quoted 1 line Saw Panasonic last night in NYC.> Saw Panasonic last night in NYC.
Great letter. This problem goes back a long way, and encompasses
certain
strains from all genres. I remember watching Elliot Sharp, Bobby
Previte, Rhys Chatham, and all the other Downtowner musicians in the>
eighties,
night after night at "Tin Pan Alley" in midtown Manhattan
(precursor to the Knitting Factory), and nobody moved a muscle to the
barrages of rhythmic noise, which was generally high calibre, Muscle
movement during shows was definitely uncool. My conclusion is that
being
"cool" can be very restrictive. I never really found out if the
musicians endorsed the moroseness or not, but the trend certainly
carried over to the Knitting Factory, where nobody danced to Alex
Chilton doing groovy renditions of "Tip On In" and the like. Same goes
for Yo La Tengo and Shonen Knife.
Charlie James