{"id":888,"date":"2014-02-13T11:59:54","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T16:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=888"},"modified":"2014-02-20T08:54:14","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T13:54:14","slug":"glenn-branca-lesson-no-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/glenn-branca-lesson-no-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Glenn Branca <br>Lesson No. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/glenn_branca-lesson_no_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-889\" alt=\"Glenn Branca, Lesson No. 1\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/glenn_branca-lesson_no_1.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/glenn_branca-lesson_no_1.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/glenn_branca-lesson_no_1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>It\u2019s not an exaggeration to say that the pioneering work of guitarist and composer Glenn Branca has, in a sense, become so enmeshed in today\u2019s musical landscape that it\u2019s almost impossible to judge the extent of his influence. At the very least, he played a pivotal role in the seminal No Wave scene in late-70s\/early-80s New York, both as a member of Theoretical Girls and in his recruitment of musicians\u2014such as Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth and Michael Gira of Swans\u2014to help bring his compositions to life. Branca\u2019s visionary use of his chosen instrument formed a foundation for much of the experimental guitar music that followed. With this in mind, it\u2019s fortunate that Superior Viaduct has reissued <i>Lesson No. 1, <\/i>Branca\u2019s first release under his own name. Significantly, this is the first time the record, which was originally released by 99 Records in 1980, has been reissued on vinyl.<\/p>\n<p>For those more familiar with Branca\u2019s symphonies, which often utilized virtual armies of guitars, the line-up of musicians Branca assembled for <i>Lesson No. 1<\/i> might come as a surprise. The record\u2019s first track, \u201cLesson No. 1 For Electric Guitar,\u201d is performed by a standard rock quintet: Branca and Michael Gross on guitars, augmented by Anthony Coleman on organ, F.L. Schroder on bass and Stephan Wischerth on drums. The track begins with a sharp, hypnotic guitar note pattern that establishes the piece\u2019s central theme before a droning guitar begins to hover somewhere below. After a few minutes, the bass and drums add a slightly nervous urgency that propels the song to loftier heights. There are definite hints of Krautrock here, but \u201cLesson\u201d veers toward territory that feels rawer, while at the same time generating a bright, even ecstatic mood. It\u2019s an inspiring piece of music and a hell of an opening statement by Branca.<\/p>\n<p>On the second side of the record is \u201cDissonance,\u201d a composition that lives up to its billing. Featuring a similar line-up to \u201cLesson No. 1,\u201d with only Branca playing guitar and Harry Spitz stepping in with a sledgehammer, \u201cDissonance\u201d achieves drastically different results. Chiming guitars flit about like bats, the drums and bass sporadically fire industrial rhythms, and that sledgehammer literally pounds out spastic blasts of noise. Before too long, it all comes together, with the disparate elements somehow making perfect sense as they strike their various grooves. It\u2019s a true experimental music tour de force and a template for various strains of noise music that followed.<\/p>\n<p>Not found on the original version of <i>Lesson No. 1<\/i> but appearing on the reissue is \u201cBad Smells,\u201d a 1982 Branca composition commissioned by choreographer Twyler Tharp. Featuring an expanded line-up, including five guitarists, this piece serves as a sort of bridge between <i>Lesson No. 1<\/i> and Branca\u2019s later works. It also occupies a middle place between \u201cLesson No. 1 For Electric Guitar\u201d and \u201cDissonance,\u201d capturing both the light of the former and the darkness of the latter. Guitars appear all over the sonic spectrum here, wailing in the distance like ghosts, pounding out crashing percussive blasts, shooting fireworks above the rhythm section\u2019s driving steam engine, and doing so much more during the track\u2019s 16\u00bd minutes. Between \u201cBad Smells\u201d and the release\u2019s two original tracks, this double 12-inch record set is an essential Rosetta stone for anyone interested in No Wave and its offshoots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s not an exaggeration to say that the pioneering work of guitarist and composer Glenn Branca has, in a sense, become so enmeshed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[372,1444,373],"class_list":["post-888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-past-perfect","tag-glenn-branca","tag-past-perfect","tag-superior-viaduct-records"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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