I don't think that's the right definition of avant garde. Though there's no unified language between _all_ of the works of art collected under this banner, that

I don't think that's the right definition of avant garde. Though there's no unified language between _all_ of the works of art collected under this banner, that's not to say that there aren't working dialects that help to shape the exploration. Otherwise, your distinction between east-coast and west-coast synthesis would be meaningless, after all! Recall that serialism, which is practically the first thing that comes to mind for many people when they think of avant-garde music, was essentially a _structuralist_, not a deconstructionist, movement. The deconstruction of the tonic system was what came before, in the music of the late 19th and early 20th century. Serialism encompasses various attempts to build a new musical language from the remains. So it is with Steve Reich. Rather than focusing purely on what Reich's music takes away, you will get more from his work if you look at what he is trying to _build._