quoted 24 lines From: Simon Walley [SMTP:simonw@ftp.com]>From: Simon Walley [SMTP:simonw@ftp.com]
>Experimentation for the sake of it can sometimes work, most of the time it
>falls flat on its arse, usually whilst trying to go up said orifice. Just
>because something is innovative doesn't mean that its good - otherwise we'd
>all be reading _The Wire_ and stroking our collective beards at the lastest
>Staalplaat 5xCD set.
>
>I disagree - I think that when something is innovative it is automatically
>interesting and therefore good. I think that true innovation is one of the
>hardest things in the world to do, and especially to be done well. I think
>it's easier to be *good at a tired art form* than it is to be *mediocre at a
>not-yet-existant art form*, and I would much rather hear the latter. Witness
>the countless boring guitar virtusoso bands out there - why would anyone want
>to listen to that when there's stuff to be found which creates new ideas?
>
>There are Aphex tracks I skip over because they really annoy me and they hurt
>my ears when blasting through headphones - that doesn't mean I think the
>songs aren't great. They make me think about my ideas about what's possible
>in music and sound, and to add to them and expand them. I guess I'm more of
>an avante-gardeist than an aesthete.
>
>-Chris Fahey
>
>