Addendum to "The Blues," last post

I should say that white rock musicians are not entirely incapable of doing interesting things with the blues. It's just that the overly reverent, overly long, overly "soulful" (emphasis on the quotation marks) approach seems pointless and redundant. A bizarro deconstruction of blues is often pretty interesting, I think. I already mentioned Captain Beefheart--who more or less patented the whole concept of Dada blues in the late 60s--and Tom Waits, but it could also apply to some PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, the Jesus Lizard, Royal Trux, and the Laughing Hyenas (I didn't mention the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion because I've never liked 'em much myself). Even a more straightforward blues-rock style works for me (I have nothing bad at all to say about peak-era Rolling Stones except that Altamont happened, and I like punkier blues-rock bands like the Gun Club and, yeah, the White Stripes) but too many guitar solos just kill it. And I LIKE guitar solos. Ask Neil Young's electric work how I feel about guitar solos, and I guarantee you that they'll confirm my positive stance on the matter.

I'll close for now with this irrelevant tangent: if there ain't no cure for the summertime blues (AND I KNOW THAT'S A ROCK'N'ROLL SONG RATHER THAN SOME DEEP DELTA RARE TRACK, 'KAY?), why does seasonal affective disorder almost always hit during winter? Is the summertime blues actually a separate condition altogether, or just something to do with being young and angsty with nothing to do? Eh, the young man ain't got nothin' in the world these days...