From the Quaternions Sent Fri, Aug 6th 1999, 07:13
From the Quaternions Sent Fri, Aug 6th 1999, 07:13
> "Going as far as [you] can to avoid even referencing" something is a very > strong reaction to that something. There is no anti-establishment without > an establishment, and you can only feel as positively about a post- or anti- > or un- as you feel non-positively about whatever follows the hyphen (but > precedes your thinking). Unless you're revolting against the Devil himself, negation is almost never a satisfactory answer. It isn't constructive, and it doesn't solve any problems, just reverses them. If you deny that an artform had any merits, why bother dubbing yourself its successor? And if you think that it did have merits, why not take those and throw the rest aside? So anyway, call post-rock anti-rock and I'll be happy. Then I'll feel more comfortable with my decision to avoid most of it. I mean, I appreciate post-rock's efforts to increase the number of sounds and textures in its music, but the aimlessness of much of it throws me near every time. God bless Thrilljockey, I respect them to death, but give me Takemura and Oval and thank you, that's all for me. And the first Gaunt album. And maybe Freakwater. Perhaps Tortoise and Trans Am on a good day. But there's more to life than noodling away. Nice sounds are one thing. Fully formed ideas are something else entirely. Sam