The angel of shred

I'm always on the lookout for unknown talent on Youtube. You know, the type that can blow your socks off and make you desperately search for their videos in case you haven't subscribed to their channel or don't remember that you can check your Watch History and see their videos in the list. There are skilled guitar players and then there are phenoms. The former you can discover frequently, whereas the latter takes a bit more searching and discernment. Usually, even if you find technically skilled players who are way above average in their ability with the guitar, you rarely find people that can play a memorable tune with panache.

And so it was a treat (more like a jaw dropper) to discover, some months back, a lovely French girl that plays the guitar with the detachment of a Derek Trucks, but with the same intensity and an amazing mixture of skill and melodic (read rock) sense. Ladies and gentlemen, please check out Juliette Valduriez (http://www.youtube.com/user/JulietteVmusic). Though the last video she posted was around two years ago, and her debut original composition at that, and I wonder, like many of her numerous fans why she has stopped her world-changing work, the 14 videos that she currently has on her channel are testament to the fact that the world needs to welcome a modern day Rock Goddess (Orianthi fans might want to argue, but I'd suggest you check out Juliette's work first, and then compare).

Here's Juliette, lost in the music:

Juliette is all about the old masters: The Stooges, The Cure, Motörhead, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy...everyone's favourite rockers, in short. What's beautiful about this girl's performances are, a) most of her videos clock in at less than 2 minutes, or just barely toeing the 2-minute line, in duration, but they make a solid sonic impact, and b) her embellishments over originals are not only tasteful, they elevate them - check out the cover of Sia's 'Beathe Me'; I, like many others who watched this video, thought that lovely guitar solo was a cover of the one on the original song, only to listen to the original song and discover that it has no guitar solo! Take a couple more examples of flamboyant guitar playing that make the originals shine - guitar covers of The Beatles' 'I want you (She's so heavy)' and Floyd's 'The great gig in the sky'. The latter really moved me with the level of feel achieved in transposing Clare Torry's spine tinglingly-evocative wordless vocals onto six strings.

The number of views that Juliette's videos have received are testament to the appreciation her art has garnered from a rapt audience, as are the adulatory comments for each video. In fact, the best comment, which I still remember long after I read it goes, 'her rock sensibility is off the charts'. I couldn't agree more.

As tasteful as her playing is, equally good is her choice of equipment: a Gibson Les Paul Melody Maker and a Parker Fly guitar, to name two. Juliette's playing is worthy of the calibre of these instruments, and she belts out two of her best performances with each: a terrific, note-perfect "cover" (it's as good as the original) of Ozzy's 'Mr. Crowley' with the Melody Maker, and that rousing rendition of 'The great gig in the sky' with the Parker Fly.

On checking out her YouTube channel while writing this piece, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Juliette has recently added several new original compositions, which I can't wait to check out (yes, I started writing this piece and left it halfway so long ago I couldn't recognize it by title when I logged in to my blog; but the happy coincidence is that by referring to her channel so I could list the classic artists she's covered, I discovered that she's put up some new stuff. Serendipity indeed.).

Well, after some more web research, including checking out an interview she gave, I came to realize that those new compositions referred to above are actually snippets from her debut album, Terrarium (minus the debut single 'Lost Paradise', which remains that, a single, for now).

So don't miss experiencing some classy playing by this promising young French talent. Aural bliss guaranteed.

Over and out!