Negativland’s Ian Allen Passes Away at 56

Yesterday (Jan. 21), San Francisco's legendary Negativland announced the terrible news that member Ian Allen had passed away on Jan. 17 at the age of 56.

According to a post on the band's Facebook page, the musician had fallen to "unexpected complications and infections following heart valve replacement surgery at Stanford Hospital in California." Allen's ongoing health issues were what kept him from continuing with the band in 1987, after they released their epic album, 'Escape From Noise.' He was responsible for the band's tape-splicing technique, and the band, who still performs today, recently added Allen's unfinished loop, 'Like Cattle Act,' to their live set. He was an undeniably intricate part of the band's history.

Allen's obituary reads, "For those who knew him, he was a visionary, magical, impish, playful and eccentric thinker, a true genius who was light years ahead of all of us with his ideas about art, sound, society, and technology ... he will be dearly missed."

Diffuser would like to extend our deepest condolences to Allen's bandmates, friends and family.

Listen to Negativland's 'Escape From Noise'