aworks :: "new" american classical music

Symphony No. 10 (1994). Glenn Branca /the anti-kdfc/

Although listening to music is a fundamental part of my life, I don't think I particularly use it to manage my mood.

Case in point: after a long working day, I'm enjoying, if that's the right word,  Glenn Branca's Symphony No. 10 -- in particular, the second movement "The Horror." Intense and to use Mark Chan's terminology, messy.

Still, I suspect the work from yesterday's post serves as a better introduction to Brancology.

As always, none of this is recommended for KDFC classical listeners (NSFK).

Symphony No. 10 (The Mystery P...

Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar (1980). Glenn Branca /surging ambiguous optimism/

Freaky Trigger has a series of posts blogging comments on all the entries in the recently published book The Pitchfork 500. That book lists the 500 essential songs from 1977 to 2006.

Here's the comment re: Glenn Branca's Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar:

The Branca records I know (Ascension and another one of the Symphonies) are soupier and scarier than this, which doesn’t just anticipate noise-rock like the write-up says but also 00s big-music trance indie: that moment when the bass and drums come in is pure Arcade Fire – except better, for my money, more universal in its surging ambiguous optimism. 

The Pitchfork 500 has some other good pop selections e.g. Deacon Blues by Steely Dan:

The all-star California session players to which the Dan were accustomed (including Lee Ritenour and Bernard "Pretty" Purdie) bring as lush a gloss to the lyrics, making the song poignant even though you know better.

On the other hand, the entry on the Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds makes no mention of the guitar sample from Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint.

Other entries of note: Radiohead's Idioteque including a mention of composer Paul Lansky and Tortoise's Gamera when that group had the jazz guitarist Jeff Parker.

There's also a selection by Aphex Twin in the book but after being rear-ended on 101 last spring while listening to Aphex Twin, I have in fact developed a strong aversion to that music so I won't even  mention it.

Coincidentally, tonight on the commute home I listened to an electronic cover version by In One Ear Out The Analogue of Idioteque. And the drive was fine if a bit rainy.

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lala: steely dan - deacon blues. in one ear out the analogue - idioteque. radiohead - idioteque. steve reich - electric counterpoint. the orb - little fluffy clouds (live). jeff parker - like-coping. glenn branca - lesson no. 1 for electric guitar.

Indeterminate Activity Of Resultant Masses (1981). Glenn Branca /anti-silence/

SF's Aquarius Records has a short review and stream (scroll down) of Glenn Branca's 10 guitar Indeterminate Activity Of Resultant Masses. This is the performance from 1982 where John Cage was in attendance and the CD includes Wim Mertens interviewing John Cage where the composer expresses his strong dislike for the experience. A generation gap between Cage and Branca? An aesthetic gap? A political gap?

The reviewer also prefers to listen to Cage talk rather than to listen to Cage's music. While the man was a genius, his music can be quite good as well.

Past and current Sonic Youth'ers Lee Ronaldo and Thurston Moore play on the Branca recording. If I squint, this music, at least the clip of it, reminds me of the disparate sounds and pulse of In C. From the Dusted review:

What makes Branca’s composition so genius is that while it often feels like pure chaos, there is precise structure to what each guitarist is doing so that each individual chord figures into the mass in a very proscribed way. In a way, he’s taking ideas from Penderecki and Ligeti and applying them to electric guitars.

That review also make the observation about a generation gap and quotes Cage as saying the music of Branca (and Laurie Anderson) won't be heard in ten years. Well no, as we fortunately listen to the music of all three (especially Laurie Anderson's Cunningham Stories, from the John Cage Tribute album). Nonetheless, I enjoy hearing composers comment on the music of other composers, with Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson the most articulate examples.

Cujo at KFJC says Cage in the interview had "world-artist-weary" insight and also reviews the Branca piece:

10 guitars and some drums & tympani in a slowly oozing rhythmic sludge. Think Dreyblatt without the math (though this well predates Dreyblatt) with a hefty dose of metallic Lucier resonance. Nice.

glenn branca has a blog on new york times select but my online media budget is tapped out so no idea what he is saying. are these the first "elitist" blogs?