Thank you, Carl-LaFong. Steve Reich is probably my favorite minimalist composer, and I actually liked the selection. I love
Drumming
,
Music for eighteen musicians
(which I agree is probably his best) and
Different Trains
, although my personal favorite is probably
Tehilim
. The mixing of Reich's strongly rhythmic minimalism and the pieces baroque influences give it, I think, a very distinctive sonority, both sweet and ethereal, and its curious to see how the composer explores the musical potential of the very interesting and underappreciated rhythm of the original verses. I love
Piano Phase
as well, but, although I like and admire
Its Gonna Rain
, perhaps his most important piece, I admit the tape material is a little heavy on my ears, even more so when repeated with phasing. Certainly interesting and rewarding, nonetheless, but not a piece I revisit too often.

Hello, gerrypmar. I may be wrong, but I believe
Come Out
was probably omitted due to its stylistic similarity with the preceding
Its Gonna Rain
. Why do you consider it one of your favorites?

Thank you for the explanation! And dont worry, I dont think you should bow to anyones expertise, most of all concerning your own taste. I actually like the piece too, but I was just curious about the reasons why you liked it more than you liked the others. Thanks to your post, I can now better understand your appreciation. Personally, I prefer the previous piece, both for its precedence and for my subjective predilection for its source in its given context. One thing I like about
Come Out
, however, is the fact that Reich used a record from the Harlem riot. I also agree the lower pitch in its original tape would probably sound more pleasant to many, although, given the setting, I actually think the higher pitch in
Its Gonna Rain
works well.

and Music for 18 Musicians was really impressive.
Yup that one's definitely the magnum opus.

I listened to the first five earlier today, not having heard them before.
Didn't like the first two much, but enjoyed Drumming and Tellihim and Music for 18 Musicians was really impressive.
You're my wife now.

Cheers. Bookmarked for later!
You're my wife now.

Oh, but f that live performance nonsense they're linking to for Music for 18 Musicians. Nobody should listen to any other recording of that piece before they've heard the original so often that they've got it memorized.

Whaddya know, a couple of days ago I was thinking about what would be the essential Reich pieces, and I came up with exactly the first 5 items on that list - plus grudging inclusion of Different Trains, though it sounds to me like a major falling off from the magic of Music for 18 Musicians and Tehillim, because as Richard Strauss and Chuck Berry said, you never can tell.
Hmmm. Looks like Terry Riley and La Monte Young got articles, though not playlists, for their 80th anniversaries last year (though not on their birthdays, and only Riley's explicitly mentions the occasion at all):
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/02/terry-riley-interview-brooklyn-national-sawdust-concerts
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/30/la-monte-young-dia-chelsea-exhibit