When Michael Gordon’s Timber, scored for six amplified wooden 2-by-4s, premiered in 2009, it brought the physicality and endurance of percussion performance to a new level. In the liner notes for Slagwerk Den Haag’s recording of the piece, released on Cantaloupe Music in 2011, Gordon described a connection to the work of shamanist author Carlos Castaneda, whose self-imposed spirit journey in the desert could wipe the brain clean and “bring on visions.”
Newly recorded by Mantra Percussion and reworked by an A-list of producers and DJs, Gordon’s deep exploration into the extreme possibilities of rhythm gets the full electronic treatment on Timber Remixed. Featuring the studio touches of Squarepusher, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tim Hecker, Hauschka, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ikue Mori, and many more, the double-CD set also includes Mantra’s live performance of Timber from the 2014 Bang on a Can Marathon.
