That's true rudi, but I just don't believe my brain is doing a Fourier transform and interpretting music as superimposed pure sinewaves. If you break down the sound into wavelets, you will get some coefficients to the summation equation. But then if you take the inverse to the sound, you get similar coefficients multiplied by -1, or invert the sinewaves by 180º, do you not? There is still a difference between inverted phase even if the brain is doing these Fourier transforms as we listen to music.
I personally think absolute phase means something. When I pluck a guitar string, or hit a drum, I'm convinced the brain identifies some quality of the sound best described as 'impact', from the fact that the first waves to hit your ear drum are of a positive pressure.
But everyone may come to their own conclusion.