Comment by topocite
21 hours ago
People would say the same thing about Glass or Reich. People would say the same thing about Messiaen or Ligeti. People would say the same thing about Schoenberg or Webern.
If your expectation of good food is In-N-Out Burger, you might think praise of a three star Michelin restaurant is performative too.
I am not even much a fan of Richard but he is absolutely one of the greatest musical geniuses of the past 50 years bar none.
Avril 14th is my favorite. Clearly Satie influenced but maybe even a little sweeter than Satie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxTdTaNIUxo
Also consider Satie himself is exactly the type of musician people would have said praising is performative at the time. He wasn't taken seriously as a real musician much at all in his life.
I love 'Avril 14th', I had not connected it before to Satie (who I've only just heard of, my poor musical background knowledge). I see the similarities in the balance of sweetness and dissonance (I suppose).
A friend told me a story about Satie, that they found two pianos in his appartement, one stacked on the other, with unpaid bills tossed on the top. Seems very RDJ-like (or v.v.).