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I was pretty much unaffected by the celebrity deaths of 2009. Michael Jackson was long irrelevant, Billy Mays was just an internet meme and I doubt Farrah Fawcett meant much to many who grew up in the 90s. Yet the news that Jay Reatard, lo-fi/garage musician had died on January 13^th 2010 shocked me. While I’m sure he would hate sentimental bullshit tributes, hopefully this is just a brief obituary.

He had said on twitter this week that he had been suffering with flu-like symptoms, but this? Renowned amongst other things for his drug abuse, many people (myself included) assumed he had OD’d. However, tonight (14^th) it has been revealed that police in his hometown of Midtown, Memphis are treating the case as a homicide and looking for suspects. I don’t know him beyond the public image projected and various internet coverage, but based off these it would not be surprising if somebody had been driven to kill him. As DIY promoter Todd P said, “You were talented & troubled & both a great influence and a negative influence on a lot of people. you should not be dead".

Whatever the cause of death though, I believe the broadly defined ‘alternative’ scene has lost one of its best live performers. I saw Jay Reatard for the last time at Music Hall of Williamsburg over the summer, and it was one of the very best gigs I have ever been to. Not just because he’s now dead (via River Phoenix), but because it attracted so many people with varying tastes and attitudes (one of the few times I have been outnumbered at a gig by 1977-punk revivalists) who may not be too well-matched musically, and got them sweaty, breathless and happy. Reatard (and his band) settled on a perfect point between proficiency and energy, ridiculous and silly without being anywhere near pathetic. Basically, fun.

It was a recent incident with his band that shows why Jay Reatard was so loved outside of his music. Jay’s twitter followers could read on October 6^th that “Band quit! Fuck them! They are boring rich kids who can't play for ahit anyways ... Say hello to your ugly and boring wifes opps I mean lifes guys suck it.” Fuck ‘creative differences’, that’s how to break up a band (the bassist and drummer then went to join Wavves, showing that they have a penchant for short-tempered, drug-addled lo-fi artists who get in a lot of fights). Jay’s directness and aggression were sometimes naïve or ill-advised but they were honest and endearing to the fans who he genuinely had a strong rapport with. His attitude mirrored the short, sharp stabs that were his signature on record.

Oh yes, his music. I may have made him sound like a charismatic force who relied on his cult of personality. This would be a great injustice. I’m not going to be euphemistic, some of the stuff he did was shite, but when you record 22 full-length LPs by the age of 29, as well as countless EPs and singles that is bound to happen. The majority of his work though, both as solo artist and in various collaborative formations, is a great legacy for a man whose life was as hectic and fast as his songs. I think the album ‘Blood Visions’, his first as a solo artist, will be remembered as his best. 15 songs, with a combined length of under 30 minutes packed with invention and ferocity. Excellent.