Glenn Branca was one of the first and most significant artists to incorporate contemporary classical music concepts -- such as minimalism and microtonality -- into a rock context. A key figure in New York City's no wave movement and downtown scene of the '70s and '80s, Branca's droning pieces for guitar orchestras had a formative impact on numerous young bands of the era, especially Sonic Youth, whose Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore often performed in Branca's ensembles. Branca continued to compose new material into the 21st century, and his seminal no-wave band, the Theoretical Girls, was given the reissue treatment in 2002 on the Acute label. He died in May 2018 at the age of 69.