‘Timber!’ is what lumberjacks yell to alert colleagues that a tree is falling. But there’s no need to run away from this two-disc set built around Michael Gordon’s 2009 percussion work of the same name (minus the exclamation point). On one disc is the work’s original version, scored for six amplified simantras (also known as 2x4s); the other holds 12 remixes of the piece by electronic artists.

You might justifiably wonder whether a 50-minute piece for planks of wood can hold our attention, but Gordon has never been at a loss to provide and sustain musical interest. The composer, one of the founders of the Bang on a Can Festival, is a master of rhythmic interweaving and timbral (get it?) subtlety. In the original Timber, he alters patterns to spellbinding effect, taking advantage of the different lengths of wood to achieve a spectrum of delicate and vibrant sonorities. The live performance here by the wizardly members of Mantra Percussion has a visceral impact that will keep you glued to wherever you’re listening.

The remixes add all sorts of electronic effects – from choral layers and drones to variations on rhythms and textures – to complement and comment on Gordon’s urgent sensibility. Each track offers something new and often compelling, finding inventive ways to alter the original material while celebrating its finely graded personality.

The two discs differ not only in terms of genre but also in scale. The remixes are modest portions to be consumed separately. The live original is like an extended, non-stop meal. Both are worthy of appetising consideration.