Les Yeux Fermes & Lifespan

Terry Riley

Though he is known primarily as a classical music figure, avant-garde composer Terry Riley has made important contributions to pop music through his breakthroughs in the concept of minimalism. Riley's repetitive figures and use of loops and delay had a major influence on several strains of experimental pop music, including '70s Krautrock, drone, electronica, and the ambient styles of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. Far from a complete pop outsider, Riley collaborated with John Cale for 1971's CHURCH OF ANTHRAX, and in his later years he formed a successful creative partnership with the Kronos Quartet.