[Glice]

I've said something like this before, but in response to Mr Bee: I think you've half-pointed out the way things are in your post - one man's meat is another man's poison, in many cases. Stockhausen's nearly finished an opera that's longer than Wagner's ring. I think Pauline Oliveros has one that clocks in at similar times. Is Merzbow more extreme than Prurient? How does one measure 'extremity'? Who's more moribund, Hank Williams or Patsy Cline? Or Jandek? Are La Monte Young's drones more extreme than Hindu ceremonial drones? Is Britney more hardcore than Christina?

You can invent a million senses of 'extremity', and it's important that people do push whichever envelope they want to push. I don't think there's a finite point where you can say most extreme though, from the audience's point of view. I would rather say that Xasthur were good than 'the most bleak of black metal bands' or something. This isn't quite a 'it's all subjective' statement - it's that the notion of 'extremity' is subjective. We still have critical frameworks and qualia.