Steve Roach vs Steve Reich

Inspired by the fact that I'm currently listening to Roach's very Fourth World-esque As It Is, which came out earlier this year, and thinking about how a) I've never heard a Roach album I didn't like and b) I hope I'll get a chance to hear the entirety of his bottomless discography some day, which I can't say about most bafflingly prolific artists.

Whereas Reich… Well, Music for 18 Musicians is obviously classic, especially the 1978 ECM recording, but when push comes to shove, I don't really care about the rest of his output all that much. His music has never truly moved me or whispered transcendent things into my ears.

Tough one but I've logged more brain-hours in the Timeroom so him by a nose

Also after those shitty comments by Reich surfaced…

IIRC evidence of those shitty comments is very tenuous

Reich's Tehillim is one of my favorite pieces of music ever, but so is Structures From Silence. Will have to sleep/pray on this one

where to start if you're amply familiar with Reich but barely know who Roach is?

I think the canonical picks are Structures from Silence, which is pure space ambient with the occasional throwback to Phaedra-era Tangerine Dream, and Dreamtime Return, which incorporates Indigenous Australian influences. Both of those are from the 1980s, so if you want something more recent (and a mite darker), Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces is excellent, as is, quite frankly, the aforementioned As It Is, which came out in April.

Thanks! Dreamtime Return rings a vague bell, so I think I'll start there, though Fourth World-esque is tempting...

A friend recently recommended Wiek Hijmans's version of Electric Counterpoint. I liked it a lot. Hard to put this in words, but it sounds more "guitar-y" (a bit rawer, I guess?) than the Metheny version I've heard countless times thanks to my brother

Dreamtime Return is already Fourth World-esque, even more so than As It Is, so it's a good bet indeed.

I haven't spent much time with Roach, but I can't think of a lot of music that impacted my conception of music more than Music for 18 Musicians, Drumming, and It's Gonna Rain, so I'm pretty sure I'd vote Reich regardless.

Apparently Roach is a big fan of Music for 18 Musicians, Drumming and Octet. I wonder whether Reich's heard of Roach – probably not would be my guess.

iirc Reich had a very low classic-snob opinion of The Orb (who sampled him) and would probably put Roach in the same "non-composing mofo" category if he had heard him

Wikipedia sez:

Reich was "genuinely flattered" by The Orb's use of his work and instructed his record company not to sue. Despite this The Orb did receive a letter from Reich's lawyers several years later, but Paterson described Reich as "a proper gentleman: he wanted 20% from then on and asked us to do a remix of one of his tunes, which we did".

I can't remember where the quote of his I read didn't sound so flattering, but this was like 15 years ago.

gotta go with Robert Rich

Write-in for Papa Roach

Steve Reich vs Queensrÿche

Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich vs “Cuddly Toy” by Roachford

gotta go with Robert Rich

Agreed. I hope you were one of the six who picked the correct option in the precursor to this here poll.

Next up: Steve Roach vs Max Roach.

I did not see the precursor! my bad. in seriousness, I listen to more Roach, but I'd consider Reich through Tehillim the better composer in pretty much every way. That whole period of American minimalism was incredibly exciting and the work it produces holds up, in my view. Glass gets more famous but Reich remains more interesting, for a while anyway (I think WTC 9/11 is maudlin stuff). Steve Roach I have a ton of stuff by and he's just the best but Music for Eight Musicians / Octet / just all that growth period stuff, that's transformative work.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Shoutout to my twelve brothers and sisters in Roach.

iirc Reich had a very low classic-snob opinion of The Orb (who sampled him) and would probably put Roach in the same "non-composing mofo" category if he had heard him

Seems pretty unlikely to me. He began his career openly influenced by pop music and African traditional music, in rebellion against the art music establishment of the time, has written for Pat Metheny and written a piece based on Radiohead songs, has been positive about a remix album made of his work, and is reputed to be a hip-hop fan.

Both are major dudes, but Steve Reich is pretty much a musical vanguard figure.

It's all good in the Timeroom.

Couldn't find a source for the hip-hop thing but there's this: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/steve-reich-rock-was-pretty-much-my-radar-then-along-came-radiohead-8517901.html

He discusses his background in jazz, the early influence of Junior Walker and Bob Dylan on his compositional ideas (as well as Indian and African music ofc), that he is "pleased that young DJs remix my music", and the impact of Radiohead.