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To: pyslent who wrote (57685)	10/6/2006 8:59:30 PM
From: Doren	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

I buy and sell music. So for example, yesterday I bought 80 CDs from a guy. I could tell he had a brain and an ear so I bought a lot of stuff that I've never run into. I'll previw about half of it. This usually doesn't work but sometimes I find some thing worthwhile. Mostly though, I'm very active talking to people (lots of musicians) about what they like and why. In fact I drive some people nuts with questions. But the simple answer is musians usually know more about music than their customers (duh!). I always ask musicians what they are listening to. I met Terry Riley a few years ago. He was listening to Ry Cooder. Miles Davis once said Hermeto Pascoal was the greatest musician on the planet. Once he said he only listened to Bach and Karlheinz Stockhausen. (Actually one of the funniest things I've ever heard.) I don't know if I believe either but I put it in my back pocket. I listen and if I don't like it I figure I'm not "getting" the aesthetic. So I'll pull it out in a few years. Miles liked Michael Jackson though, and I really cannot open my mind that much! (Hermeto is a blast to see live. He's a gnome jumping around who can play everything. Accordion, drums, sax, guitar.) If Miles and Wendy Carlos both think something is exceptional I tend to take their word for it. Multiple recommendations from people who have taste I trust work quite well. One genre I make an exception for is Microtonal music. Most of it is... sorry... horrid mathematical nonsense. However it opens up a huge area for experimentation and has great potential. It's never before been "available" to most musicians because of certain complexities, but digital has changed everything. It's like finding 7 undiscovered continents. Most of the microtonalists think Wendy's "Beauty IN the Beast" is a modern masterpiece. I bought it and foolishly sold it. Then two years later I was listening to a tape and "got" it. Now I'm a huge fan. (Reissued.) It's only for those who want something really forward looking. Mostly I go on the recommendations of people I know to be good musicians or people I know have great brains. I usually shut up and let them talk, which is uncharacteristic for me... obviously. When I worked at Tower I could usually tell you what would be good for you if you told me your current tastes. Stretch it a bit and see if you could go for it.