In the comments, John Bickerton of Unique Tracks has pointed out a better performance of Cage's Cartridge Music. Although I am quite judgmental about what works are good and what ones are not, I'm not one to have strong preferences in performances of those works. For example, I have 10 recordings of Riley's In C and I'm happy listening to any of them.
But in this case, the recording by David Tudor and others somehow provides a more coherent introduction to the piece and is surprisingly more enjoyable. This is yet more evidence that Cage's work is more than just conceptual art.
David Nicholls in The Cambridge Companion to John Cage:
...it is important to acknowledge that Cage's performance practice is a vital element in helping us to understand the intention in many of his pieces.
I suppose since his music hasn't had centuries of performances to refine it and hence this kind of artistic variability is more likely.
