No New York

Overview

After seeing a series of benefit shows held for the Artist's Space in Soho, producer Brian Eno convinced Island Records to release an anthology album featuring several bands from New York's experimental no wave scene of the late 1970s. He reportedly considered ten groups for the album: the Contortions, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Mars, DNA, Theoretical Girls with Glenn Branca, the Gynecologists with Rudolph Grey, Tone Death with Rhys Chatahm, Boris Police Band, who used police radio calls for vocals, Red Transistor, and Terminal. The final album, however, featured four bands performing four songs each and was released on Antilles, a sub-label of Island. The first band on the album, the Contortions, play dissonant funk-punk that melds Albert Ayler, the Stooges, and James Brown with shouted vocals, slashing guitar solos, open-tuned slide guitar chords, hammered Acetone organ, steady basslines, and soul-influenced drumming. All four of their selections are strong, including "Flip Your Face," which Steve Albini once cited as his all-time favorite song. Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, a group of art and music hangers-on led by songwriter/vocalist Lydia Lunch, is perhaps the least accessible band on the album; the squalling, droning, abrasive way that Lunch and her bandmates put across lyrics such as "personality down the drain/after all who needs a brain" and "the dishes are cracked/the forks are plastic/the food is in cellophane/I puke elastic" makes it unclear if she is baring the darkest corners of her soul or trying to put one over on the audience. Mars creates interesting music out of apparent chaos; the vocals are babbled and the guitars, bass and drums sound like they're weaving in and out of the song while going in several different directions at once, yet the band is oddly compelling in its crazed, cacophonous way. The fourth band, D.N.A., features Arto Lindsay's bluesy vocals and seemingly uncontrolled bursts of guitar, as he rakes his strings and refuses to play conventional chords; the trio, which also includes keyboardist Robin Crutchfield and drummer Ikue Ile, create the most engaging music in the collection other than the opening numbers by the Contortions. Some listeners may be fascinated by the music on No New York while others may find it unbearable; in either case, this seminal album remains the definitive document of New York's no wave movement. ~ Todd Kristel

Product Details

Release Date:	11/15/2005
Label:	Lilith
UPC:	8013252910210

Tracks

1. Dish It Out  - James Chance  -  Chance
2. Flip Your Face  - James Chance  -  Chance
3. Jaded  - James Chance  -  Chance
4. I Can't Stand Myself  - James Brown  -  Chance
5. Teenage Jesus and the Jerks  - Lydia Lunch  -  Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
6. The Closet  - Lydia Lunch  -  Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
7. Red Alert  - Lydia Lunch  -  Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
8. I Woke Up Dreaming  - Lydia Lunch  -  Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
9. I Woke Up Dreaming  -  Mars
10. Mars-  -  Mars
11. Helen Fordsdale  -  Mars
12. Hairwaves  -  Mars
13. Tunnel  -  DNA
14. Puerto Rican Ghost  -  DNA
15. D.N.A.  -  DNA
16. Egomaniac's Kiss  -  DNA
17. Lionel
18. Not Moving
19. Size

Album Credits

Performance Credits

DNA   Primary Artist
Mars   Primary Artist
Teenage Jesus & the Jerks   Primary Artist
Lydia Lunch   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
James Chance & The Contortions   Primary Artist
Jody Harris   Guitar
Pat Place   Slide Guitar
James Chance   Saxophone,Vocals
Robin Crutchfield   Organ,Vocals
Adele Bertei   Organ
Arto Lindsay   Guitar,Vocals
Gordon Stevenson   Bass
Bradley Field   Drums
Mark Cunningham   Bass,Vocals
Nancy Arlen   Drums
Sumner Crane   Guitar,Vocals
Constance "China" Burg   Guitar,Vocals
Ikue Ile   Drums

Technical Credits

Brian Eno   Audio Production,Cover Photo,Producer,Cover Design
James Chance   Group Member,Performer,Composer
James Brown   Composer
James Chance & The Contortions   Performer
Jody Harris   Group Member
Lydia Lunch   Composer,Group Member
Pat Place   Group Member
Rod Hui   Assistant Engineer
Mars   Performer
Kurt Munkasci   Engineer
Teenage Jesus & the Jerks   Performer
Adele Bertei   Group Member
Ikue Ile   Group Member
Arto Lindsay   Group Member
Robin Crutchfield   Group Member
DNA   Performer
Gordon Stevenson   Group Member
Steven Keister   Cover Design
Bradley Field   Group Member
Vishek Woszcyk   Engineer
Mark Cunningham   Group Member
Nancy Arlen   Group Member
Sumner Crane   Group Member
Constance "China" Burg   Group Member