steve reich - biography


10. Reich Remixed - Influence - The Present

One of Reich's final projects of the '90's was the album Reich Remixed, a series of electronic-based remixes of many of his classic works. He willingly approved the project after a friend sitting with him on an airplane played him The Orb's song Little Fluffy Clouds, which liberally samples Reich's own Electric Counterpoint. It was at this point that Reich became aware of a new generation of artists who had been inspired by his work. He was already aware that his influence had crept into the works of modern rock musicians, with artists such as Brian Eno, David Bowie and Peter Gabriel all paying Reich lip service in interviews and releasing music that directly suggested Reichian motifs and timbres (the marimba patterns in Peter Gabriel's No Self Control immediately spring to mind). However, with the advent of the remixer, Reich's music--especially his early Minimalist pieces--found its way into a new form's vocabulary. Artists such as Coldcut, Andrea Parker, and DJ Spooky gleefully put their own spin on Reich's work, some of them obliterating it entirely, others remaining quite faithful to the original. The results are as interesting and varied as the back catalogue of the man they are meant to honor.

Steve Reich has been a major musical force for most of his adult life. Through almost four decades, he has helped redefine modern chamber music. With his wife Beryl Korot, they have together helped revitalize the modern opera, and lent a new importance to multimedia art. Reich's journey from Minimalism to the expanded ensembles and harmonics of his later works should continue to influence multiple areas of the music and art worlds for years to come.