stole this book from work (actually, i'm going to pitch it to them so it's okay, right) about 'avant rock' with chapters dedicated to king crimson, jim o'rourke, sonic youth, glenn branca et al. strange sub-genre involved with the art/political reconfiguring of traditional idioms, cliches, for some hybrid expansive and meaningful but still gut wrenching experience. mostly decends into wankery, too many linear notes and fey attitudes towards volume (least abrasion be the point). interesting though the idea of transcending technique - thus defining it against 'art-damaged' punk like television. it's impossible to address this situation without looking into the psychology of the willfully outsider musician - namely, accuring enough cred to validate monsterous, dehumanizing pretension.

on that note, am listening to rye coalition and can't find one reason to hate the music - the dude's voice is awful - only the most superlative moments of steven tyler's screams. they have a song called 'stairway to the free bird on the way to the smokey water' which, though not clever, may be their perfect summary - nothing more than a conglomeration, again most outragous moments (ooh, the pickslide!) as common affair.

went to bed listening to 'the tired sounds of stars of the lid' which, after reading that toop book about ambient music, made a lot more sense to me. it finished only seconds after i closed my book and eyes for the night. love it when that happens.