Damn! My entire post just disappeared...

New try:

Since esoteric is based on the notion that only a small group of people actually "get it", what you see as a source of anger would actually be the proof you need to define Devin's music as esoteric.

But I have to say I mainly go with King Fear on this one (if I understood him correctly, that is). "Esoteric" has to much connection to the spiritual side of things. It's not about finding hidden layers of sound on Terria - that stuff is actually there for everyone to find. Instead I interpret it to be about finding a deeper meaning, the experience of having Devin talking directly to you via his music. And that stuff is just so damn coincidental and personal that it would be naive to think that Devin had intended for it to have that exact effect and thus having sent you (the listener) a personal message.

On the other hand, it could also work like this: Any interpretation of anything Devin (or any other artist) has created that we all can agree upon does not define as esoteric. Neither is us reacting on a personal level. We all react to music, even when we don't like it. But when someone "takes it personally" - when making fun of it makes you angry or sad - then we could say that it is esoteric. It's when the contents on a piece of plastic has merged with you to the degree of becoming a part of you, that we can begin to talk about what I mentioned above without being spiritual or religious. The spirit became flesh. But by then we're not talking about the interpretations per se - we're talking about the experience of having intimite relations with music.

(Ok, it turned out to be another rant. Apparently this is a compelling topic to me. I hope you won't get bored with me...)

And what connotations are that?

I'm afraid my English isn't really good enough to give the really poignant answer I could give in my native language, but the bottom line is, it's the image of tea-drinking, crappy-book-reading, incense-smelling half-educated fools that the word "esoteric" brings to my mind.

And what connotations are that?

I'm afraid my English isn't really good enough to give the really poignant answer I could give in my native language, but the bottom line is, it's the image of tea-drinking, crappy-book-reading, incense-smelling half-educated fools that the word "esoteric" brings to my mind.

Well, thats kind of stereotypical now, isnt it? Its just a word.

In my experience, it seems like people either get his music, or they dont. Its almost like an aquired taste like beer, wine, cigar, etc. And that seems to be very closly related to being esoteric.

I wouldn't call beer an esoteric beverage, though...

I wouldn't call beer an esoteric beverage, though...

I dont know, i might. I know i never really liked it when i first tried it, but because it was such a cool thing to love, i kept on drinking it. So it is something i actually learned to love. I dont know about the understanding of beer though maybe certain kinds of poetry or higher level calculus...