No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and roll clichés, no wave musicians instead experimented with noise, dissonance, and atonality, as well as non-rock genres like free jazz, funk, and disco. The scene often reflected an abrasive, confrontational, and nihilistic world view.
Glenn Branca was an American avant-garde composer, guitarist, and luthier. Known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series, he was a driving force behind the genres of no wave, totalism and noise rock. Branca received a 2009 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moore was ranked 34th in Rolling Stone's 2004 edition of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Noise rock is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extreme levels of distortion through the use of electric guitars and, less frequently, electronic instrumentation, either to provide percussive sounds or to contribute to the overall arrangement.
Downtown music is a subdivision of American music, closely related to experimental music, which developed in downtown Manhattan in the 1960s.
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential American no wave band, based in New York City, who formed part of the city's no wave movement.
No New York is a No Wave compilation album released in 1978 by record label Antilles under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contains songs by four different artists, it has been considered important in defining and documenting the scene and movement, with the name "no wave" being influenced by that of the album according to some accounts.
Sonic Youth is the debut EP by American rock band Sonic Youth. It was recorded between December 1981 and January 1982 and released in March 1982 by Glenn Branca's Neutral label. It is the only recording featuring the early Sonic Youth lineup with Richard Edson on drums. Sonic Youth differs stylistically from the band's later work in its greater incorporation of clean guitars, standard tuning, crisp production and a post-punk style.
Azita Youssefi, is an Iranian-American experimental musician, artist and music teacher based in Chicago. She was originally associated with the Chicago no wave scene, which included bands such as the Scissor Girls, U.S. Maple and Bride of No No.
99 Records was an American independent record label, active from 1980 to 1984. The label was home to musicians in the no wave, post-punk, post-disco, and avant-garde scenes in New York City.
Live Skull is a post-punk/experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1982.
Wharton Tiers is an American audio engineer, record producer, drummer and percussionist.
The Ascension is the debut studio album by American no wave musician Glenn Branca, released in November 1981 by 99 Records. The album experiments with resonances generated by alternate tunings for multiple electric guitars. It sold 10,000 copies and received acclaim from music critics.
Lesson No. 1 is the debut solo EP by American avant-garde musician Glenn Branca. It was released in March 1980 on 99 Records.
Noise Fest was an influential festival of no wave noise music performances curated by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth at the New York City art space White Columns in June 1981. Sonic Youth made their first live appearances at this show.
Post-punk is a broad genre of music that emerged in 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experimental approach that encompassed a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-rock influences. Inspired by punk's energy and do it yourself ethic but determined to break from rock cliches, artists experimented with styles like funk, electronic music, jazz, and dance music; the production techniques of dub and disco; and ideas from art and politics, including critical theory, modernist art, cinema and literature. These communities produced independent record labels, visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines.
Adele Maria Bertei is an American singer, songwriter, writer, and director.
Pat Place is an American artist, photographer, and musician noted for her work as a founding member and guitarist of no wave bands James Chance and the Contortions and Bush Tetras.
Youth in Asia was an American no wave conceptual art noise music band from New York City that was formed in 1978 by Frank Schroder (bass), Taro Suzuki, Steven Harvey and Stephan Wischerth (drums).
Post-no wave is a form of experimental rock music that emerged from, or drew its inspiration from, the no wave scene. It's considered to have arisen after the disintegration of the original scene in 1980, expanding beyond its New York City boundaries. It further differs from no wave by exploring new music genres, making use of modern technology and studio techniques, embracing rock or funk idioms, a greater rhythmic complexity or a tongue-in-cheek nihilistic humor. As a result, post-no wave usually fuses the angular and deconstructive approach of its predecessor with a more song-oriented sound.
