Digging Up Bones
Steve Reich
It’s Gonna Rain (Part II)
(1965 – Nonesuch Records)

In a recent discussion about Steve Reich on NPR, it was said that the aim of this Pulitzer Prize winning minimalist is not to hypnotize, but to sensitize. (I’m paraphrasing.) The idea is for the audience to actively listen: focus on phrase repetition and the subtle changes that sneak up, consume, and recreate the soundscape. Then repeat.

In It’s Gonna Rain (Part II) Reich is literally just beginning to explore this philosophy. While repetition, change, and rebirth are in ample supply, we don’t have to wait for things to get going. Immediately, the wrath of God rains down from the mouth of a Christ-possessed, hysteric. (This voice, street noise, and tape rumble are the only instruments used in the recording.) Amid this Pentecostal outburst, Noah closes the gate on his ark, the flood begins, and the unbelievers pound at the gate until their knuckles bleed.

And that’s just the first 40 seconds.

Reich, around that 40-second mark, begins an arresting cut-and-splice sequence that turns the preacher’s words (Glory to God-God/Had been sealed/Couldn’t open the door/Lord-Lord) into a compositional anchor. Rhythm and phrase emerge, as this cut-up loops. But soon enough the tape machines—all two of them—fall out of sync and conjure up reverb, echo, and a choir from hell. Eventually, nothing recognizable remains of the street preacher. A vengeful God has cleansed the Earth, this time with fire, and all fades into oblivion.

Most fascinating, if not most insightful, is that today DJs, producers, and musicians pay large sums of money for boxes with buttons that do this very thing.

Steve Reich It’s Gonna Rain NPR Discussion

JH