RadioLab’s Jad Abumrad was commissioned to remake reconstruct a piece of music. According to the Radiolab page on WNYC’s site, “In C,” a 1964 composition by Terry Riley, “quietly changed the world of classical music (and eventually pop music too).” It’s easy to hear that minimalist influence creeping through from Steve Reich to Sufjan Stevens.
Abumrad’s version, however, is less of a minimalist piece than it is an aleatoric wunderkammer of sounds found, created, and manipulated. Coming at the end of the podcast, it reminds me less of Sufjan than it does the Books, which, come to think of it, might be why I’m so attached to Radiolab in the first place.
Because if you aren’t familiar with the Books’ aesthetic – whether you dig Radiolab or not – it’s a crime. Let’s fix that.
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