Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

6. Steve ReichMusic For 18 Musicians

I heard this through a journalist, Michael Azerrad, he’s a good guy. We started direct messaging on Facebook or I met him, I don’t know what happened, and he said, "You should listen to this" and then I got it. He said that you’re either going to love it or it’ll feel like you’re getting punished by having water dripped on your head! And I said, "Perfect, I’ll do that!"

It’s incredible; once again, I watched it on YouTube, him performing in Japan, like, "Fuck, really?! You can do this live?!" Also, I just like the atonal thing of it and what they get from composing. It’s very neutral. I actually used it, it’s a total influence, you can totally hear it, on ‘Birthday Video’, it’s on Weeds. I layered a lot of guitars and to my surprise, a lot of these noises start coming through, these sympathetic notes, and I was like, "Wow-whee! This is cool!" Totally taken from him, I hear it plain as day.

I also got his box set, it’s great. He’s always got some kind of concept to it. He wrote one for what it would be like on a train ride to the Holocaust [Different Trains], to reach finality. He’s got all these studies, drums, all sorts of percussion, but …18 Musicians, I love it, I listen to it in my bunk in the bus!

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Colin Newman, Foals, , David Pajo, Lloyd Cole
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