Secret History of Rock. The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard by Roni Sarig Read Free Book Online Page B

somewhat from his roots, the Glass Ensemble’s earliest material – such as Music with Changing Parts and Music in Fifths – is quintessential minimalist. By the early ‘70s, the group was playing to small crowds in the United States and Europe, and Glass began releasing work on his own record label, Chatham Square. The ensemble’s format and volume made the music attractive to more adventurous rock fans, and early on musicians such as David Bowie and Brian Eno attended Glass concerts in London, while New York art bands like the Talking Heads became fans as well. Soon, an Eastern, minimalist quality could be heard in these bands’ pop and rock music.
    Brian Eno :
    It was a dense, strong sound, and that really impressed me, the physicality of that sound. There was no attempt to draw your attention by standard musical devices. It was just, here is the sound. Live in it... A lot of people left that show, but it really bowled me over. I thought, Oh God, this is it! This is the future of rock music! [from Option, Nov./Dec. 1997]
    While Glass was developing a reputation in more progressive circles, it wasn’t until 1976 that he broke through in the classical world. With the premiere that year of his first opera, a collaboration with scenarist Robert Wilson called Einstein on the Beach , Glass became a recognized composer uptown as well as downtown (though afterward, he was still forced to make a living driving a cab). Einstein , a four-hour theatrical piece without plot or well-defined characters, is still Glass’s most celebrated work. It took Glass’s music beyond strict minimalism, and laid the groundwork for a new, multimedia art form that would come to be known as performance art.
    Over the next decade, Glass composed other theater works, including operas Satyagraha (based on the life of Gandhi) and Akhnaten , as well as film scores ( Powaqqatsi , Koyaanisqatsi ), dance pieces for choreographer Twyla Tharp, and even soundtracks for events (his music for the torchlighting ceremony at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles introduced his music to millions of television viewers).
    Toby Marks, Banco de Gala:
    I saw Powaqqatsi and I thought, “Wow, amazing.” The way the music and the images marry together in that film is quite something. I was fascinated by the repetitiveness and small changes over time – and running different arpeggios against each other to get constantly shifting patterns – I definitely took something away from that, whether it was consciously or not.
    By the ‘80s, Glass’s reputation had developed to a point where CBS Records offered him a recording contract (the first composer to receive one since Aaron Copland). Subsequent records like Glassworks and Songs for Liquid Days moved Glass closer than ever to becoming an actual pop star. Liquid Days , which featured songwriting collaborations with Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson, Suzanne Vega, and David Byrne, is by design a rock record. In addition, he produced a record for new wave band Polyrock, and lent arrangements to both Simon and Vega on their own records.
    Jim O’Rourke, Gastr del Sol:
    [Glass’s music] was rock and roll to me. Complete headbanging music. People around me were listening to Rush and Metallica; to me that was the stuff that made me pump my fist in the air.
    Glass’s full impact on rock has undoubtedly yet to be felt. Musical styles such as New Age, ambient, and techno have all embraced minimalist concepts in their repetition, slow development, linear structures, and layering of parts. In addition, Glass’s 1995 collaboration with electronica star Aphex Twin connects him to yet another generation of pop explorers. And with his recent trilogy of symphonies based on David Bowie’s late ‘70s work with Brian Eno – Low , Heroes , and Lodger – Glass seems to be once again looking to rock music for inspiration.

    DISCOGRAPHY
    Music with Changing Parts (Chatham Square 1972, Elektra Nonesuch 1994) .
    Solo Music (Shandar, 1972;