Library Rock's Backpages

No Wave

81 articles

James Chance & the Contortions, DNA, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Nobody Waved Goodbye: Bands At Artists Space

Report by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, July 1978

"He's in love with a rock 'n'roll world..." — 'Janie Jones', The Clash ...

Lydia Lunch, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Teenage Jesus and the Jerks: Out To Lunch

Interview by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, July 1978

A Dialogue between Roy Trakin and Lydia Lunch of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks ...

James Chance & the Contortions, DNA, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Contortions, Teenage Jesus And The Jerks, Mars, D.N.A.: No New York (Antilles AN 7067 — US import).

Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978

Manhattan cocktail ...

James Chance & the Contortions, DNA, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: The Contortions, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Mars, D.N.A.: No New York (Antilles AN 7067)****

Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 2 December 1978

Terminal weirdness... ...

James Chance & the Contortions, DNA, Brian Eno, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Various Artists: No New York (Antilles Import)

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 16 December 1978

I WAS wearing headphones. My teeth were aching again, and the lump behind my left ear was still as bad as ever. All 16 of ...

James Chance, James White and The Blacks: Q: Why Interview James Chance? A: Because He's There

Interview by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, January 1979

Roy Trakin (Who Really Wants to Know) Talks to James Chance (Who Isn't Telling) ...

James Chance & the Contortions, DNA, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Various Artists: No New York (Antilles)

Review by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, January 1979

GETTING TO NO YOU: NO NEW YORK ON RECORD ...

James Chance & the Contortions, Cristina, DNA, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: No New York

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 17 February 1979

PETE SILVERTON meets the second generation of New York new wave bands... TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS, THE CONTORTIONS, DNA and other assorted weirdos ...

James Chance & the Contortions, James White and The Blacks: The Contortions, James White & the Blacks, Reasons, Information: Club 57, New York NY

Live Review by Tim Page, New York Rocker, April 1979

THE CLUB 57 is located in the Irving Plaza, an aging downtown vaudeville hall that manages to combine the worst features of a European grand ...

James Chance & the Contortions, DNA, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Various Artists: No New York (Antilles)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, April 1979

WELCOME TO the unwave. I haven't heard so much ferociously avant-garde and aggressively ugly music since Albert Ayler puked all over my brain back in ...

James Chance, James White and The Blacks: James White and The Blacks: Off White (ZE)

Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 23 June 1979

JAMES CHANCE, alias James White, leader of The Contortions aka The Blacks, has been making something of a name for himself this past year or ...

James Chance, James White and The Blacks: James White and the Reds

Interview by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 23 June 1979

A comparative study (sort of) of aggressive American nihilism and French anarchists with beer cans. IAN PENMAN adjudicates on matters moral and philosophical. ...

Theoretical Girls: Jeffrey Lohn: Thoughts of a Theoretical Girl

Interview by Tim Page, New York Rocker, July 1979

"GOD, I HATE fashion! It destroys everything!" We're sitting in the Spring Street Bar, Jeffrey Lohn and I, on a polluted spring day. The boomtown ...

James Chance, James White and The Blacks: James Chance: Contortions Crack Up

Interview by Tim Page, New York Rocker, August 1979

"Sick of being on the losing end/Tired of playing the obliging friend..." ...

James Chance & the Contortions, Chumps (Washington DC): James Chance & the Contortions, Chumps: d.c. space, Washington DC

Live Review by Joe Sasfy, The Washington Post, 6 November 1979

D.C.'s METROPOLITAN Arts and Music Association has begun to fill an important void in the local music scene by bringing some of the more artistically ...

James Chance: The Contortions: Buy — The Contortions (ZE ZEA 33-002. U.S. import)

Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 5 January 1980

Let's twist ourselves ...

James Chance & the Contortions: The Contortions: Buy The Contortions (Ze Records)

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 5 January 1980

LIGHTBULBS FLASH dutifully o'er our heads, signifying but an insufficient brightness. We go sleepily about our business. Flashbulbs slash daily at our eyes, fulfilling narcissism. ...

