Who is the world's greatest current musician?

[drberbatov]

Mark Ronson?

[Funcrusher]

I think my problem with it is that it's more interesting than exciting, if that makes any kind of sense at all, and to my ears there's very little in the way of variation on the album.

I'd probably agree that his stuff falls mostly under the heading of 'interesting'. I'm assuming that "Untrue" is the one you've got - I'd say that 'Ghost Hardware' on there is the one anthemic type thing he's done that has real repeat value. His stuff impresses me because it seems to really capture the feeling of urban Britain today, rather than most other British music that just harks back to the past. Heard over headphones while walking through London at night or travelling home on a nightbus it sounds great. The rave notices his stuff gets from me and others are probably partly because there's so little else around that seems as fresh and interesting, just endless crap indie bands.

The roots of his sound are definitely in UK garage - he always namechecks a UKG producer called El-B, not to be confused with El-P, who's due to be the subject of a compilation coming out this year.

[thugler]

it seems to really capture the feeling of urban Britain today

What?

[thugler]

Maybe I've missed the point of this thread. He's obviously not technically the best but the sound he makes with his mouth and hands makes him the most electrifying musician around to me. I tried to think of somebody cooler to say but I'd be lying.

No. But I'm not refering to technicality. I'm referring to him ripping most of his best guitar bits off wholesale. Thats pretty much the point of his music. Not that I don't like it. I must admit he does have a lovely tone though.

[The Region Legion]

I think it comes to down to "who will be remembered in 50 years as this generation's answer to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones". I'd say the answer includes Radiohead & Beck.

Best musician is way too broad to mention any one particular person, especially since the ones that you would probably name have been around too long to really count as "current", if you know what I mean.

[alan nagsworth]

I'm gonna take my chances and say Luke Vibert. A back catalogue as large and as interesting as his is an essential for any IDM/electronica fans. Matter of fact, most of it isn't even IDM. Under his own name, he knocks out the closest to what can be defined as intelligent dance music,heavy on the acid 303 with some bizarre Aphex-style beats. He has four or five albums under this name, I think.

As Wagon Christ he's doing ambient hip hop/funky breaks splattered with funny and well-placed samples aplenty, samples that actually make the song just that extra bit more credible rather than "lol have you heard that gabba song with Cartman screaming cripplefight", real laid-back party funk. He's got four or five albums under this name also. I didn't think much of the Throbbing Pouch album at the time of hearing it, but Tally Ho!, Sorry I Make You Lush and Musipal are all fantastic records from start to finish. This is by far my favourite alias of Vibert, irresistibly good stuff.

Under the name Kerrier District there's the ever-present funk element but with a real dance vibe, more uptempo and as always with Vibert it was another wise venture for him. I'm not as into this stuff as his other work but it's still really fun.

As Plug he released two records (Me & Mr. Sutton EP and the 2CD Drum N' Bass For Papa) experimenting heavily with jungle rhythms, again more focused on "IDM" and more frenetic rave beats, still maintaining that stoned haze that floats through all of his work, never taking his music too seriously, just having fun making loads of music that just happens to be bloody great. Plug is considered some of his greatest work.

He also makes heavily acidic music and more jungle-inspired Amen break experimentation under the names Spac Hand Luke, Ace Of Clubs and Amen Andrews Although these three are less distinguished pseudonyms, with not as much material released and not much different from the stuff he does under other names, but as he uses so many names it's easy to spot the difference and see why he chose yet another name to go by. He just loves to make music, and in my opinion in terms of diversity he holds the IDM title with pride over Aphex Twin who seems to have gone a bit stale recently.

Luke, a Cornish bedroom producer like Aphex, might not be the most talented musician in the world, he might favour standing in the shadows in front of a laptop as opposed to front center stage playing a flaming Gibson with a plectrum in his pisshole, but he's a very talented chap. He certainly knows how to manipulate synths to his own ends and get samples fitting perfectly all in the right place, all in time with the music, and to top it all he has a great sense of humour to match his ability to really get feet moving. Big big big respect for Vibert, I absolutely love the bloke. Finally got to see him live at Bang Face this year, my goodness!

