The Difference Is Felt Rather Than Heard

It always pleases me when I find something that’s been around forever that I’ve never really heard of. I properly came across Rhys Chatham in an interview he did with Wire magazine last year - I say properly, because I’d heard his Drastic Classicism in amongst the maelstrom that is New York Noise Vol. 2, but such is the embarrassment of riches that plagues the entire series, I’d kind of missed it. So when he started going on in the interview about tuning pianos in seemingly arcane and mystical ways, knocking about with The Ramones and Sonic Youth, and writing music to be played by hundreds of electric guitars, I thought I’ll have to see what this bloke’s about.

The first challenge was finding something by him. As a rule, I don’t like to talk to people who work in record shops. It’s the classic reason why, and I know I should be better than that, but these people are pros, and I don’t try to compete. So it took a genuinely thorough ferret around the racks before I found Die Donnergotter, a compilation of instrumental pieces recorded between 1977 and 1986.

Prior to 1975, Chatham's output was mainly minimalistic, lengthy experimental stuff such as 1971’s Two Gongs, but after seeing The Ramones at CBGB’s, he started punking it up - that actually meant using electric guitars, a couple more chords than usual, and cutting song length to around 8 minutes, but compared to what went before, it was definitely punking it up.

Guitar Trio is as good an example of this revised approach as any – first put together in 1977, it’s probably his most well known piece. It might not have the unbridled fury and aggression of Drastic Classicism, but it seems to have become a real touchstone for modern music. So many musicians have played Guitar Trio with Chatham who have then gone on to be genuinely creative or influential, it’s almost like a proving ground or graduation ceremony. Even until recently, Guitar Trio has been taken around the world, played with local guitarists wherever it appears.



Rhys Chatham – Guitar Trio


I was going to post Drastic Classicism as well (which you can probably find out there somewhere), but I’ve changed my mind. I mentioned to Cox earlier in the week that I wouldn’t be posting any of Chatham’s longer stuff unless I was feeling particularly pretentious, but I’ve changed my mind. And it’s not because I’m feeling pretentious, but because I want to give a decent idea of what he's about. If punk had an effect on him and it was long lasting, it was in sound and approach, and was always tempered by his classical roots.

Die Donnergotter was recorded in 1986, and whilst you can see the connection with Guitar Trio, it’s more drawn out and certainly not as frantic. It sees a return to the kind of minimalist ideas of repetitive rhythms and playing, leading to almost hypnotic passages that take long minutes to break – but when they do, the single chord change is all the more anticipated and beautiful - it’s almost a test of duration and patience.



Rhys Chatham – Die Donnergotter


In 2005 Chatham performed A Crimson Grail with 400 guitarists in Paris – part of which can be found at Motel De Moka. It possibly signalled the end of 30 years of gradual progression and expansion, as his latest project Essentialist has seen him form a genuine band with just four other musicians, and go back to the beginning. The beauty of A Crimson Grail is undeniable, but it seems to have been as far as it's possible to go – whether it’s the sheer scale, the logistics, the possibilities, the expectation - the next step on from there has completed the circle back to 1975.

Essentialist are due to release an album this year on Table Of The Elements, where you can also find Two Gongs, Die Donnergotter and A Crimson Grail.


Tiny Dancer


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