taking sides: glenn branca or rhys chatham?

Well, presumably you were listening on foldback, Sundar, not main PA: sound is ALWAYS sensibly better onstage for stuff like this cuz they do the soundcheck w/o anyone in the hall. The only live thing of Chatham's I saw wz not as good as the only live thing of Branca's I saw, but on record both of them blow. Branca totally ripped Chatham off ideas-wise but is a better showman def.

ps band of susans rock, obviously

pps kyle gann is something of a gimp when it comes to guitar-directed judgment

Prob with Branca and Chatham is the impossibility of re-creating live sound on rec (that old one). 'Der Donnergotter' sounds like The Feelies, for fuck's sake. First Branca symphony (w/T. Moore and L. Ranaldo - available on ROIR recs as a cut-out/'remaindered' cd for ages) not unlike mid-to-late period Swans and GYBE in places. Saw Branca's trio supporting SY recently, but despite terrific volume was not that impressed - fairly standard 'building to large crescendo' noise-rock piece. But would've like to have seen the Branca/Rudolph Grey/Maryanne Aamacher line-up at Tonic a couple of years back - dangerously loud according to legend. Bonus points to Chatham for his appearance on the first recorded version of 'In C' - career highlight?

and Band of Susans didn't blow live, AT ALL, but their records were a bit hit + miss (noticed Phillip Jeck had a BOS alb on one of his turntables in the Toop-curated sound-art exhib - made me smile, anyway).

Prob for *me* with Branca and Chatham is the impossibility of re-creating live sound LIVE! (But I saw them both in the fucking Queen Elizabeth fucking hall = rubbish acoustics from hell WHATEVER the species of music on offer... )

Yeah, I saw the show Sundar was in and I couldn't hear much until I sat RIGHT up close and noticed others using their hands to perform a kind of extendo-ear cupping technique to get more sound.) Plus it was outside in a huge concrete plaza. They should have played at Twilo. Now THAT's loud.

But he's the only one I've heard or seen so Glenn, it's you, you old drunk.

you couldn't hear it was too quiet? i thought you meant you couldn't hear because it was too loud. kyle gann makes even less sense now.

i actually don't have much of a problem with branca's recordings. the first is a little rough but i think the fifth, for example, sounds great (what's wrong with it?). the sixth might be a little bit thin or light or something (is that the problem?) but it can still work wonders for me. i remember the third sounding great as well.

since i think michael gira played in the 1st symphony and gybe members played in this one, it shouldn't be too surprising that swans and gybe might sound a bit like branca at times.

reg seemed cool -- it's too bad to hear that the gb trio aren't great.

heh. my first thought on hearing dd was "u2!" but maybe the feelies would work too.

Rhys Chatham is playing tonight (02/08/07) at the Empty Bottle, if any Chicago people are interested.

"Here, CHATHAM will be presenting a special ‘all star’ version of his GUITAR TRIO project, an ensemble that features a cadre of hand picked local musical luminaries. The group will feature bassist JOSH ABRAMS, guitarist DAVID DANIELL, guitarist ROBERT AA LOWE, guitarist DOUG McCOMBS, drummer JOHN McENTIRE, guitarist JEFF PARKER, guitarist TODD RITTMANN, guitarist ADAM VIDA and guitarist BEN VIDA. Heavy drone duo WHITE / LIGHT will play second and abstract rock trio GOOD STUFF HOUSE will open."

I've actually never even heard anything by him, but he's heavily recommended by my friend, and I enjoy Glenn Branca, so I'm going to go give it a shot.

Wait...first of all, I thought Guitar Trio was a composition, not a band. So, if he's performing Guitar Trio today, how will he do it with 10 people? (and if Guitar Trio is the name of his band, why are there 10 people etc)

Should be interesting, I guess.

I just got back, and it was pretty great. They played 2 versions of the same composition, about 20 minutes long each. They were virtually identical, except that in the first, the drummer (McEntire) restricted himself to only hi-hat, and in the second, he utilized the whole kit.

A friend of mine mentioned that he wished Rhys Chatham was his grandpa, and I couldn't agree more. No offense to my actual grandpa.

saw this in Toronto last week. Thought it was awesome too. totally felt proto-80s Sonic Youth etc..., like the raw material they fed on (whcih I guess it was..)