James Chance, James White and The Blacks: The Contortions: Buy The Contortions (Ze); James White And The Blacks: Off White (Ze)

Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, February 1980

SOME DAYS it's fun being a real Midwesterner trying to make it in the art rackets; the powers on the good-taste-is-timely Coasts already have you ...

Iggy Pop, James Chance, Lydia Lunch: Lydia Lunch: Queen of Siam; The Contortions: Buy the Contortions (Both Ze); Iggy Pop: Soldier (Arista)

Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1980

AMERICA TODAY: the old and the new. Play these in a row... ...

James Chance, Defunkt, The Raybeats, James White and The Blacks: Defunkt, the Raybeats, James Chance: Funky, Punky and Chic

Report and Interview by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 15 March 1980

The Raybeats and Joe Bowie's Defunkt are working on New York's newest fusion: a post-No Wave music in which James Chance's punk meets George Clinton's ...

8-Eyed Spy, Albert Ayler, James Chance & the Contortions, Miles Davis: Free Jazz/Punk Rock

Essay by Lester Bangs, Musician, April 1980

IN A New York City nightclub, a skinny little Caucasian whose waterfall hairstyle and set of snout and lips make him look like a sullen ...

8-Eyed Spy, Lydia Lunch, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Way Out West With 8-Eyed Spy

Report by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, May 1980

IF LYDIA LUNCH'S Queen Of Siam hadn't come out when it did, I'd probably still be freezin' my butt off in Ketchum, Idaho, a town ...

James "Blood" Ulmer: James Blood Ulmer: 9:30 Club, Washington DC

Live Review by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 28 July 1980

WHEN JAMES "Blood" Ulmer and his three fellow musicians climbed onto the 9:30 club's stage Saturday night, the electricity plugged itself into the musicians. Guitarist ...

The Bongos, Bush Tetras, The dB's, The Fleshtones, Material, The Revelons, Secret Rocker: Greetings from NYC: My Week As A Worm In The Big Apple

Report by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 6 September 1980

AS LUCK would have it, my plane ticket to New York City's JFK Airport is open and coincides with the two major jawing topics obsessing ...

James Chance & the Contortions: Sons and Daughters of No New York — James Chance & the Contortions: Live Aux Bains Douches (Invisible Records)

Review by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1980

LAST MAY, James Chance left New York for Paris, France — and he hasn't returned yet. The feisty funk merchant was accompanied by guitarist Patrick ...

Bush Tetras: Sons and Daughters of No New York: Bush Tetras

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1980

PAT PLACE: Guitar. Age 26. Born and raised in Chicago. Arrived in New York in 1975. "I was a visual art student... I came here ...

DNA: Sons and Daughters of No New York: DNA

Interview by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, October 1980

THE MOST exciting aspect of the No New York album was the clean break it made, once and for all, with '60s rock. While the ...

The Raybeats: Sons and Daughters of No New York: The Raybeats

Profile and Interview by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, October 1980

THE TRADITION of white instrumental rock in America is not a particularly strong one. Indeed, most of the young 'uns I know consider the white ...

8-Eyed Spy, James Chance & the Contortions, The Raybeats: Eight Eyed Spy: George Scott (1953-1980)

Obituary by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, 8 October 1980

ON AUGUST 6, N.Y. Rocker received the following press release from Bob Singerman, the booking agent and acting manager of Eight Eyed Spy: ...

8-Eyed Spy: Sons and Daughters of No New York: Eight Eyed Spy

Report by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, 8 October 1980

THE DEATH of George Scott seems almost certain to precipitate the breakup of Eight Eyed Spy. Scott wasn't just a highly individual, perhaps irreplaceable instrumentalist; ...

The Raybeats: Danceteria, New York NY

Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 11 October 1980

Smooth surfers of the dance floor ...

Bush Tetras: The Bush Tetras: Outsiders in a Sexual Jungle

Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 8 November 1980

Meet the Bush Tetras They're a New York rhythm and paranoia band. ...

James Chance: James White & the Contortions: Second Chance (PVC)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 1981

IT ALL depends how deranged you are to start with. James Chance – née White, née Black – makes impossibly futile, dead music, fit only ...

