Riley's Rainbow

Released as a vinyl album in 1969, A Rainbow In Curved Air by Terry Riley was a cult hit with those whose normal listening might have encompassed the lengthy psychedlic jams and meanderings of such as the Grateful Dead and the Quicksilver Messenger Service and it came out of the same Californian ambience. It also had a lasting influence on rock musicians of the more adventurous ( pretentious ? )kind. But fewer of the listeners at that time, amongst whom I include myself, were aware of the founding father status of Riley within the minimalist movement. What set Riley apart and on this album in particular, was his status as composer / performer. The title track features him playing electric organ, electric harpsichord, a hydrid christened a rocksichord, and percussion. Not a synthesiser in sight but it presaged many of the synth experiments that were soon to follow. The piece has an irresistable forward momentum that never completely loses control and is in fact meticulously put together. The companion work on the disk, Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band, is a piece for soprano saxophone and electric organ and incorporates a Coltranesque sax style with oriental and middle eastern modes and drones. Whereas Rainbow powers forward relentlessly, Poppy just seems to emerge and hang around in a timeless static fashion before taking its' leave. Enough time has now passed for this to be called a timeless album.