Recommended/Definitive Steve Reich...

[TheBatt22]

So, I liked the So Percussion recording of Drumming more than the original. This raises two questions:

1) What are some of the better Steve Reich pieces?
2) Of these, which recordings are the "best"?

A simple inquiry. Many thanks!

[Thor]

I really love Music for 18 Musicians (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:by66mp9d9f5o).

[Joel]

some recommendations for Steve Reich records:

"Live/Electric Music" (Columbia Masterworks, MS 7265) LP - classic LP with "It's Gonna Rain," a seminal tape-phase piece. The Pauline Oliveros piece on here is great, too.

"Three Dances & Four Organs" (Angel, S-36059) LP - two great organ pieces, the first "Three Dances" is a Cage composition, but performed by Reich's ensemble at the time. "Four Organs" is for, duh, four organs and maracas, and clearly influenced some Stereolab stuff (there's a song on "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" that's like a guitar version of this).

"Four Organs/Phase Patterns" (Shandar, SR 10.005) LP - I actually prefer this version, esp. because the packaging is so great (gatefold with great cover photo from Michael Snow's film "Wavelength"), but it's pretty hard to find.

"Drumming/Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ/Six Pianos" (Deutsche Grammophon, 2740 106) 3LP - this is a nice box with his very classic "Drumming" piece, inspired by his study in Ghana. There's a single record version of "Drumming" on Elektra/Nonesuch, but I'm not sure which is the complete version.

And last but not least, the above recommendation of "Music for 18 Musicians" is definitely worth your time. I'm not as familiar with Reich's 80s/90s/current work, so hopefully someone else can help out with that.

[miss understood]

Some great recommendations. The only bits I would add:

There are two recordings of "Music for 18 Musicians," one from 1978 and one from 1999 (if I have my dates right). Reich devotees argue quite a bit as to which is better, although I confess it's been a while since I compared. Also:

"Tehillim," which is a wonderfully captivating vocal piece for two female singers that could very loosely be described as a kind of phase-chant. Sounds weird, I know, but insanely addictive. I think there have been three recordings to date--one, with only "Tehillim," the other (with Michael Tilson Thomas) including "Three Movements for Orchestra," and a third by the ensemble Alarm Will Sound (who just released a disc of classical arrangements of Aphex Twin):

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47F18D948A97720D69D3141C7B37AE406D05A DA8D112D4954CFA17F4688196AF753FB8798E6BF31F878B0FE 2CBB580FD3CCA257FDD666383789EEB61145&sql=10:wpg9kebtjq7c

If you're interested in a large-scale survey, Nonesuch has a pretty good deal combining all or nearly all of his recordings:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000005J4P/qid=1137082139/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-9873661-2247159?s=classical&v=glance&n=5174

Last, if you like Steve Reich, be sure to listen to John Adams as well -- they sound almost nothing like each other but between them say a lot about contemporary music. Stay away from Philip Glass though (IMO).

[Joel]

i like early phillip glass ok, but a lot of his post-70s stuff gets a little too precious for me.

two more similar (in some ways) composers to check out are gavin bryars and michael nyman. bryars' "the sinking of the titanic" and "jesus' blood never failed me yet" (tho NOT the tom waits version, ugh) are pretty classic, and nyman's record on eno's 70s obscure label is great too.

[vesper]

i'm pretty sure that the only differences between the '78 and '99 recordings are label and production. the '78 ECM disc has one track; the '99 Nonesuch disc has each section tracked for easy access to later parts: either way the music is the same.

okay, actually scratch that. there is an ensemble modern recording of music for 18 musicians from 1999, but i have no idea what it sounds like. in '98, nonesuch put out the tracked vrsn of it, so yr still good to buy that one if you want.

[Miss Tasty Princess]

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Philip Glass

[tinobeat]

ahahahahaha

[miss understood]

Seriously

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[TheBatt22]

Doh, I'm here. Many thanks for the assistance, all!

I feel like an e-dick for forgetting about this thread, like I have taken your collective knowedge for granted. Never again, no way!