Jim Dier (threedueces@hotmail.com)
Mon, 11 Jan 1999 01:31:01 PST
Very innnteresting article. Steve Reich, for those not down, is the
fuckin' shiz-nit. Ill ill tape loop shit from the late sixties early
seventies that would put many an 'electronica' artist to shame with a
tenth of the technology at his disposal back in the day. My homeboy
did a basement remix on one of his songs, 'Come Out to Show Them',
crazee shit. Must say there have been a few dissapointingly money
makin' remix albums, though that Can one wasn't half bad. Am still
waiting for the full lenght Liquid Liquid remix album from Mo'Wax, the
Cut Chemist/Psychonaut 12" of Cavern and Scrapper is some sweet
breaks. The followup though I wasn't feelin'.
I want to here this Reich shit though, could be very sweet.
$¢
stylee@wfmu.org
>
>> 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 10
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