Repetition Repetition Repetition

[rudi]

Go on...

Oh y'know, the whole point that minimal allows the listeners to conciously and unconciously fill the gaps, whether it's entirely without context or (and more likely, due to the listener more likely than not being already aware of music) by understanding the music implied by what's been left in. Minimal techno, for instance, only really makes sense if you're already aware of dance music and, to a lesser extent, the mechanics of [and what inspires] dancing).

Gah! This is why I rarely post in this forum even though its subject-matter utterly consumes me. It doesn't lend itself to short bursts of textual non-conversational broadcasting.

[Funcrusher]

Minimal techno, for instance, only really makes sense if you're already aware of dance music and, to a lesser extent, the mechanics of [and what inspires] dancing).

Perlon/M-nus style minimal techno only makes sense if you're a cokehead with crap taste in music*



*IMO

[rudi]

Whereas DBX, Drumcode, Henrik B et al make me very happy.

[thenoise]

Erik Satie - Vexations

Erik Satie : VEXATIONS (1893) [Extrait]

A short piece for piano supposed to be repeated 840 times.  First public performance by John Cage & chums in 1963.  Cage set the admission price at $5 and had a time clock installed in the lobby of the theatre. Each patron checked in with the clock and when leaving the concert, checked out again and received a refund of a nickel for each 20 minutes attended. "In this way people will understand that the more art you consume, the less it should cost." But Cage had underestimated the length of time the concert would take. It lasted over 18 hours. One person, an actor with The Living Theater, Karl Schenzer, was present for the entire performance.

Alvin Lucier - I am Sitting in a Room

Alvin Lucier: I'm sitting in a room (Part I)

"I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have."

[Petey Pate]

First thing that came into mind when reading this thread was Krautrock band Brainticket's self titled track off their Cottonwoodhill album.  It has the same organ riff repeated for about 15 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKtlC6Fysqc#

There's also Steve Reich's minimalist music.  Depending on your mood Music for 18 Musicians will either send you into a hypnotic trance or drive you completely up the wall.

[mcbpete]

Ol' William Basinski has made an entire career out of this sort of thing e.g.

William Basinski - Disintegration Loop 1.1

His releases have seen me through many a hangover and migraine recovery period

[Famous Mortimer]

I love "The Disintegration Loops", and in fact I will buy them, should the CD still be available when I have some money.

And "I Am Sitting In A Room", I remember when he did it "live" for WFMU (actually, I don't remember, it might have been Resonance FM), and I listened to both versions. Not at the same time, although that would have been interesting. WFMU did a "song-edited-down" competition, which a few 'whores took part in, a couple of years ago. My entry was this song, with just the "I am sitting in a room" line taken out and spliced together.

Does "E2-E4" count, do you think? The idea evolves quite a way during the course of the song.

[HappyTree]

I love Gavin Bryars's Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

The CD has the loop going for about 70 minutes.

Gavin Bryars-Jesus' blood never failed me yet

[NoSleep]

The original, shorter, version is much better than the bloated "Now-with-added-Tom-Waits" version.

Terry Riley's In C is my fave. The original recording for CBS/Columbia (1968) under directions from the composer.
If you buy it as a CD now the performance is presented as one long piece. When originally released as an LP, in two parts, they decided to split it into sides 1 & 2, not by a gentle fade in and out, but with a sharp edit, into an almighty synthesiser "WHOOOSH!!", which makes you jump out of your trance state like the brakes being slammed on a vehicle. Loved it every time.

[Subtle Mocking]

I love Gavin Bryars's Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

The CD has the loop going for about 70 minutes.

Gavin Bryars-Jesus' blood never failed me yet

Oh god, I just came in here to mention that very song. It's bloody gorgeous. To think about how often you hear that loop of the singing homeless man, it strangely never gets old. This song really sucks you in. Despite it's length, you're always left wanting more. It builds up absolutely beautifully.

[Famous Mortimer]

Talking of Riley, I don't know if it counts in a thread about repetition, but I wish I could have heard a long version of "All Night Flight", that would have been quite the experience.

[Famous Mortimer]

http://c-d.tumblr.com/

Halfway down page 2, there's a pdf of a book on American minimalist music.

[The Boston Crab]

Listening to Sheets of Easter again, I was reminded of perhaps my all-time favourite French House track. The similarities are incredible, right down to the 'bridge' section.

ROULE 303 Alan Braxe Vertigo TB's Virgo Edit B

Skip to 1:55, as it does literally nothing before that. Afterwards, it's a 1-second loop hammered to fuck. I remember seeing Bangalter play a surprise live set in '98 at Bugged Out, just DATs and drum machines and when he dropped the opening filtered loop the whole place went ballistic. He then teased it out for about ten minutes and I've never felt anything quite like that in the presence of other human beings. A lot of people were crying and laughing at the intensity, some were just standing still soaking it all in, shaking their heads. That's why I never really got on board with Discovery and everything since. You don't need flashing lights or gimmicks when people are sobbing with joy at one noise.

[alan nagsworth]

There's millions of two-chord riffs all under one roof, it's called.. Extended Jams 'R' Us!

So, I'm listening to The Wedding Present's 'Bizarro' at a really high volume because it's fucking wicked and it's meant to be played that way (shame the album's mastered so bastard quiet then innit) and I am SO HOOKED on their love of repetition. They are a pretty standard student indie pop band but tunes like 'Kennedy' and 'Take Me!' are so fucking excellent in the way they just nail a riff home for the last half of the track. The drums on 'Kennedy' are the only element that never lets up for a second, that same rhythm driving away like a joyous never-ending explosion, it's so frenetic and energised! The distortion gradualy increases as it draws to a close, making it a slowly-building wall of noise that suddenly crashes to a halt at the end. Fucking marvelous... and 'Take Me!', well, it's the same principle for for a magnificent nine minutes and it's so great, I could air drum along to this stuff all day if my skinny insect arms would allow for it!

