Will the Real Steve Reich please stand up?
I made a claim a few posts back about how most of music today is minimalist. I meant this in a general sense that pop music and such favors repetition of rhythm and melody and features very rudimentary harmony. But there are even more interesting examples of pop music more or less taking the language of minimalism directly. It’s relatively easy to spot a Philip Glass impostor, but what about Steve Reich? Not too sure what I mean??
I’ve created two listening samples here with pieces by Steve Reich contrasted with pieces by others. To add to the challenge, you are to freely guess which you think is the real Steve Reich and which you think paid him homage (or just plain stole it).
Listening sample one: There are three pieces that will be played back to back. One of them will be a Steve Reich composition, one is a Steve Reich remix, and one is something from the popular music realm.
Listening sample two: There are again three pieces back to back. Two are Steve Reich compositions and one is from the popular music realm.
Please post your thoughts! I will reveal the answers in a subsequent post.