He has also produced collaboration albums with Cochise pedal steel guitarist B.J. Cole and French electronic artist Jean-Jacques Perrey.

[wheatgod]

Gotta be Docherty.

[Funcrusher]

What?

That's maybe clumsily expressed, I was meaning to say that I think his stuff captures the atmosphere of of certain parts of London right now, what it feels like to walk around gloomy built up areas.

[The Masked Unit]

Good contribution Nags. That's what I'm talking about - somebody who's putting out classic after classic in their own genre while redefining exactly what that genre is as they're doing it. For somebody like myself who has heard of the man but never checked out his music, where should I start?

Radiohead are a very obvious and worthy choice. I think you'd have few arguments against their influence and uniqueness, and pretty much everything they've put out has been classic material, even when they've thrown away everything you thought you knew about them and started from scratch. To do all of that while also attaining huge commercial success is pretty much unmatched.

[alan nagsworth]

For somebody like myself who has heard of the man but never checked out his music, where should I start?

If you want stuff that's a bit weird, monged 303 acid funk, I'd say check out Luke Vibert - YosepH, or Lover's Acid. It's verrrry good for losing focus and I won't lie - essentially it's stoner/mong music.

If you want more upbeat hip hop/funky breaks you can't go wrong with Wagon Christ - Tally Ho! for straight-up lively party-style stuff. However, I'd say my favourite is Musipal as it seems to have more amusing samples and it's just so much more fun despite not having the danceability some of Tally Ho's tracks show.

Just get both, and YosepH, I'd say. If you like all three then you're bound to enjoy the majority of his back catalogue. He's a real dude and seems surprisingly quiet and modest considering his impact on the underground scene.

[Canted_Angle]

I think, to make the question easier, you have to ask yourself - If I were to create a band right now and could have any one musician in the band with me, who would I pick?

Good way of putting it. I'd have to go with Josh Homme.

But when it comes to greatest musician at the moment I'm stumped.

[Lord Mandrake]

From all the reports I've heard Sly Stone's become somewhat of a joke in recent years, with poor live shows and the like. Similar to Wonder in not making a good album in decades. Of course both their legacies are enough to shine through and all that.

I saw Sly & the family at Lovebox last summer and sure it's all old material and sure Sly came on half way through the set but he smashed it! He can still really play!
Stevie Wonder has got more classic albums in him, he's a pure musician..

That Luke Vibert can sure press some buttons! Tweak some knobs etc.. I'm kidding, I really like a lot of his stuff, I first heard his music on a collection called Macro Dub Infection mid 90's maybe, then some good stuff on mo wax or ninjatune or both... Should'nt there be though some physical ability involved? I love electronic music from Carl Craig to Flytronix to Bugz in the Attic but it's not musicianship.. Is it? Is a 303 an instrument?

[alan nagsworth]

I wouldn't say so, no. It's his consistency and constantly turning his hand to different styles without any fear, just jumping right in and having a laugh with it as he goes. And he understands song structure extremely well, that has a lot to do with it.

[InfiniteFury]

Neil McCormick aka The Ghost Who Walks

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DECobDuX_YQ[/youtube]

It features real people singing the lyrics for god sake, the man transcends the traditional boundaries between listener and songcrafter

Lest we forget, Bono told him his song had to be heard.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Stevie Wonder innit.

[joeytentra]

Victor Wooten for the way he treats bass guitars.

[thugler]

Victor Wooten for the way he treats bass guitars.

Like his cock?

"Me and my bass guitar! *bippidy beow*"

[chand]

Neil McCormick aka The Ghost Who Walks

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DECobDuX_YQ[/youtube]

It features real people singing the lyrics for god sake, the man transcends the traditional boundaries between listener and songcrafter

Lest we forget, Bono told him his song had to be heard.

Holy fucking Christ, as if the dozens of people dead in the London bombings wasn't enough, there was THAT.

