Early Works

The disc is titled Early Works. Come Out (1966) and It's Gonna Rain were the first Reich compositions released on LP, electronic works based on tape-recorded voices processed in fairly simple but intriguing ways. The hypnotic power of Come Out was the first Reich to catch my attention years ago. Piano Phase and Clapping Music use the same musical procedures, only for live performers. I don't know if this is an important disc except for people following Reich's career, but though he has gone on to greater things, these pieces still have the power to intrigue and move me. --Leslie Gerber Amazon.com

Kumma kumma, shoda shoda

A stoner buddy of mine turned me on to this 40 years (1967) ago and it - Come Out, in particular - blew me away. I bought a vinly copy and later replaced it with this CD. I can't imagine an eclectic CD collection being complete without a copy of this landmark album. March 20, 2007

Reich's extreme early experiments

Depending on your ears, the early works on this recording will be either complete madness, or trance-like nirvana. My hunch is that many people will vote for the former, at least at first, before Reich's inventive grip helps you to perceive sounds in a way that perhaps you hadn't before. In any case, the works here are given terrific performances.

"Come Out" features the taped voice of a young black man arrested for murder, who had to squeeze his bruises so that some of the blood would "come out" to show the police he was injured. From the man's taped speech, Reich extracts the phrase "come out to show them" and repeats it dozens and dozens of times, electronically altering it so that it slowly shifts in emphasis, tone and weight. It is a mesmerizing experience. Similarly, in "It's Gonna Rain," which uses the voice of a fiery preacher named Brother Walter, Reich repeats the title phrase hundreds of times, and as the work progresses the words gradually dissolve into a huge wall of sound that is indistinguishable from its origins.

The most accessible work for most people will probably be "Clapping Music," a short, percussive study for two people well, clapping. The means are simple, but the result is much more complex. Reich explores different rhythmic patterns, and this piece, like the others, helps provide crucial understanding of some of his later, more complex works like "Drumming" or "Different Trains."

"Piano Phase" was written in 1967, for two pianists who begin playing the same figure in unison, before one pianist speeds up slightly. The unison changes into what at first sounds like an echo, but settles into a sort of chugging harmony as the pianist continues to pull ahead. Listeners who are restless when confronted with the composer's stark "Violin Phase" (employing a similar technique) might enjoy the two-piano timbre here a bit more.

I wish I could say that everyone would like this recording, but it just is not so. Although I find these pieces completely fascinating, they do require a good bit of patience, not to mention a willingness to be immersed in a rather stark and uncompromising sound world. Those who came to Reich through "18 Musicians," "Different Trains," or some of his latest compositions that incorporate video, may be left completely in the dark by these early pieces. But for those interested in Reich, or in trends in twentieth-century music, at least one hearing of this amazing recording could be considered almost essential. July 2, 2004

Timeless Minimalism!!

