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SXSW panel: Thurston Moore and Steve Reich
Although Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore might have more name recognition, minimalist composition maestro Steve Reich did the majority of postulating and theorizing during their hour-long discussion Thursday at the Convention Center.
While Moore played the role of interviewer, Reich explained how he began his career experimenting and manipulating analog tape recordings.
One of the few comic moments of the mostly academic discussion emerged as Reich explained how he created his own pair of stereo headphones during the mono-oriented early ’60s.
“Do you still have those?” Moore asked.
“No,” Reich answered adamantly. Then he turned toward the audience and said in a matter-of-fact aside: “This guy is (trying) to buy me out!”
Reich also revealed that the bassline from Junior Walker’s “Shotgun” was a turning point in his compositions. “It is a tune that said ‘stay put’ harmonically and it created a whole different kind of musical energy,” Reich said.
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