Music Arcades: Terry Riley: A Rainbow in Curved Air

Usually an afterthought in discussions of American minimalism — though not as out of the picture as the more-spoken-about-than-heard LaMonte Young. In hindsight, Riley made the career misstep of aligning himself too closely with hippies in the 1960s and thus being briefly fashionable at that time, but losing out when the great popularisers of the avant-garde in the 1970s — Messrs Bowie & Eno — favoured the more austere and disciplined approach of early Reich and Glass.

I bought this album in about 1984, shortly after those same early works by others. My selection was doubtless influenced by it being available as part of the CBS Nice Price range, for £2.99. CBS! Poor old Terry hasn't had major label support for three decades or so, except when Kronos Quartet perform his compositions, according to his discography. (And please tell me that terryriley.com isn't his official site.)

The title track is a lovely and joyous piece. Sounding at times like a bubbling brook, and then with skittering raga-like percussion (similar to the style later adopted by Tangerine Dream on Hyperborea), it shows that Riley wasn't just affecting to be a hippy: he's the genuine article.

Shortly after I moved to London, on 28 June 2003, I saw Mark Jenkins perform A Rainbow in Curved Air at St Cyprian's Church near Baker Street. It was worthwhile — you can hear Mark's take on the track at this MySpace page — but it felt to me (as so often happens) that I was just finding my place within the flow it when it stopped. Mark explained that the way the piece is composed means that you can't predict how long it will be at the outset.

The other side of the LP, Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band, is less energetic, more of a drone. If I said "more enigmatic", that would be code for "haven't really got into it yet".

Going back to yesterday's story of seeing Steve Reich in concert, I saw Terry Riley just nine days later (as mentioned here), but of that evening my journal says simply "Yesterday I went to see Terry Riley in London," followed, as day follows night, by "I have been reading a book on anarchism, which is very interesting on the need for interpersonal openness and honesty, if 'communal individuality' is to be attained, and freedom is to be maximised." Not so sure about that now.