Because Reich's Minimalism has influenced so much popular music
(N.B- review refers to expanded edition) 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 learnt 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 learnt 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 favourite 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 twentieth century music. 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 are 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.

Children of Reich Create Loving Homage
The entrancing hobby of looping gave birth to essencially all forms of techno in existence today, and all followers should be thankful Steve Reich's cassette tapes messed up one day to create a looping effect. He soon became obsessed with overlapping sounds and varying tempos, a basic foundation for modern day electronic music. Such is the reason why a wide variety of artists came together to create a tribute album to this obscure classical composer, and the end result is a diamond in the rough.

If "Reich Remixed" has any style permeating through the whole album, it is the esoteric sounds of trance. Each track brings in a sentimental mourning, but also sings out hosannas of joy, hailing the appreciation of the father of techno. Tranquility Bass's "Megamix", succeeding fully in painting a mural of Reich's repertoire, Coldcut's loving recreation of "Music for 18 Musicians", and Howie B's "Eight Lines" tribute will draw you in with their joyful melodies. Yet darkness lies ahead as well. Andrea Parker brings in a creepy Trip-Hop version of "The Four Sections", perfect for committing a bank robbery if you get off on that. The bonus track from freQ Nasty & B.L.I.M. has the rough sound of Drum n' Bass without corrupting the original message, although it sounds a bit out of place on this album. The masterpiece is Nobukazu Takemura's "Proverb", which stacks the voices in one loop, which will make one double check the CD for scratches. It not only holds true to what Reich was attempting, but re-interprets.

To those who were already die-hard Reich fans, a word of caution. This CD will sound repititive, perhaps even like cheap rip-offs of the original tracks, as they cannot possibly recreate the massive pieces Reich composed in six or seven minutes of CD time. As well, there are slip-ups. "City Life" is butchered to pieces and essentially impossible to enjoy, and "Come Out" only highlights the limitations of techno's possibilities to create as compared to pen, paper, and a symphony orchestra.

The album explores techno's creative possibilities to new levels, and is an aural treat. Consider it Reich's first DJing experience, changing the world of music in the same way his originals shook the ear drums.

Highs: Techno symphony, with the same variety as an orchestra, skillfully mixed, loving and appropriate recreations of Reich's original masterpieces.
Lows: Reich's originals are better, sometimes butchered here, same repitive downfall of techno at times.
The Score: A-, Reich not Lost in Techno Translation.

Decent, but disappointing overall.
There are a few really good tracks on this CD. My personal favorites are Music for 18 Musicians, Four Sections, the Megamix, and Piano Phase. The Desert Music remix (the bonus track) is okay, not great, but okay. And then there's the bottom end of the spectrum, which is everything else. Unfortunately, what I like is overpowered by what I dislike.

Great music for an electronic fan
I enjoyed every one of these pieces on their own. I am familiar with most of the electronic artists and each one of these songs is beautiful. I had never heard Steve Reich's music before this. I enjoyed his music but, I didn't think that the remixes were completely true to his form. Reich's music has some good ideas that the remixer's somewhat expanded upon. I think the idea was to take some of Reich's ideas and put it in to a more modern style. If they wanted someone to rehash his ideas, then it would have been boring. I enjoy these artists, but there are artists out there that are using some of his ideas already, namely Plastikman and Tortoise. Overall the songs are great in any sense.

Proxy for a Reich's Greatest Hits CD?
Of all modern classical composers, Steve Reich is the one whose music is most likely to attract the rock-oriented ear. 'Music for 18 Musicians' was a ground-breaking album which closed out the 1970s, and it took much of the audience that had been nurtured on Tangerine Dream's 'Ricochet' and, before that, Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'. It was only to be expected that other artists would start sampling Reich's works.

I can't get enough of 'Music for 18 Musicians' -- I bought it on LP in 1979, and two versions on CD. It is my No. 1 self-hypnosis album. So I was intrigued to discover how it would be re-worked for this album. I was disappointed, frankly. The Coldcut Remix provides no evidence that the DJ has listened beyond the first five minutes of the original.

But there's no heresy in modifying Reich's music. I welcome every effort to do so. I knew about half of the pieces selected here, so, for me, it's partly a Reich sampler. The great thing about the album is that not only did it get me buying more of Reich's output, but it also got me listening more to the originals.

For me, the stand-out track here is 'Piano Phase', which applies prog-rock values to a piece I didn't know at all well. It could so easily be Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson playing the synth lines over the piano loop!

The opening track has grown on me over the years. At first listen, the Megamix seemed to have too many different samples crowded in; it seemed too ambitious in searching for common musical themes between no fewer than nine of Reich's albums. But now it flows nicely.

The closing track, supposedly based on the Desert Music, is a straightforward techno track, almost Prodigy-like, whose relationship to Reich's music seems entirely tangential.

I believe every Reich fan should hear this album, even though a few will find perhaps nothing to like. And I'd recommend anyone who buys this album without knowing Reich to listen also to 'Different Trains', 'Electric Counterpoint', and of course, 'Music for 18 Musicians'.

Until Nonesuch releases in the US the greatest hits CD compiled in Japan, we will have to rely on this as the only single-CD tour through Reich's works, however oblique and re-shaped these may be.