Bush Tetras, James Chance & the Contortions: Why the Big Apple Lacks Real Bite

Report by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 7 February 1981

London's rock scene is fizzing, but New York's has turned flat. Mary Harron reports ...

Bush Tetras: Taking Liberties from New York, Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 28 February 1981

BUSH TETRAS will be a New York legend. They steal/save/ARE the show. They pile disorientating meditative repetition upon sparse improvisation upon tangled rhythms upon inscrutable ...

Material: When Is A Band Not A Band?

Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 4 April 1981

When it's Material, who are sort of several New York bands who are always sort of coming and going in all sorts of wonderful ways. ...

Defunkt, James White and The Blacks: Defunkt: Jazz-Punk-Funk

Interview by Steve Bloom, Downbeat, June 1981

THE PURPLE tights and checkered t-shirt crowd knows for sure. They meet to the beat every night in sundry rock clubs, discharging a generationful of ...

The Bongos, Bush Tetras, Our Daughter's Wedding, The Outsets, Pylon: The New Independents

Overview by Van Gosse, Musician, June 1981

A pot pourri of personal insights into the galaxy of artist-centered independent labels, including a sample (sampler?) of the latest bumper crop. ...

James Chance: Save The Last Chance For Me!

Interview by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 20 June 1981

Sax and drugs and contorted soul – Ian Penman meets his hero in another instalment of conversations with James Chance. London 1981. ...

Was (Not Was): Was (Not Was) (ZE ILPS 7015)

Review by Betty Page, Sounds, 27 June 1981

Funk up (no funk up) ...

8-Eyed Spy, Lydia Lunch: Lydia Lunch: Out To Lydia

Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 15 August 1981

Richard Grabel lays on the red carpet treatment for his Lunch date ...

Lydia Lunch & 13.13: O.N. Klub, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, September 1981

THE O.N. KLUB, at the very far end of the entertainment turf strung along Sunset Boulevard, has the feel of a biker's bar gone cool ...

James Blood Ulmer: Blood in the Grooves

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1981

1. A LOT OF different people are going to like Free-Lancing, the new album by James Blood Ulmer. ...

8-Eyed Spy, James Chance & the Contortions: James Chance & the Contortions: Live In New York (ROIR cassette); 8-Eyed Spy: Live (ROIR cassette)

Review by Roy Trakin, Musician, October 1981

LISTEN TO the cacaphonous cutting edge of no wave punk-jazz in the privacy of your very own SONY walk-man. Be-bop down the street snapping yer ...

Dog Eat Dog (no wave), Konk, Liquid Liquid: Liquid Liquid, Konk, Dog Eat Dog: Beat • Sound • Motion

Profile and Interview by David A. Keeps, New York Rocker, October 1981

SOMETHING DECIDEDLY hep is alive in the cellar. ...

The Raybeats: Raybeats rock with a twist

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 16 October 1981

INSTRUMENTAL ROCK 'n' roll? ...

Sonic Youth: The State of New York

Overview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, November 1981

TO ANYONE who's been reading this magazine even semi-regularly for the past year, it should be obvious that there's something very wrong with the current ...

James Chance & the Contortions, Ornette Coleman, Defunkt, Ronald Shannon Jackson, The Lounge Lizards, James Blood Ulmer: Will Punk Jazz Replace The Sounds Of Funk?

Overview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 15 November 1981

PUNK JAZZ? It's hard to imagine a more unlikely musical combination. Punk rock favors short, fast songs and disparages musical technique in favor of "anyone-can-do-it" ...

Liquid Liquid, V: Streets, Boston MA

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 4 December 1981

Liquid Liquid runs wild in Boston debut ...

Lydia Lunch: Venue, London

Live Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 5 December 1981

The Lunch that made me sick ...

Glenn Branca: The Ascension (99 Records 990011p — Import)*****

Review by Ralph Traitor, Sounds, 2 January 1982

GLENN BRANCA has accomplished with this debut release what others often strive in vain for over many years, that is, to catch the listener entirely ...

