I am of the school of thought that the essence of music cannot be even marginally encapsulated in words. Via music there is a connection to so much more than the often myopic world of the intellect. That is not to say that writing about music is without value, as its effects on the intellect can still be profound. Writing about music serves different purposes to different people, and in my case it is an attempt to understand intellectually why some man-made collections of noise make me feel a life-affirming resonance with my environment while others make me feel like my brain's been scrubbed down with novacaine.

I've come to realize there are two defining factors that can drive me to aurgasm:

The first is creativity/imagination. I love those rare breeds who can dive into the sea of symbols and come back with illustrious pearls of new ideas that shine like the sun. Influences are as broad as the skies above them and vision as clear as crystal. On the other hand -- that is a more deformed hand with a few in-grown nails, there is the derivative quality. Derivative music is all too easily recognizable, and I find the majority of it very boring.

The other is a lack of taking things seriously. Being the kind of guy who feels the need to be aloof and detached from everything to hide from the everyday horrors of the world, I just love artists who don't take things seriously. I'd listen to construction over a smug musician any day, at least then I could pretend it is a recording of “Constructikus Vol. 4 – the lost John Cage tapes”. Or something.