Secret History of Rock. The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard by Roni Sarig
Authors: Roni Sarig
Ads: Link
Elektra Nonesuch, 1989) .
Music in Similar Motion / Music in Fifths (Chatham Square, 1973; Elektra Nonesuch, 1994) .
Music in Twelve Parts 1 & 2 (Elektra Nonesuch 1974; 1996) .
Einstein on the Beach (1976; CBS Masterworks, 1984; Elektra Nonesuch, 1993) .
Dance Nos. 163 (Tomato, 1976) .
North Star (Virgin, 1977) .
Glassworks (CBS, 1982) .
Koyaanisqatsi (Antilles, 1982) .
The Photographer (CBS, 1983) .
Mishima (Elektra Nonesuch, 1985) .
Satyagraha (CBS Masterworks, 1985) .
Songs from Liquid Days (Columbia, 1986) .
The Olympian (Columbia, 1986) .
Akhnaten (CBS Masterworks, 1987) .
Dancepieces (CBS Masterworks, 1987) .
Powaqqatsi (Nonesuch, 1988) .
Mad Rush / Metamorphosis / Wichita Vortex Sutra (CBS Masterworks, 1989) .
(w/ Allen Ginsberg) Hydrogen Jukebox (Elektra Nonesuch, 1993) .
The Low Symphony (Point, 1993) .
Heroes Symphony (Point, 1994) .
La Belle et la Bête (Nonesuch, 1995) .
Symphony No. 2 (Nonesuch, 1998) .
GLENN BRANCA
Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth :
Branca was really interested in John Cage , but he was also completely into the Ramones. Which was heavy: equating this so-called D-U-M-B music with high-minded and intellectual ideas. I was really into that and the people I was playing with came out of that strain... When I first saw him play, it was the most ferocious, incredibly transcendent, rampaging guitar thing I had ever seen. It was uplifting, completely unlike anything I’d ever heard. A lot of it sounded like what I always imagined would be great to play someday, but he was already doing it.
Though the idea of a punk composer sounds strange, a quick glance at the history of classical music proves it inevitable. Composers like George Gershwin once used jazz to capture a contemporary mood in their pieces. And going back as far as composers existed, the “low” folk music of the common people was always primary source material for adaptation and appropriation.
Born in 1948, Glenn Branca was among the first generation raised on rock music. Like many rock musicians, Branca’s main source of training and education came from listening to the radio, and later from working in a record store. By introducing the sonic barrage of electric guitars and noise rock into a formal art-music setting, Glenn Branca has created a place for himself as one of the most vital composers currently active.
As a teenager in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Branca rejected classical guitar lessons and opted to play in rock bands. Initially interested in mainstream rock, his experiences in the late ‘60s, while studying acting at Emerson College in Boston, broadened his perspectives. Exposure to experimental theater revealed new ways to incorporate music into stage pieces and led Branca to the avant-garde work of John Cage and the Fluxus composers, whose music was often theatrical by design. Soon after, he took a job in a record store, where he was exposed to a wide variety of sounds, from ‘70s glitter rock to the 19 th -century Romantic composers. Inspired in equal parts by Roxy Music, Gustav Mahler, and new composers like Philip Glass , Branca made no distinction between high and low music. “As far as I was concerned, what the Who was doing was just as important as what Penderecki was doing,” he says. “But at the same time, Penderecki was no less accessible to me than the Beatles. It was just music that worked for me.”
In 1975, Branca formed his own experimental company, the Bastard Theater, which enabled him to pursue acting, directing, and playwriting, as well as composing and performing his own theater music. When he heard about New York’s downtown art scene, where punk poets like Patti Smith and minimalist composers mingled with the experimental theater world, Branca moved there in 1976. Soon he was hanging around rock clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, and – on a whim – he decided to start his own band. Theoretical Girls featured Branca on guitar, co-songwriters Jeffrey Lohn and Margaret
Music in Similar Motion / Music in Fifths (Chatham Square, 1973; Elektra Nonesuch, 1994) .
Music in Twelve Parts 1 & 2 (Elektra Nonesuch 1974; 1996) .
Einstein on the Beach (1976; CBS Masterworks, 1984; Elektra Nonesuch, 1993) .
Dance Nos. 163 (Tomato, 1976) .
North Star (Virgin, 1977) .
Glassworks (CBS, 1982) .
Koyaanisqatsi (Antilles, 1982) .
The Photographer (CBS, 1983) .
Mishima (Elektra Nonesuch, 1985) .
Satyagraha (CBS Masterworks, 1985) .
Songs from Liquid Days (Columbia, 1986) .
The Olympian (Columbia, 1986) .
Akhnaten (CBS Masterworks, 1987) .
Dancepieces (CBS Masterworks, 1987) .
Powaqqatsi (Nonesuch, 1988) .
Mad Rush / Metamorphosis / Wichita Vortex Sutra (CBS Masterworks, 1989) .
(w/ Allen Ginsberg) Hydrogen Jukebox (Elektra Nonesuch, 1993) .
The Low Symphony (Point, 1993) .
Heroes Symphony (Point, 1994) .
La Belle et la Bête (Nonesuch, 1995) .
Symphony No. 2 (Nonesuch, 1998) .
GLENN BRANCA
Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth :
Branca was really interested in John Cage , but he was also completely into the Ramones. Which was heavy: equating this so-called D-U-M-B music with high-minded and intellectual ideas. I was really into that and the people I was playing with came out of that strain... When I first saw him play, it was the most ferocious, incredibly transcendent, rampaging guitar thing I had ever seen. It was uplifting, completely unlike anything I’d ever heard. A lot of it sounded like what I always imagined would be great to play someday, but he was already doing it.
Though the idea of a punk composer sounds strange, a quick glance at the history of classical music proves it inevitable. Composers like George Gershwin once used jazz to capture a contemporary mood in their pieces. And going back as far as composers existed, the “low” folk music of the common people was always primary source material for adaptation and appropriation.
Born in 1948, Glenn Branca was among the first generation raised on rock music. Like many rock musicians, Branca’s main source of training and education came from listening to the radio, and later from working in a record store. By introducing the sonic barrage of electric guitars and noise rock into a formal art-music setting, Glenn Branca has created a place for himself as one of the most vital composers currently active.
As a teenager in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Branca rejected classical guitar lessons and opted to play in rock bands. Initially interested in mainstream rock, his experiences in the late ‘60s, while studying acting at Emerson College in Boston, broadened his perspectives. Exposure to experimental theater revealed new ways to incorporate music into stage pieces and led Branca to the avant-garde work of John Cage and the Fluxus composers, whose music was often theatrical by design. Soon after, he took a job in a record store, where he was exposed to a wide variety of sounds, from ‘70s glitter rock to the 19 th -century Romantic composers. Inspired in equal parts by Roxy Music, Gustav Mahler, and new composers like Philip Glass , Branca made no distinction between high and low music. “As far as I was concerned, what the Who was doing was just as important as what Penderecki was doing,” he says. “But at the same time, Penderecki was no less accessible to me than the Beatles. It was just music that worked for me.”
In 1975, Branca formed his own experimental company, the Bastard Theater, which enabled him to pursue acting, directing, and playwriting, as well as composing and performing his own theater music. When he heard about New York’s downtown art scene, where punk poets like Patti Smith and minimalist composers mingled with the experimental theater world, Branca moved there in 1976. Soon he was hanging around rock clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, and – on a whim – he decided to start his own band. Theoretical Girls featured Branca on guitar, co-songwriters Jeffrey Lohn and Margaret
Similar Books
