[Savage Clone]

Throat cancer, too soon at just 69 years old. This is a big one.

From his wife Reg, also an incredible musician:

Glenn Branca passed away in his sleep last night from Throat Cancer.

I feel grateful to have been able to live and work with such an amazing source of ideas and creativity for the past 18 1/2 years. His musical output was a fraction of the ideas he had in a given day. His influence on the music world is incalculable.

Despite his gruff exterior, he was a deeply caring and fiercely loyal man. We lived in our own little world together. I love him so much. I’m absolutely devastated.

He lived a very full life and had no regrets. Thank you to all the fans and all of the musicians whose support made that possible.

As per his wishes, there will not be a formal memorial service.

My upcoming schedule will proceed as planned.

[Severian]

Just learned about this. Fucking sad. He was of the pantheon. Not sure what else to say.

[Savage Clone]

There are roots and there are branches. His was a mighty root indeed.

[radarmaker]

Fuck.

[Toilet & Bowels]

Sad news indeed

[noisereductions]

Damn. RIP.

[!@#$%!]

oh fuck!

[The Soup Nazi]

 

Absolutely motherfucking brutal.


Lee Ranaldo, John Lurie, Cedric Bixler & more artists pay tribute to Glenn Branca

More: https://news.google.com/gn/news/stor...us&hl=en&gl=US

[The Soup Nazi]

From Confessions Of A Vinyl Junkie, aka David Bowie's Favorite Albums (Vanity Fair, 2003):

THE ASCENSION

GLENN BRANCA
(1981, 99Records)

Bought in Zurich, Switzerland. This was an impulse buy. The cover got me. Robert Longo produced what is essentially the best cover art of the 80s (and beyond, some would say). Mysterious in the religious sense, Renaissance angst dressed in Mugler. And on the inside ... Well, what at first sounds like dissonance is soon assimilated as a play on the possibilities of overtones from massed guitars. Not Minimalism, exactly—unlike La Monte Young and his work within the harmonic system, Branca uses the overtones produced by the vibration of a guitar string. Amplified and reproduced by many guitars simultaneously, you have an effect akin to the drone of Tibetan Buddhist monks but much, much, much louder. Two key players in Branca’s band were future composer David Rosenbloom (the terrific Souls of Chaos, 1984) and Lee Ranaldo, founding figure with Thurston Moore of the great Sonic Youth. Over the years, Branca got even louder and more complex than this, but here on the title track his manifesto is already complete.

[Savage Clone]

Maximalism.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

Maximalism.

Which is why John Cage called his music "fascist", I guess...

[greenlight]

sad news. rip.

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

An absolute genius of electric guitar. Such a loss.

Lee Ranaldo did a painting today in Perú, and dedicated it to Glenn Branca.

[hirsute_biped]

RIP; Ascend, Ascend, Ascend!

[Genteel Death]

One of the greats. RIP

[tesla69]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

There are roots and there are branches. His was a mighty root indeed.

I'm listening now to my recording of the 100 guitar orchestra at the World Trade Center Plaza in 2001 (13 Jun 01). Its just as massive now as it was then. I don't remember much about the show itself other than it was awe-inspiring and wondrous, not words we use too often for counter culture. I got to see him play at Lit (28 May 04) playing with TonoBungay when he used the double armed guitar! Lit was kind of the exact opposite of WTC Plaza - a classic tiny, dripping, narrow, coke addled cellar under a bar in Manhattan. The guitar had necks at opposing sides and it kind of appeared like he was desperately trying to extricate himself away from the guitar as he tried to balance/play the 2 necks at the same time. he kind of fell over into the amp at one point...

His 200 guitar show in NYC was cancelled due to a tornado sighting
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/a...ic/26herm.html

[Toilet & Bowels]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Which is why John Cage called his music "fascist", I guess...

John Cage was a bit of a twat though

[Sheriff Rhys Chatham]

Really bummed by this one. To think how differently the underground music scene would be if he hadn't lived, massive influence. It had been quite a few years since going through his catalog, monstrous sounds.

[_tunic_]

sad news indeed. Not music I listen to very often, but coincidentally last week I completely out of the blue was wondering what he was up to these days and found no new news on his site over the last year or so.


Saw him live twice with his band, once in Paris once in Amsterdam. Both times was a phenomenal experience. Also had a ticket for another concert in Paris when he played with 100 guitars, but in the end didn't make it due to work conflicts.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

John Cage was a bit of a twat though

He could be, yeah. Anyway, on David Todd's excellent 2012 book Feeding Back: Conversations with Alternative Guitarists from Proto-Punk to Post-Rock there's an ESSENTIAL interview with Glenn Branca. Brief key sample: after being asked to define minimalism, which he FULLY indentifies with, Branca goes on a long, fascinating appraisal of the style and his own take on it, and then says:

I've come closer to describing it, actually, in the last minute and a half than I've done in any interview that I can think of.

Buy it!