The Importance of Meg White

I'm sort of a fence sitter when it comes to the White Stripes. It seems like Jack White is equal parts brilliant and stupid, which I suppose is his genius and appeal. But I thought this review of their recent show at Madison Square Garden was insightful, particularly this bit about Meg White's drumming:

A White Stripes concert also underscores the importance of Ms. White, whose drumming is more sophisticated than many fans (and many more non-fans) realize. She refuses to imitate a metronome, refuses to flatten the songs by making them conform to a steady pulse. Instead she seems to hear the music the way Mr. White does: as a series of phrases, each with its own shape and tempo. In “Icky Thump,” the title track from the group’s most recent album, which was released last month, she occasionally warped the rhythm by shortening one of the beats, perfectly in unison with Mr. White’s guitar. If her playing were mathematically precise, it would be less musically precise.

All of which is exactly right. She doesn't keep the beat so much as follow along to and express Jack's internal rhythms. Her playing shows you where the emphasis is and what Jack want the song to be. Just as Jack has boiled rock and blues down to just the riffs and the howls, she's boiled the drumming down to just the beats you hear rather than an actual rhythm. Everything else is filtered out as "white" space. It's a bizarre form of minimalism.