Sold Date: August 5, 2014
Start Date: July 29, 2014
Final Price: $55.55 (USD)
Bid Count: 11
Seller Feedback: 47
Buyer Feedback: 234

 Glen Branca who performs to this day (currently in an ensemble with 8 guitars, bass and drums) is a legendary figure on the New York (and indeed global) music scene and has been enormously influential. He was initially known for playing in the No Wave acts The Static and The Theoretical Girls (check their wondeous 'US Millie' track if you ever get the chance). He then went on to compose symphonies performed by a 'guitar orchestra' of multiple players. His sound was instrumental in inspiring Sonic Youth and he was a giant in what is known as No Wave. No Wave was a very brief but incredibly creative movement of like minded individuals trying to make music without referencing the rock music of the past, nor having too much concern about their ability to play. In recent years, No Wave has had much more coverage than it ever did at the time with many new bands being inspired by this era. Really, No Wave is a whole other story and defining what is No Wave tends to lead to much confusion. 99 often gets lumped in with No Wave, but bar the Branca and Y Pants releases it's not strictly No Wave at all. Confused?

Branca was a frequent visitor to the 99 shop and would moan to Ed about the lack of independent labels, particularly compared to the UK where there was an explosion of small indies happening. With his music already recorded, Branca persuaded Ed that it would be cheap to release and thus persuaded him to start the label. The line up on this was stripped back to a more or less conventional rock line up (including future Sonic Youth founder member Lee Renaldo) but it sounds anything but conventional. 'Lesson No. 1' sounds huge. A massive drone of guitar with a metronomic beat pulsating underneath. The Branca releases are very different to the rest of the 99 catalogue and a lot of people find them too extreme to listen to, but apart from being important historical documents, they are mighty, mighty slabs of sonic greatness.