I really hope that cliche of getting regular people/fans to sing your lyrics in your video to show what a humble everyman you are dies out soon, it makes me want to kill.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Tim Smith out of Cardiacs for creating an entirely new and exciting form of music out of punk and progressive rock and being a major influence on a small but highly active sub-section of the underground scene.

^{*When I said Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley earlier, that was me just having a bit of a laugh!!!}

[Jemble Fred]

It was the birthday of the world's greatest current musician yesterday. He was 68.

[Neville Chamberlain]

It's all right - Jemble's only joking ;-)

[Ginyard]

Howard Tate. Of course!

[El Unicornio, mang]

It was the birthday of the world's greatest current musician yesterday. He was 68.

"Not even the best drummer in The Beatles"

[thecuriousorange]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MI-_jWAmlE[/youtube]

[Artemis]

I was extremely impressed with Buckethead when I discovered him, through the frankly outstanding solo at 4m 38s of this song

[ThickAndCreamy]

I was extremely impressed with Buckethead when I discovered him, through the frankly outstanding solo at 4m 38s of this song

He is one hell of an amazing guitarist, technically probably one of the worlds best. He plays at the speed of light really, however no matter how good his playing is, it doesn't make his music all that great. His songs seem to just be one huge guitar wankery / solo session and are nowhere near the worlds best.

[alan nagsworth]

If we're talking amazing guitarists, it's gotta be Ron Thal aka Bomblefoot. Coincidentally he has replaced Buckethead's role in Guns n' Roses. He's a fucking technical wizard and his music is mind-blowing if not a little inaccessible. He has some incredibly wild time signatures and his music is similar to Yngwie(?) Malmstein only with a sense of humour and adventure throughout. God damn the bloke is good!

He is currently a member of Guns N' Roses. DigitalDreamDoor ranked him Number 1 in their list of the best hard rock/metal guitarists, even though they only put him as an honorable mention for greatest rock guitarists.

...

He got the name "Bumblefoot" from the bacterial infection, which he learned about while helping his wife review for her veterinary exams. Vigier Guitars later made Ron "The Vigier Bumblefoot Guitar" [1], a custom guitar which is shaped like a foot, painted like a bumblebee and has decorative wings that extend from the body when activated by the tremolo bar. This was presented to Ron in January 1998 at the NAMM convention in Los Angeles.

Bumblefoot joined Guns N' Roses in mid-2006, replacing the departed Buckethead. He made his live debut with the band at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 12, 2006.

Sorry, he's obviously not the greatest current musician but he's pretty high up.

[Neville Chamberlain]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS9SMfGZdK4[/youtube]

I win!

[The Boston Crab]

Even though I've only recently got into him, I'd have to say that John McLaughlin is a fucking astonishing musician and guitarist. He's played pretty much some of the most incredibly melodic, funky, intense, psychedelic and downright beautiful music across the stringy spectrum. His work with Miles Davis is just brilliant, effectively creating fusion music on "A Tribute to Jack Johnson" and then going way way out there on a number of live and studio albums until Miles packed it in. The first two Mahavishnu Orchestra albums are just absolutely amazing, a variety of styles and moods with some seriously intense guitar. He mastered various 'ethnic' string instruments and recorded ground-breaking stuff with them. He's done loads, I'm still working my way slowly through his whole back catalogue, it's virtually all unmissable. I think what sets him apart from equally light-speed-fingered chaps is the strength of his compositions, it's not just formless showmanship, there's a gorgeous melodic foundation to all his work.

Unfortunately, he comes from Yorkshire.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Serious question - do people really prefer lightening-fast shredding and frenzied finger-picking to something as primal and groovy as Angus Young whacking out a MASSIVE bluesy power-chord combo?

Second serious question - would it be possible in the remit of this thread for the "world's greatest current musician" to have produced little or no decent music new in their entire career?  Just to be able to play pre-existing music very well.

Third serious question - is the ability to write a groundbreaking song less important than the technical mastery of one instrument which is, usually, just one element in the reproduction of a song?