The Daily Spin, April 15
Philip Glass | Koyaanisqatsi
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Koyaanisqatsi (1998)
Artist: Philip Glass
Link:
Philip Glass, most notable as one of the great composers of the late twentieth century, is a force in every regard. His minimalist style has backed notable films, television shows, and cult classics, as it does here with Koyaanisqatsi, the re-release of his first film score, an extension of his 1983 film debut.
I find myself enjoying this - the layered composition, the way patterns slowly build to climax and ease off after hitting the peak scratches an itch I wasn’t fully aware existed, but I also find myself wishing that the album itself was a little more compact. This is most apparent in the last two songs - ‘The Grid’ and ‘Prophecies’, which have highlights in their instrumentation but combined clock in at 34:59. That’s an obscene runtime.
It’s undeniably clear why Glass has received so much praise over his career - each instrument is beautifully aligned to compliment the rest of the ensemble, and his quick hand makes each segment work comfortably with the rest of the arrangement, but the pacing sinks this ship before it ever gets too far out of port.
Rating: 7.4/10
Best Tracks: Resource
Worst Tracks: Birds of a Feather; The Violet Hour