In reference to the work (mostly self-released at this point) of one Tyondai Braxton. Braxton's primary instrument is electric guitar, and accordnig to his bio-discography, he has played with such household names as Glenn Branca, Alan Sparhawk, Jim O'Rourke and John Zorn.
What does his music sound like? Well, according to Tyondai's own website: "His solo music consists of building 'orchestrated loops' with voice, guitar and found objects in real time and manipulating them with guitar pedals, in essence creating a self-contained ensemble." You can hear a sample of his music at Epitonic. The track is entitled "The Violent Light Through Falling Shards". I suppose the obvious touchstones here are Jeff Parker, Terry Riley, and metal once it has been sucked down the wormhole of the avant-garde -- Sunn 0))), e.g. Not surprisingly, however, Braxton fils evinces a rather different, constructivist bent; check out the way this particular performance builds itself.
eai-fu. Tantra-fu. Ghost Trance-fu. No breasts. Joe Bob says check it out.
Posted by joe on April 28, 2004 7:27 AMI suppose the obvious touchstones here are Jeff Parker, Terry Riley, and metal once it has been sucked down the wormhole of the avant-garde -- Sunn 0))), e.g.
I actually heard more avant-rock stuff in there; touches of Kid A, or a possible answer to the question "What if Autechre had a guitarist?" Not bad, but not great, either, and maybe it's just my personal biases, but it gets a lot better when the guitar gets heavy in the last 60-90 seconds of the piece. Before that, a little too jittery for my taste.
Posted by: phil at April 28, 2004 8:26 AM"But it gets a lot better when the guitar gets heavy in the last 60-90 seconds of the piece."
Phil -- my feelings exactly.
Posted by: Joe at April 28, 2004 8:32 AMBeen meaning to listen to Tyondai for quite a while now but hadn't until the sample referenced above. My first reaction was: Sounds a bit like Arnold Dreyblatt. The second portion's guitars sound like classic Beefheart, played over a very Branca-esque undercurrent. The end...maybe a little in Caspar Brotzmann space. Enjoyable enough overall, though.
Posted by: Brian at April 28, 2004 9:47 AMAgreed. Just so-so. If you take away the silly pulse track, it reminded me of some Nels Cline/Devin Sarno duets.
Posted by: Jason at April 28, 2004 9:57 AMI agree both that the cut is enjoyable and nothing special--but I have to say that I don't care as much for the last couple of minutes, where he attempts to go choral and "BIG." I actually think it goes downhill after the first 4 minutes or so. But I like jittery, so WTHDIK?
Posted by: walto at April 28, 2004 11:59 AMInterestingly enough, although he downplays his parentage -- and more power to him I say -- Tyondai has collaborated with some of his father's collaborators (many of them connected to Wesleyan University). He appears on bagpipe improvisor Matthew Welch's 2002 Leo release CEOL NUA.
Posted by: Joe Milazzo at April 28, 2004 2:19 PMi wasn't aware that tyondai had any self-released material in circulation. might have to try to track some of those down. he's got a nice record on JMZ (that sample track comes from there) and a split on narnack with jmz labelmates parts and labor. i found the first cd slightly narrow, with most of the songs too heavily focused on looping voice and guitar through a bunch of effects petals and distortion. on the split, he moves more into song form a little. i prefer his work on the split, though i'm not so fond of the band parts and labor.
i missed him on tour last fall. and: i don't think that's the john zorn you're thinking of that he has worked with. jonathan zorn is another person entirely...
m
Posted by: mark at May 4, 2004 7:05 AMMark -- you know, I had wondered about that, but then got sloppy. Now I cannot seem to (re-)locate any mention of Zorn at the sites I consulted in putting this little notice together. And Braxton's collaboration with this individual:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/music/braxton/zorn/
makes better sense.
Posted by: Joe at May 4, 2004 7:27 AMTyondai Braxton is also a member of the band BATTLES, along with Ian Williams ( of STORM AND STRESS and formerly of DON CABALLERO),John Stanier (formerly of HELMET) and Dave Konopka (formerly of LYNX).
bttls.com
monitorrecords.com/battles
Tyondai Braxton is also a member of the band BATTLES, along with Ian Williams ( of STORM AND STRESS and formerly of DON CABALLERO),John Stanier (formerly of HELMET) and Dave Konopka (formerly of LYNX).
bttls.com
monitorrecords.com/battles
I've heard great things about Battles, but haven't heard them myself. I went to a gig to see one of my favorite current rock groups, Upsilon Acrux, last year and Tyondai Braxton had a solo set on the bill, so I was definitely excited to see what he was up to. Allow me to summarize my feelings about the music by saying that the only reason I stayed and watched for about five minutes is the fact his father is one of my biggest inspirations in life and this sheer superficial human dimension—like noticing the shared facial features or whatever—was enough to hold my interest for that long. Otherwise I would've walked out after two minutes because I thought the music was pointless rubbish. I have no patience for stiff electronic looping with stiff drum machine beats. It was amateurish bedroom loop-and-jam detritus as far as I was concerned, the kind of stuff probably hundreds of kids around the world do all the time. The technology is very accessible. Maybe it built up to something later, but I'd rather spend my listening time on things that reward continuously. I can imagine his stuff working in a full band context though, so I'm curious to hear Battles sometime.
two cents, chink.
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