Steve Reich

The paradigm of Western music, classical or popular, is the sexual act, and the conclusion
of the sexual act for most Westerners (or at least Western males of the slambam variety) is
the orgasm. Climax is central to our music, since music is the art closest to the emotions and
to sexuality. But not all kinds of music proceed so purposefully, just as some sorts of
Oriental sex are more concerned with the meditative aspects of sensation than... More >

Grown even more universal (and likable) in posttechno retrospect, Reich's mathematically ebbing-and-surging facsimile of eternal return is the great classic of minimalist trance, at once prettier and more austere than any Terry Riley or Philip Glass. Eleven minutes longer than in the ECM original "owing to a tempo change governed by the breathing pattern of the clarinetist," this relaxed rerecording will appeal to graduates of the chillout room. But though rock and rollers can go with its flow, it's not a true reinterpretation like Bang on a Can's Eno, and I prefer the intensities I learned to love. Maybe Beethoven can be rehashed forever (and maybe not). With Reich, one is all any nonprofessional needs. (Grade: B+)