Alan Licht | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 6, 1968 |
| Genres | Avant-garde, noise rock, pop |
| Instrument(s) | guitar |
| Years active | 1991-current |
Alan Licht (born June 6, 1968) is an American guitarist and composer, whose work combines elements of pop, noise, free jazz and minimalism. He is also a writer and journalist.
Licht was born in New Jersey in 1968. His earliest musical influences, in the 1970s, were mainstream rock bands like the Bee Gees and Wings —he remarks in an interview with Paris Transatlantic magazine that 'What made me want to play guitar was that painting of Wings in concert in the gatefold of Wings Over America. It looked so exciting... I wanted to be part of it.' Later, in school, he listened to punk and no wave bands like Mission of Burma, Hüsker Dü and Sonic Youth. However, his musical trajectory was set when his guitar teacher gave him a copy of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, which would lead to his discovery of other minimalist music. Licht majored in Film Studies at Vassar College in New York. Since the 1980s, he has worked and recorded with the bands Love Child, Run On and The Pacific Ocean and with other avant-garde musicians including Jim O'Rourke, Rudolph Grey, and Loren Mazzacane Connors. He has also recorded several solo albums. [1] Alan participated as drummer 42 in the Boredoms 77 Boadrum performance which occurred on July 7, 2007, at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, New York.
Licht's music draws on a wide range of different styles, from tape-loops, to noisy guitar (sometimes using a prepared instrument), to pure pop music. [2]
Licht is also a music journalist and writer on minimalist music, [3] and in 2000, he published his first book, An Emotional Memoir of Martha Quinn. [4] In 2007 Rizzoli published his book Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories. In 2021 his book Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020 was published by Blank Forms Edition.
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Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City and formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold was a member from 2006 to 2011.
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Sharon Cheslow is an American musician, composer, artist, writer, photographer, educator, and archivist. In 1981, she formed Chalk Circle, Washington, D.C.'s first all-female punk band. She has since become an accomplished artist who works between different mediums, mostly sound-based.
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Run On were an American art rock band based in New York City, formed in 1993. The group originally consisted of Rick Brown, Sue Garner and Alan Licht. This line-up recorded the single Days Away and released it on Ajax in 1994. The EP On/Off was issued through Matador in 1995 and according to Licht a vast improvement over the band's previous effort. Newgarden was replaced by Katie Gentile after the release of Run On's debut album. No Way, released in 1997, found the band exploring acid rock and Indian music territories while remaining rooted in classic rock.
Last Night on Earth is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock musician Lee Ranaldo, released on October 7, 2013 on Matador Records. Recorded over a nine-month period at Echo Canyon West in Hoboken, New Jersey, the album features Ranaldo's backing band The Dust which comprises former Sonic Youth bandmate Steve Shelley, guitarist Alan Licht and bassist Tim Lüntzel. In addition to studio recordings, Last Night on Earth incorporates field recordings of Ranaldo in Berlin, Germany and Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy.
Record Without a Cover is an album by artist Christian Marclay. It was released in 1985 by Recycled Records. An improvised sound collage, the album was sold as an LP record with no cover or protective packaging, such that the damage from shipping, storing, and playing the record becomes a part of the work.
Graffiti Composition is an album by Christian Marclay. It began as a street installation in 1996 before being converted into a score and recorded. The album was released by Dog W/A Bone on August 17, 2010.
Electric Trim is the twelfth studio album by American musician Lee Ranaldo, the former Sonic Youth guitarist, released on September 15, 2017, on Mute Records, marking his first solo album to be released on the label. The album was produced by Ranaldo along with Spanish musician Raül Refree. The album features several musicians, including Sharon Van Etten, Steve Shelley, Alan Licht, and Nels Cline.
