A holy grail, and a curse. Those who get it right end in calamity, literal or figurative. The Minutemen ended with D Boon's death. The Contortions stalled with James Chance's junkiedom. Late-70's NYC "Downtown Scene" figures (people like Joe Bowie, James Blood Ulmer, and Leroy Jenkins) had the misfortune of coming from legitimate jazz and avant-garde backgrounds, making a contemporary Bitches Brew; it died a commercial death. Do it half-ass, and thrive.