Listen once...

We rented a John Cage video from netflix, and it includes an interview where Cage says that when he has a choice about seeing a concert of new music or a concert of old music, he'll always choose the new because he likes to hear music he hasn't heard before. This is one of Cage's defining aesthetics, and is at the source of many of his indeterminate pieces. Perhaps that applies to my CD collecting as well — I want to hear music that I've never heard before (and will never hear again). This way, a CD is like a concert, a one-time listening experience. Hmmm. Well, after one listen in a darkened room, I don't think I'll ever play my Diamanda Galas Plague Mass CD again....