From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!trb Newsgroups: net.music Title: Re: Laurie Anderson Article-I.D.: floyd.1037 Posted: Mon Jan 3 13:32:49 1983 Received: Tue Jan 4 02:28:07 1983 References: pyuxjj.380 I am not "into" the minimalist avant garde music scene, but sometimes WFMU (East Orange, NJ) plays Laurie Anderson or Philip Glass (a whole side or more at a time). I find their music soothing, kind of like sitting on the beach listening to the ocean. I can take it for long periods of time, and I don't find it irritating. I can't really see looking into these minimalists' works and finding social relevance. Clearly, if Laurie Anderson mumbled "Ronald Reagan is a jerk" over her electronic music, you could construe that as socially relevant, but when I listen to them I am not listening for news and opinion. (I admit, though, that I sometimes listen to "All Things Considered" as background music.) Hey, folks out there, if you indulge in minimalist art, do you do it for the soothing cleansingness of it, or is there some transcendental relevance which has so far escaped me? (Sorry, there are only 9000 hackers reading netnews, clearly not a large enough group from which to form a separate net.aesthetics discussion.) Andy Tannenbaum Bell Labs Whippany, NJ (201) 386-6491