Any fans?

Kennedy - The Wedding Present (Audio Only)

The WEDDING PRESENT - 'Take Me!' - 1989

[Phil_A]

Faust - Krautrock. One chord - 11 minutes. Bliss.

Faust - Krautrock

The first Polyphonic Spree album ended with "A Long Day", a weird cut and paste vocal loop which lasts for 36 minutes. I used to hate it, but it's the only track I ever listen to on the album now. After a few minutes it becomes completely hypnotic.

http://www.we7.com/song/The-Polyphonic-Spree/A-Long-Day?m=0

[Serge]

Faust - Krautrock. One chord - 11 minutes. Bliss.

Oh yes. See also 'It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl' from 'So Far'. Only about 7 minutes long, and does end with a sudden sax solo, but otherwise, fits this thread perfectly.

[noembed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRxvQmTTz5I[/noembed]

[NoSleep]

Wot? No "The 900 Number" as yet? Here you are:

45 King - The 900 Number

[another Mr. Lizard]

Ah, you can't beat a long, repetitive outro that just ploughs its own furrow for as long as it takes. There's something comforting about a chord sequence that keeps coming back to its starting point and going round again and again and....

I've long wished that New Order's 'Lonesome Tonight' (b-side of the 'Thieves Like Us' 12") was available in an extended version - I could seriously listen to that rumbling bass outro for ever.

In more challenging vein, there's a Foetus b-side that endlessly repeats the same three note sequence, loudly and punishingly, until you are battered into submission. Can't remember which single it is on but will investigate later when I've got access to my record collection.

[another Mr. Lizard]

The Wedding Present. I am SO HOOKED on their love of repetition.

Yep, surprisingly the Weddoes are ideally suited for this thread. Surely their best example of the form is 'This Boy Can Wait', a thrilling indie jangle which turns into repetition heaven in its latter stages. It's no wonder that they once covered 'Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family'...


My all-time favourite album, The Fall's 'Hex Enduction Hour', merits a mention here too for the glorious agony of the closing track 'And This Day'.

[Petey Pate]

Wot? No "The 900 Number" as yet? Here you are:

45 King - The 900 Number

As sourced from Marva Whitney:

Marva Whitney - Unwind Yourself

[NoSleep]

Well, I never knew that.

[xxxx xxx x xxx]

My all-time favourite album, The Fall's 'Hex Enduction Hour', merits a mention here too for the glorious agony of the closing track 'And This Day'.

I'm sure I've read somewhere (can't remember where) that it was edited down from a 45-minute version.  If it's true I need to hear that before I die.

[Beep Cleep Chimney]

Listening to Sheets of Easter again, I was reminded of perhaps my all-time favourite French House track. The similarities are incredible, right down to the 'bridge' section.

ROULE 303 Alan Braxe Vertigo TB's Virgo Edit B

That's a belter.

Speaking of repetitive dance music, I have one that I think qualifies.....

This one's nowhere near as long as some of the other tracks that have been mentioned but, when the 18-year-old me heard 'Sputnik Sunday' by Sapiano on Pete Tong's Essential Selection back in 1993, i thought it was insane.  Managed to get it on 12" at my local indie dance record shop.

It still makes me smile to this day. 

It's repetitive in that it's pretty much all the same note all the way through, but when it gets to the 3'50" mark, it goes absolutely nuts,  I've never actually heard this played in a club, but I'd like to think it'd blow the roof off.  Listening to it via YouTube on laptop speakers doesn't really do it justice but turned up loud on decent headphones should do the trick.

Sapiano - Sputnik Sunday

[Famous Mortimer]

Just jamming to "In C" by Terry Riley. Damn! Give it a go for 42 minutes of very slight variations on a theme.

[Bingo Fury]

In more challenging vein, there's a Foetus b-side that endlessly repeats the same three note sequence, loudly and punishingly, until you are battered into submission. Can't remember which single it is on but will investigate later when I've got access to my record collection.

Does it go DAN DAN DAN!! DAN DAN DAN!! DAN DAN DAN!! like a steroid-stoked Alan Partridge? I think it's one of the B-sides from Motorslug. (Went through a brief Foetus phase in the 80s.)

[easytarget]

So, I'm listening to The Wedding Present's 'Bizarro' at a really high volume because it's fucking wicked

Any fans?

The WEDDING PRESENT - 'Take Me!' - 1989

Take Me! is magnificent, the first few times I heard it (on one of the John Peel sessions CDs) I didn't even notice that it was over eight minutes long, it just sounds right. I'm not sure it's all that repetitive, well it's the same riff over and over but there's another guitar on top doing what sounds like a mathematical exploration of all of the different combinations of accompanying riffs. It's glorious.

Obviously The Fall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rU-1gFKPmo&feature=player_embedded
play that gorgeous bass riff over and over for the whole song.


Anyone familiar with this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0wDo3pQ7MQ
Beat Happening – Godsend.
I think it qualifies.

[goldrush almighty]

Scuzzy, hypnotic and downright filthy electro-drone courtesy of Jimi Tenor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVNrIchvH50

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I don't think listeners of minimal techno need a grounding in dance music necessarily- like every sub-genre it requires a way in; a component of the track that has appealled in a different context. If you have that, you can get anyone to listen to it.

[Famous Mortimer]

Finally replaced my Oneida collection and am marvelling at how brilliant their music is. I had "Preteen Weaponry" on while I was doing the dishes earlier on and it rules.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Just to add more support to the Terry Riley - In C steam train. Genuinely inspiring interesting record that goes through moments of irritation to utter enjoyment. Its all about harmonies.