Home

Advertisement

Customize

Jun. 14th, 2008

A high tolerance for dissonance

I am always surprised when reviewers describe some piece of music as intolerably dissonant anti-musical noise, when to me it seems pleasant, interesting, and certainly very musical. Cases in point: Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music"; most of the work of Coil, Throbbing Gristle, Boyd Rice; many avant-garde aleatory experiments.

Why, then, do I find Jazz, which reviewers love, unlistenable, like the squawking of angry birds?
Tags:

Advertisement

Customize