"Early Works" collects four of composer Steve Reich's earliest examples of minimalist music for both tapeloops and actual musical instruments. Listening to these early pieces is quite fascinating and offers a glimpse of what was to come in the music world more than 35 years later.
The first piece on the disc, "Come Out" was created in 1966 as part of a benefit for six youngsters who were arrested in the infamous Harlem riots. Reich's source material for this piece consists of a spoken phrase by a young man named Daniel Hamm. Reich takes two identical tapeloops Hamm's phrase ("Come out to show them") and allows them to gradually go out of synch with each other. As they do, the charachteristics of the human speech become more revealing as every detail of the 'come out' phrase becomes exposed. As the piece gradually moves forward, Reich doubles the loops to four and allows them to go out of synch thus adding further depth to the repeated phrase. Finally, the four loops double to eight and the phrase becomes indecipherable but highly rhythmic like a percussionist using brushes on a snare drum. 37 years later, "Come Out" can very well be considered as the first 'rap' or 'hip-hop' piece. It's repeated rhythmic tapeloops are an early example of what is now known as 'sampling'.
The second piece is "Piano Phase" composed in 1967. The principle behind this piece is having two pianists starting a repeated phrase together in unison but gradually having one pianist get a beat ahead (then two and three beats etc.) of the other pianist thus creating entirely new melodic and harmonic rhythmic patterns. This is an excellent 20-minute study of what can be done with two pianos playing the exact same thing but at different intervals.
The third piece is the short but effective "Clapping Music" composed in 1972. This piece was written for two pairs of hands clapping out a simple elementary rudiment. Like "Piano Phase", one performer plays the same thing throughout while the other jumps ahead a number of beats. On a personal note, this is an excellent piece to teach your friends. It's fun and simple to learn.
The final piece is "It's Gonna Rain" which is the earliest piece in this collection, created in 1965. This is another tapeloop piece in the style of "Come Out". The source material was recorded by Reich in a park in San Francisco and the voice belongs to a street preacher by the name of Brother Walter. "It's Gonna Rain" is presented in two parts. The first part consists of Walter's phrase 'it's gonna rain' in a repeated loop. At first there are numerous rhythmic edits in the loops showcasing the different parts of diction and pitch in the one phrase. Then an identical loop of the same phrase cuts in and gradually goes out of synch with the other. When the two loops are as far out of synch as possible, this creates a sort-of teetertotter-like effect. The loops then gradually fall back in synch which concludes the first part of this piece.
Part two's structure is almost the same as the first part but in this case, a longer compilcated loop consisting of several different phrases from Brother Walter is used. Like "Come Out", this part begins with two identical tapeloops played together in unison but then gradually go out of synch. The two loops double to four and gradually go out of synch followed by the doubling to eight loops. As the eight loops go out of synch, the sound of the piece becomes extremely chaotic - a cacophony of voices that sound as if they are in a large echo chamber. This brings "It's Gonna Rain" to a chilling close.
Without a doubt, Steve Reich is a composer that was and still is ahead of his time. His early tape experiments included on this disc have paved the way for today's DJs and electronic musicians. This music does require some patience, study and understanding. Not everyone will grasp this music upon its first listen. However, there's is no argument that this music is timeless and demonstrates the young Steve Reich coming into full bloom as a dynamic and innovative composer. September 12, 2003

It's Gonna Rain

Warning, this is a strange CD. It's not going to fit everyone's taste, but if you are the type that likes to explore, or extremely bored with POP music, then this is the CD for you. This was created & recorded before the computer age, yet deals with the process of the computer age. Back then some Classical Experimenters used tape loops to created multi layered repetitions of rhythm & melody. I believe the high light is "It's Gonna Rain" from a recording of a Pentecosta street preacher yelling about Noah's flood. The words "Its Gonna Rain" become rhythm with something like: "Its Its, Its Gonna Its Gonna, Gonna Gonna, Gonna Rain Gonna Rain, Rain Rain...then the piece adds layers of layers of the sermon until it becomes a vast sound effect. Believe it or not I played "It's Gonna Rain" during a Performance Art piece called "Noah's Art" where I gave out water balloons & pistols to an audience while reading & then acting out the 10 commandants. The Tape loop was used to drive everyone into a frenzy to drown me with water. It Worked. Thanks Steve. April 21, 2003

Reich's solid minimalist beginnings

The complete, complete control of the music on this cd feels so great to listen to. In the pieces with phased tapes of people talking, the voice is only discernible as a voice for the beginning, then the 2 tapes out of phase become just sounds that you can pick the words out of maybe if you really try. You know his earliest phase music was made by playing the same recording of someone talking on 2 tapes & speeding up one of the tapes so they each play [almost] the same thing at different times, & what more emerges between them is intense. With instrumental phase music, one of the performers periodically jumps a beat ahead while repeating the same musical phrase as the other performer. One of Reich's favorite observations of phase music is that in pure phase music the composer doesn't know anything about where the music will go that the listener doesn't know. The phase pieces on this cd are so wild. They feel so unsettling in how quasi-post-futuristic they are & in the topics of the spoken phase pieces, opening a bruise to be bleeding to be allowed medical attention & the preaching of Brother Walter on the street in San Francisco; but also feel very comfortable in the complete control. Not far into Reich's career, he stopped making phase music. With a great sampling of the phase music he did, this is essential Reich. March 14, 2003

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