Terry Riley celebrates the 45th anniversary of his groundbreaking composition, In C. A major work in the history of minimalist music, In C has an incredibly flexible score and performance guidelines, which have inspired many musicians to make their own versions, including a French guitar quintet, a traditional Chinese orchestra, a keyboard ensemble, an all-synthesizer group, CalArts Music students, French-Canadian hippies, a Danish vocal and percussion ensemble, another percussion ensemble, Japanese acidheads, a "laptop orchestra", the Bang on a Can Orchestra, and a rock "orchestration" by the Styrenes. No two versions can sound exactly the same, but it's still an open question how they will compare to the performance of In C at its Carnegie Hall debut next month. No recording of the original 1964 performance has ever been publicly released, but some eyewitness accounts can be found here.
posted by jonp72 on Mar 4, 2009 - 40 comments

Koyaanisqatsi [more inside]
posted by phrontist on May 10, 2008 - 72 comments

Counting in groups of 12 the first performer claps on 1,2,3,5,6,8,10 and 11. The second performer starts by clapping the same pattern but gradually shifts the pattern one step to the right. You are playing Steve Reich's clapping music. If you are serious you will want to study the score - and perhaps a watch a performance). If you are happen to be Evelyn Glennie you can have a go at both parts at once. - those slightly less more mortal are likely to end up like this. [more inside]
posted by rongorongo on Jan 14, 2008 - 25 comments

"“If the book were to be published as it is in its present edited form, I may never write another story, that’s how closely, God Forbid, some of those stories are to my sense of regaining my health and mental well-being.” The New York Times reported today that Raymond Carver's widow, Tess Gallagher, is pushing to republish the stories in Carver's acclaimed 1981 breakout collection, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love," in their original, unedited form. [more inside]
posted by sock it to me monkey on Oct 17, 2007 - 25 comments

Philip Glass on SNL, Mr. Glass composed for Sesame Street: 1, 2, 3, sounds a bit like North Star if you ask me. Bonus: 1+1. For the uninitiated
posted by lonemantis on Aug 6, 2007 - 28 comments

However interesting your life is, it probably pales in comparison to Moondog. A homeless, blind composer who transcribed in braille, he went from a career as a street corner musician in New York, to sitting in Carnegie Hall for rehersals at the invitation of Artur Rodzinski, he was invited to Germany and wrote a symphony for four conductors: "The Overtone Tree", he was covered by Janis Joplin and worked with Julie Andrews. (mi)
posted by 1f2frfbf on Aug 29, 2006 - 13 comments

MNMLST POETRY is an essay by Bob Grumman about a strand of poetry that he claims is "unacclaimed but flourishing". Here are poems in this vein by Aram Saroyan (2), jwcurry, LeRoy Gorman, bpNichol, Michael Basinski, John M. Bennett, Karl Young, John Martone, Ian Hamilton Finlay and finally some mathemaku by Bob Grumman, the essay's author.
posted by Kattullus on Jun 8, 2005 - 12 comments

For over a decade, reclusive Berliners Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald have published a distinctive style of minimalist techno through Basic Channel and several other labels based out of their record store. In 1996, they expanded into dub with Burial Mix, a series of 10"s featuring long-lost reggae vocalists. (They've also begun reissuing out-of-print releases by NYC's Wackies.) Although their vinyl-centric releases have always been relatively underground, they may soon be reaching a wider audience thanks to a domestic (US) release of their latest CD comp by Asphodel. Also see the latest issue of The Wire for a new quasi-interview.
posted by hyperizer on Oct 3, 2003 - 15 comments