In C Remixed

The best performances of Terry Riley's 1964 minimalist classic In C come off like great sex: variations are gradually introduced and then withdrawn from a rhythmic structure- and when it's all over, you have a trancelike "what just happened?" kind of hum in your head. Created as a shot across the bow of mid-century atonal complexity, In C is typically driven by a pianist who pounds out a C note, in different octaves, for the entire piece, while a group of musicians (any number and on instruments they choose) play 53 shards of melody around that steady pulse. In C depends on this radical openness, which in turn reveals the work's ability to retain an identity even as the performers collaborate in surprising ways. So it's fitting that Riley's piece can still shock on its 45th anniversary, this time courtesy of a two-disc set titled In C Remixed. Even more shocking: the album is conceived by Bill Ryan and his students at Michigan's Grand Valley State University. Yes, you read correctly. This new version comes not from the loft-based hipsters in New York or California, but via a mostly undergraduate cres from Allendale, Michigan. Beyond the geographical surprise, it actually makes sense that a young ensemble has shown a flair for this music. The kids, as it were, have always been alright with the minimalists. Pete Townshend was so influenced by Riley's early synthesizer pieces that he named "Baba O'Riley" in part after the composer. "Black Mozart," from Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon's latest record, might just as easily been dedicated to a minimalist, given its catchy brief figure that repeats through verse and chorus alike. The members of Grand Valley State's ensemble play with a confident swing that suggests they understand these links implicitly. It's also why this new release offers not just their own astute performance but also 18 remixes by a collection of big names, such as DJ Spooky and Pulitzer winner David Lang. The fact that most of these diverse visions of In C succeed ought to say something to those who worry about what the future audience for classical music will look like. This isn't Grand Valley's first success, either; it proved its mettle in 2007 by releasing a lush version of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians. The album cover for that recording featured a bird's-eye view of an agrarian expanse-as if signaling a flight from the world of philharmonics to one of plowshares. To put it another way, these kids are a trip.

-Seth Colter Walls, Newsweek

...some of the most imaginative DJ's, remixers and composers around. Insistent and propulsive, In C is based on a series of 53 interlocking phrases, repeated any number of times, that merge to form an ever-changing tapestry of sound. On a new 2-CD collection of remixes, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang, ambient/hip hop master DJ Spooky, cello innovator Zoë Keating, the ubiquitous genre-hopper Nico Muhly, and many more took the raw tracks from the GVSU New Music Ensemble, and played with them on their laptops.

-John Schaefer, New Sounds, WNYC

Innova's 2-disc In C Remixed contains a 21 minute performance by Terry Riley's minimalist masterpiece In C by the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, who on their previous Innova release demonstrated an extraordinary acumen with Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians. This is aided and abetted by 18 different remixes from In C by mix-masters ranging from DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid to Nico Mulhy to the group Kleerup. Although it remains the longest work on the set, needless to say the original In C -- held off until the end of the second disc -- is dwarfed by the sheer bulk of remixes here, however in albums like this the source piece seldom proves to the center of the attraction. Nevertheless, the concept behind this compilation makes perfect sense, as Terry Riley was one of the first artists in music to sample and hold audio, albeit in the course of live performances, with sources material he was playing in real time and without the benefit of digital gadgets and technology. Needless to say we have come a long way in this respect, and if Riley hadn't been there cultivating a need for such technology we probably wouldn't have had it in the first place. Even in Riley's own work he was using loops and samples to transform the music he was making into something else, which is what a mix-master does. However, it's less usual for a mix-master to utilize a single source for purposes of transformation; rather a multiplicity of sounds is more typical. While the participants are permitted to utilize beat generators to realize the various remixes throughout the album -- DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid even uses a live drummer -- the bulk of the material is drawn from the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble's In C recording, though during one mix a live electric guitar appears to be added. As one might imagine, the result is quite varied, ranging from entirely successful (Masonic) to not successful at all (Kleerup) though that could be largely interpreted as a matter of opinion. A couple of the artists involved, such as Phil Kline and David Lang, dispense with the tyranny of the beat entirely and remix towards a more experimental end. Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble's performance of In C is very good, but is short compared to the average performance and some aspects of it feel arranged, though the last couple of minutes of their realization do devolve into the familiar chaos one associates with In C naturally. Innova's In C Remixed is a very good collection and a better concept; some artists have more than one mix and one wishes the wealth could have been spread to include a couple of more composers, and chances are listeners will tend to gravitate towards certain performances for repeated listens and not to others. Nevertheless, one can hardly think of a more imaginative and appropriate way to pay tribute to the genius of Terry Riley.

-Uncle Dave Lewis, AllMusic Guide

Riley’s piece is more of a challenge than Reich’s because it is less structured, more mutable and highly shaped by the musical personality of the performers. The 15 talented players in GVSUNME — most of them students — played an engaging version that they made their own with the use of electronics and flourishes like a saxophone solo to open the performance.

- Will you miss me when I'm gone (blog)

This excellent new account by the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble lasts only 21 minutes and, with the entrances and exits of the different phrases coming in at a spanking pace, has a different kind of energy that will be especially perceptible to listeners who know one or more of the early recordings. The GVSU were the ensemble who gave us a terrific new recording of another early Minimalist classic, Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, not long ago, and they are in the same fine form here. Their ensemble includes many percussion instruments and seems to be considerably smaller than the 30+ Riley referred to, but the lean, sparkling sound works perfectly and gives the music the same joyful bounce that the composer's original version did.

- Ung-Aang Talay, Bangkok Post

In C, composer Terry Riley's classic work from 1964 is widely regarded as the Rosetta Stone of minimalist music -- opening up a new world where classical and rock music could finally meet. Insistent, propulsive, and vastly appealing, In C is based on a series of 53 interlocking phrases, repeated any number of times, that merge to form a kaleidoscopic, ever-changing tapestry of sound. Prepare to be amazed.

-Outside the Heard

...The GVSU New Music Ensemble has returned, proving that it isn’t a one trick pony but rather a truly consistent and unique creative voice. Here it records a fantastic rendition of Terry Riley’s 1964 masterpiece In C. In contrast to the academic serialist music common at the time, notably Babbit, Boulez, Stockhausen, and so on, In C was a minimalist ray of sunshine in the bleak waters of dissonance. The piece can be played with varying numbers of performers and features fifty-three phrases which can be played for various numbers of repetitions, giving each performance a unique articulation. GVSU’s version is somewhat short, just over twenty minutes, and is the last recording on this double disc set. This is because the real emphasis here is on the eighteen remixes by a diverse cast of composers and musicians, many of whom fans of contemporary classical and experimental, genre-bending electronics will recognize. The semi-aleatory nature of the piece, and its wide reaching influence, makes it the perfect work for this sort of project, and I can say that it is without a doubt a success.

- Joseph Sannicandro, The Silent Ballet