Mark Turner (mturner@netcom.com)
Sun, 10 Jan 1999 19:08:32 -0800 (PST)
Here's something from this week's Tower Records e-zine that might be
of interest to the list:
> 3. FIRST GLANCE OF THE WEEK:
>
> When word got out on the web about a forthcoming collection of remixes of
> STEVE REICH's minimalist classical music, at least one response on an
> Internet discussion group was fairly quick and concise: "yuck," the post
> read, "why didn't they get Josh Wink to remix Different Trains while they
> were at it." To translate: Josh Wink is one of the less theoretical
> pop-electronic musicians around, and "Different Trains" is one of Reich's
> most serious works, in large part due to the fact that it takes as its
> subject the systematic genocide of the Holocaust. Apparently, the list of
> contributors didn't impress; the participants include, for the record:
> Coldcut, Howie B, Andrea Parker, Tranquility Bass, Mantronik, DJ Takemura,
> D'Note, DJ Spooky and Ken Ishii. A more sympathetic response might have
> been: "Cool, why don't they get Chessie to remix Different Trains," given
> the San Francisco Bay area musician's penchant for locomotives, but the
> skepticism was understandable; albums such as this one, 'REMIXES'
> (Nonseuch/Atlantic, 2/16), raise concerns about opportunism on the part of
> the record label, as did Bill Laswell's album-length remix of Miles Davis'
> electric-era jazz for Columbia last summer. But an advance copy of the
> Reich-remix CD raises expectations for the impact the album might have.
> While Mantronik's take on "Drumming" and D'Note's take on "Piano Phase"
> sound fairly surface-oriented, other tracks reveal quite a bit of depth.
> Howie B's take on "Eight Lines" goes to lengths to build on what was, to
> begin with, a pulsing experience -- he offers a light interplay of parts
> that simplifies the original's counterpoint and edits its breadth but, in
> the end, sounds more like a respectful re-orchestration than a remix;
> furthermore, the sound quality seems to be even brighter than the original
> Bang on a Can rendition, from which Howie's is assumedly drawn. Likewise,
> Tranquility Bass contributes an extended "Megamix," working together
> material from a number of Reich pieces, and its opening overlay of
> pointillism seems, again, deeply considered. Reich has always depended on
> highly repetitive, near-automated rhythmic patterns, a modus operandi
> which has earned him frequent name-drops from DJs and other electronic
> musicians, especially Coldcut and Spooky. 'Remixes' is an opportunity for
> them to put their technology where their mouths are. (Weidenbaum)
-- Mark Turner | "Jazzadelica" with Rocky Rococo on KFJC mturner@netcom.com | Sundays 10pm-2am, 89.7 FM, Los Altos Hills, CA
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