[NewMusic] coasting?

[Phillip Greenlief]

-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Matt Davignon
Subject: Re: [NewMusic] coasting?

PG:
So, if I boil our arguments down to the bare necessities, it sounds
like:

PG says do your own thing, listen to your own voice and consider lots of
historical perspectives from all sides of the coin into consideration
while you're doing it.

MD says do your own thing, listen to your own voice and don't worry so
much about your sources.

********************************************

Additional conclusion:
What I notice is that we are largely shaped by our generation. This will
probably never change. I liked Weasel's comment about being adaptable
and moving out of your generation to stay vital in terms of a
contemporary perspective. 

I think this is really valid, and what occurs to me is that it is
difficult to step out of your generation and see the way influences work
on different generations. 

To use Matt D's example, let's say I was a teenager in the 80's and
listened to lots of Kraftwerk...so when NIN or other groups come along
and are "influenced" by Kraftwerk, because I am a part of a specific
generation, I might say, "Ah, those youngsters, don't they realize
Kraftwerk already did this 10 years ago?"

I imagine this will always happen to some extent; it's hard to dislodge
the music you experienced in the context of being part of a specific
time period - or a specific moment in your own personal evolution. 

The truth is, if there is a truth to this, is that I don't really think
it matters when you discovered Kraftwerk (OK, a shitty example), but
that you got to it - you hooked up with it and checked it out and
learned from it.

If I used your "method" Matt, I never would have been very interested in
checking out Industrial Music - I wouldn't have asked you to make me
that compilation - I would merely say, well, that's not so interesting
to me - I don't see the way it would effect or influence my music, so
forget it. But I am interested in all forms and styles of music and I'm
interested to discover how I might learn from them. That's intellectual
curiosity at work, and again, I find that so many young Americans are
not particularly interested in exploring this realm of curiosity. I'm
not sure why, but that's just the trend I see when I talk to younger
people (not just musicians!).

Enough said...from me anyway.