there.

And two, I’m really curious why Esquire didn’t put the links directly in the body of Klosterman’s essay–we’re talking about the internet, here. Is there a reason to list a plain-text web address buried in a footnote?