Minimalist composition built on repeating phrases and written onto a desolate folk landscape. Accordions, slide guitars, and banjos mingle with the voices of ghosts and history.

14 MP3 Songs
CLASSICAL: Contemporary, FOLK: Modern Folk



Details:
A note on the composition:

I have always been interested in "minimalism" in music--in strictly abstract terms. Nevertheless, it was very late that I came to classical minimalism. When I did it was as if I had discovered a gold mine. The amazing, hypnotic, and very MUSICAL work of Steve Reich I found particularly interesting, as I did the work of Terry Riley.

Of course, playing instruments like banjos and accordions, my own version of minimalism turned out somewhat different. After a few shorter experimentations with the general minimalist form, I decided to try my hand at a longer, deeper minimalist experiment. And so, "Exodust."

The central loops were recorded by me at home and then fed through my computer. I utilized Sonic Foundry's excellent program ACID to assemble the piece and then utilized many pieces from the Library of Congress collection of dust bowl-era refugees--their songs and their stories. These provided the connective tissue, giving the piece its focus and its title.