In the course of revisiting my fave albums of 1975 I listened to Metal Machine Music again. And suddenly I hear bagpipes everywhere. Soaring and fading bagpipes. A symphony of Scottish folk music played in hell. And the sound of pinball machines. Somehow Lou Reed's exercise in guitar feedback reminds me of John Cage's concept piece 4'33'' (see also here and here). But whereas the listener is the only creative force on 4'33'', he is the assembler, the interpreter on MMM. Everyone can hear something different on MMM. MMM is a canvas for your brain. It is the proof that music is assembled in our mind. That there is no music except when we listen to it. That the world is our brainchild. Wasn't that the starting point for idealism? MMM is an I Ching oracle, a Rorschach blot, a succession of Tarot cards, a collection of tea leaves etc. It's your associations that matter. Lou Reed didn't give a shit about what he was doing there. He plugged in the guitar and waited for the feedback. He handed it over to the amplifier, to the machine.

The pauses in between the four movements are really quite unnerving. MMM refuses the idea of silence.

There is a German cellist touring the US with MMM in October. I like that idea of cello feedback.

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