What a pleasant surprise to discover that Nonesuch have reissued the fantastic Reich Remixed with additional mixes by the likes of Four Tet, who perhaps unsurprisingly chooses to rework Reich’s “Drumming” (previously given an electronic twist by the venerable acid-house pioneers Mantronix). No one can doubt the impact Reich has had on both popular as well as classical music, and for me he is unrivalled in the world of minimalism, despite my respect for the work of Philip Glass, especially his seminal GLASSWORKS (1982) and his collaborations with Ravi Shankar (PASSAGES, 1990) and Uakti (AGUAS DA AMAZONIA, 1999). Receiving the 10-CD Steve Reich set WORKS was one of the greatest musical presents I ever got, and once I learned of the Remix project, I just knew that would prove essential listening, especially with the likes of Coldcut, Howie B, Andrea Parker, Tranquility Bass, Ken Ishii and Freq Nasty making contributions. After all, I had first heard Steve Reich sampled on The Orb’s 1989 classic LITTLE FLUFFY CLOUDS without even knowing it. Years later I learned that I was actually listening to the cyclic guitar of Pat Metheny from Reich’s ELECTRIC COUNTERPOINT (1987)—testament to Alex Patterson’s good taste and pioneering approach to ambient psychedelic dance music. Finally hearing the original transported me to an equally potent musical headspace, and Reich quickly became one of my all-time favorite composers.
I’m really not sure then how much more I need to say to persuade you just how essential this album is. If you don’t know who Steve Reich is, then I can only wonder what cultural crevice you have been hiding in—he’s a living legend, widely acknowledged to have had a revolutionary impact on 20th century music, and would have been knighted by now if he were a British citizen (he’s from New York, so never mind the old-fashioned monarchic recognitions).
So what of the remixes then? Well, Coldcut are responsible for an incredible six-minute contraction of Reich’s renowned “Music for 18 Musicians,” and in case you don’t know, they are noteworthy for innovating VJing (the political potency of “Timber,” with the sync-ed images of trees being sliced by chainsaws remains the zenith of achievements in this field), developing new DJing technologies, setting up their own Ninja Tune dance music label, as well as being responsible for some enduring tunes of their own. Other contributors attempt his early, ultra minimal works like “Piano Phase” (D Note), and “Come Out” (Ken Ishii), whilst others attempt his more orchestrated pieces such as “The Four Sections” (Andrea Parker) and “Eight Lines” (Howie B). All in all then, a fair selection of compositions from Reich’s long and varied career is represented. I just think that rather than issuing an expanded version, Nonesuch should have commissioned a second volume—I would love to hear somebody like Amon Tobin rework “Different Trains,” for example.
I’m proud to claim that I have witnessed and participated in the gestation of this album, whose conditions of production are perhaps as novel as the band that authored it. Einstürzende Neubauten, the sound of collapsing buildings, point five on the Richter Scale, have never courted novelty merely for the sake of it, but they have always been open to innovation in every aspect of their creative process. And that might just go some way to explaining how after more than 27 years, they still show no sign of tiring, no sign of losing their music-making vitality. Operating through supporter subscriptions, EN have pioneered a truly independent business model, free of the capital constraints of a record label. Instead, it is the fans that sponsor their creative endeavour, able to watch regular Webcasts of the band at work and participate in discussion groups that analyse their music. But even if you didn’t facilitate the creative process that culminated in ALLES WIEDER OFFEN, it’s still available for you to purchase! It’s never too late to discover the wonder that is Einstürzende Neubauten.
EN have come a long way from those early days of cacophony wrought from metal scraping, banging and resonating on metal, but that improvisational ethic persists—EN still dwell in a world of useful detritus, which given the right constructive impetus can yield some awe-inspiring methods of generating sounds dramatic, subtle and exciting. Their percussive mastery is surely unrivalled, but added to this are the cryptic, poetic utterances of their lyricist Blixa Bargeld (also formerly the guitarist with Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds). These days it’s obvious that the music of EN is authored by a tribe of experts who understand sound, structure and composition better than almost any other contemporary musical innovators. Neubauten remain a unique musical proposition which has enriched my life no end, and ALLES WIEDER OFFEN is a tremendous offering—let it do the same for yours!
Like Einstürzende Neubauten, Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth have been knocking around for what seems like eons, and like Einstürzende Neubauten, he (and they) show no signs of going stale. The 21st century has even seen Sonic Youth acquire a new pedigree (SONIC NURSE and RATHER RIPPED were both superb albums). Similarly, Moore’s TREES OUTSIDE THE ACADEMY has made quite a few people’s best-of-year lists, and deservedly so. Solo it may be, but indulgent it is not—this is a suite of sung songs, with the guitars generally veering away from overly-electrified angles, and back-up provided by Samara Lubelski’s violin, Steve Shelley’s drums and even Christina Carter’s amazing free-form vocals.
The cuts here evince that same self-assured charm that Sonic Youth demonstrated on 1988’s unrepeatable marvel DAYDREAM NATION—every track unfolds naturally, with guitars, vocals, drums and violin all in perfect synchrony. The full-on maelstrom often characteristic of that classic work may be missing, but it nonetheless feels so right, and this being Thurston Moore, experimental distortion is not entirely absent, just kept in its place, subordinate to a (slightly) more relaxed ethos. Anyone who considers themselves a Sonic Youth fan will simply have to invest in this superb collection of riffs, vibes and harmonies.
It’s not unusual for the folks at Boomkat to enliven my holidays, and this time they’ve provided a right Xmas corker. For the sake of convenience I’ll call this THE ERASER REMIXES, although really it’s just the electronic downloads of a set of three remix EPs (in the aging parlance of vinyl, that stands for “extended play”), which can currently be had as mp3 files or in the new FLAC format (Free Lossless Audio Codec). Thom Yorke’s THE ERASER was just what so many of us needed to tide us over until Radiohead’s much anticipated IN RAINBOWS was finally released, and it did not disappoint. THE ERASER perhaps retreated further into the often existential claustrophobia of Thom Yorke’s lyrical imagination, accompanied by soundscapes starker than we would have expected from the full Radiohead ensemble, but it was no worse for that.
With its hybrid status as music obviously neither wholly electronic nor conventionally rock, THE ERASER was ultimately always suited for the remix treatment, which has been provided courtesy of Burial, Modeselektor, Christian Vogel, Surgeon, The Bug, The Field and Four Tet, all of whom add further ballast to the solid beats already provided by Yorke with his spooky songs of dis-ease. In this series of EPs, we are treated to reworked versions of; “And It Rained All Night,” “Skip Divided,” “Analyse,” “Atoms for Peace,” “Black Swan,” “The Clock,” “Cymbal Rush” and thankfully also “Harrowdown Hill.”
In case you’re wondering if this is one of those records that ought to come with a “for completists only” warning, I will happily declare that such purchasing caution need not apply. Each remix succeeds in extracting from each track a possibility heretofore latent. These remixes provide an essential complement to Yorke’s original creative vision.
