Album review: Adrian Utley's Guitar Orchestra, In C (Invada)

A sequence of 53 variably repeated fragments of music, Terry Riley's minimalist milestone In C is most often performed by ensembles of keyboards and winds, but Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley has here organised a version dominated by guitars. They are used to expose the intricate interplay of lines, and the way that the piece appears to speed up and slow down as the sequence shifts gradually between sparse and busy fragments. It's beautiful in places – the triplet tremors seemingly passed from one guitar to another about five minutes in are a lovely example of the work's planned serendipity – though ultimately the lack of textural variety works against it.

Download: In C