Glenn Branca was a Harrisburg-born, New York–based composer who built symphonies out of massed, detuned electric guitars, treating the instrument as a source of overtones and controlled noise rather than riffs. His early solo work, especially the no wave milestone Lesson No. 1 (1980), directly shaped the guitar language of downtown-scene disciples like Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore, who passed through his guitar ensembles before forming their own band.

the sound in question

1980

Lesson No. 1Glenn Branca