Audio CD review:
John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Takehisa Kosugi, George Maciunas, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, Nicolas Slonimsky, James Tenney, Christian Wolff - SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century

John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Takehisa Kosugi, George Maciunas, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, Nicolas Slonimsky, James Tenney, Christian Wolff - SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century

Band: John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Takehisa Kosugi, George Maciunas, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, Nicolas Slonimsky, James Tenney, Christian Wolff Title: SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century Rating: Release Date: 16 November, 1999 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Edges (Christian Wolf) 2: Six (John Cage) 3: Six for New Time For Sonic Youth (Pauline Oilveros) 4: + - (Takehisa Kosugi) 5: Voice Piece For Soprano (Yoko Ono) 6: Pendulum Music (Steve Reich) 7: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion (James Tenney) 8: Six (John Cage) 9: Burdocks (Christian Wolff) 10: Four (John Cage) 11: Piano Piece #13 (George Maciunas) 12: Piece Enfantine (Nicolas Enfantine) 13: Treatise (Cornelius Cardew)

Editoral Review The group has chosen composers whose works leave a great amount of innovation open to the performer. Wildly influential four-piece Sonic Youth have self-released their version of a tribute to the 20th century: two discs of noisy interpretations of modern, experimental classical scores. This chance-embracing approach--typified and in some senses originated by John Cage--is one of the crucial turning points of "new" music. What's great about this CD is that it demonstrates the freewheeling, decidedly unserious spirit behind this music, essentially combining the legacies of punk rock and out-sound. In addition to three late works by the chance-loving Cage, there are pieces by current Merce Cunningham collaborator Takehisa Kosugi, minimalist giant Steve Reich, "deep-listening" drone lover Pauline Oliveros, and Fluxus founder George Maciunas. Longtime collaborator Wharton Tiers, the young everything-ist Jim O'Rourke, and even some of the composers themselves join in on these exercises. The result is messy, fun, and anarchic, with occasional revelations (notably James Tenney's "Having Never Written a Note for Percussion"). It's not a disc to play all the time, but it is a challenging, enthused record that ideally will point listeners toward some of the most vital music of the last half of the last decade of the second millennium. --Mike McGonigal .. You can see a complete list of all John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Takehisa Kosugi, George Maciunas, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, Nicolas Slonimsky, James Tenney, Christian Wolff discography, or go back to the John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Takehisa Kosugi, George Maciunas, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich, Nicolas Slonimsky, James Tenney, Christian Wolff tabs