Table of Elements
2006
Die Donnergotter
About This Album
Though he studied under teachers from the avant-garde and electronic tradition such as Morton Subotnik, Rhys Chatham came into this own when he combined those influences with the activity occurring in the late '70s New York City punk and art rock scene as represented by the Ramones, Television, and Peter Gordon's Love of Life Orchestra. Still, the clear immediate antecedent to works like the title track here is the music of Glenn Branca. Both shared an obsession with massed electric guitars and the overtones generated when those instruments are subjected to various tunings and played in unison. Moreover, both tended to underpin the guitar sound with steady, even heavy-handed rock drumming, anchoring the music firmly to the earth. That being said, Die Donnergotter compares favorably with Branca's best work and has certain qualities, including a sunny melodic character and an absence of overt classical structure, generally foreign to Branca's oeuvre. It opens with a sustained fanfare then plunges headlong into an irresistible groove, the melodic leads repeating and varying almost always in crescendo mode, only to momentarily subside into a calmer, funky shuffle before roaring into action once again.
Track List (try tracks 2,3 and 4)

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