I feel a bit uncomfortable emerging from lurkdom with such a confrontational post. But only a bit, so here goes. First up, I'm not a fan of Neil Young. After The Gold Rush bores me and "My My Hey Hey/Rock and Roll is here to stay:" doesn't strike me as breaking through the wall material, either musically or lyrically. So he now opines that "trained" - i.e., literate - musicians - can't break through the wall as he is so proud of doing. I wonder if he's ever listened to Bartok's String Quartets, Stravinsky's Sacre du Printemps, Boulez's Le Marteau sans Maitre, or any of a few dozen or so twentieth-century masterworks. Hell, I wonder if he's ever listened to anything by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert, all of whom sound like avant-garde composers compared to him! As for Joni, she gives me a royal pain in the ass with her fetish for "originality" and her self-importance. I love her work because during the 1970s she really excelled in matching words to music. Even Mingus is a work of genius. But in terms of harmony, there is nothing in Joni's music that would have seemed strange in the 16th century. The 14th century would have found her music very conservative. After Shadows and Light, try as I have since I joined the list, I find her albums tiresome and strained, with the partial exception of Night Ride Home (three cuts) and Turbulent Indigo (two).
Patrick Leader's post about dancing and architecture really woke me up. Yup, I'm back, for better or worse ;-) Roberto _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
