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Terry Riley

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Composer

The Resume

    (June 24, 1935- )
    Born in Colfax, California
    Minimalist composer
    Pioneer in the use of tape loops
    Recorded ‘In C’ (1964), ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air’ (1969), ‘Church of Anthrax’ (with John Cale, 1971), ‘Persian Surgery Dervishes’ (1972), ‘Shri Camel’ (1978), ‘Chanting the Light of Foresight’ (1987), ‘Lazy Afternoon Among the Crocodiles’ (1997), and ‘The Lion’s Throne’ (2019)
    Composed the chamber opera ‘The Saint Adolf Ring’
    Composed thirteen string quartets for the Kronos Quartet

Why he might be annoying:

    He would play solo concerts that started at 10 PM and continued until sunrise.
    Despite being one of the pioneers of minimalism, he disdains the term.
    He titled one of his compositions ‘Giant Hairy Nude Warriors Racing Down the Slope of Battle.’
    The New York Times described him as looking like ‘an avant-garde Gandalf.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was influenced by jazz and classical Indian music.
    He influenced the Velvet Underground, Soft Machine, and Mike Oldfield.
    The Who song ‘Baba O’Riley’ was named after him and guru Meher Baba.
    Excerpts from his album ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air’ were used as background music for the original BBC4 broadcast of Douglas Adams’ ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying