i read an interview with bruce russell recently where he said he deliberatley uses vague or oblique language, here:
I've been really into the 'Free Noise Manifesto' lately. Did you have a
background in philosophy?
I did a couple of degrees. I was in the political studies department but my
focus was on political philosophy. I've always been interested. I've done a bit
of reading, I guess. Part of the manifest…part of the presentation is slightly
tongue-in-cheek in the sense that it's couched in some fairly oblique
indeterminate language. Also, at the time I was trying to make a point that
there is more to music than writing the perfect pop song. Where I was in the
south island of
New Zealand,
basically there was this overwhelming orthodoxy that writing the perfect pop
song is all that matters. I was trying to make a point that there is a lot more
to music than that and maybe that's a worthwhile pastime but a sad ambition. I
don't regret having written that manifesto by any means. At times, it has become
a bit of an albatross for me because people tend to regard it as the
be-all-end-all of what I do. It's a little bit limiting in some ways but I stand
by most of what I said. You must understand, I wrote it…when did I write it…I
wrote it about 15 years ago. It was very combative, at that point, because I
felt that I was kind of going to bat against the odds in terms of where I was
coming from in New Zealand. I've recently republished it in a book of essays
that I've done. I certainly still stand by it, I guess.
full interview here:
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/dead-c