The Raybeats Go On

Interview by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 21 January 1982

IT REMINDS you of a movie. Doris Day goes, by accident of course, probably after a fight with Rock Hudson, to a party. In the ...

8-Eyed Spy: 8 Eyed Spy: 8 Eyed Spy (Fetish FR2003)

Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, March 1982

"IT WAS FUN while it lasted," Pat Irwin (now a Raybeat) sighs in the liner notes to this catch-all retrospective of live and studio tracks. ...

Bush Tetras: Beatin' Around The Bush

Report and Interview by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 18 March 1982

PRIMITIVES ...

James White and The Blacks: Danceteria, New York NY

Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 24 April 1982

FLINGING THE FUNK IN YOUR FACE ...

8-Eyed Spy, Bad Brains, James Chance & the Contortions, The Dictators, The Germs, New York Dolls, The Stimulators, Suicide: Traditional Discs: Is It R.I.P. FOR R.P.M.?

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 1982

IS THE phonograph record on its deathbed? Neil Cooper, who runs a record company that doesn't sell records, thinks so. "Within five years, vinyl will ...

James Chance & the Contortions, The Dictators, New York Dolls: Cassette rock comes on with a "Roar"

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 27 May 1982

IN THE competitive record business, how can a company that releases dated rock 'n' roll and aims well below the top of the pops prosper? ...

Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 16 October 1982

God's a Creole – No Kidding! ...

Adele Bertei: Vortex — The Motion Picture Soundtrack (Neutral)

Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 29 January 1983

NOIR HEAT ...

James "Blood" Ulmer: James Blood Ulmer: Jonathan Swift's, Cambridge MA

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 11 February 1983

Blood Ulmer lets his guitar do the talking ...

Nick Cave, Exene Cervenka, Lydia Lunch: Lydia Lunch: Listen with Lydia

Interview by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 18 June 1983

Settle back in your couch and listen to Lydia Lunch — former New York No Wave sewer queen, would-be agony aunt, chanteuse, the Bette Midler ...

James White and The Blacks: James White: James White's Flaming Demonics (ZE)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 10 September 1983

A PALER SHADE OF WHITE ...

Kid Creole & The Coconuts: City Hall, Newcastle

Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 17 September 1983

A KICK IN THE NUTS ...

Cristina: Uptown Girl

Profile and Interview by Paul Rambali, The Face, July 1984

How can one so rich, talented and beautiful be so weary of life? ...

Lizzy Mercier Descloux: Lizzy Mercier Descloux (CBS)

Review by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 1 September 1984

LIZ — BACK AND BOUNCY ...

Richard Hell, Robert Quine, Lou Reed: Robert Quine: Newark's Reverent Iconoclast

Interview by Gene Santoro, Guitar Player, January 1986

"YOU'VE GOT to hear this," insists Robert Quine, as he finds what he's looking for on a wall full of shelves sprouting thousands of records. ...

Swans: Ugliest Ducklings

Profile by Byron Coley, L.A. Weekly, 9 January 1986

The Swans' concept of rock & roll ain't pretty. ...

Lydia Lunch: Daddy's Girl

Interview by Jack Barron, Sounds, 7 June 1986

Defender of the Filth. Talking dirty or sex therapy? JACK BARRON gets his beret unscrewed by New York's first lady of sleaze, LYDIA LUNCH. ...

Lydia Lunch: ULU, London

Live Review by Julian Henry, Music Week, 18 January 1988

Lunch Punch ...

Melvin Gibbs, Power Tools, Sonny Sharrock: Sonny Sharrock & Melvin Gibbs: New York Is Now

Profile and Interview by Mark Sinker, The Wire, March 1990

Guitar and bass tune up for the next wave of sonic assault, from Blind Willie's blues to M-BASE and beyond. Our man behind the amps ...

James Chance & the Contortions: James Chance: Middle East, Cambridge

Review and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 15 September 1995

CAMBRIDGE – James Chance, Milwaukee born 'n' bred, as well as musically educated, tried to fit in when he moved to New York City in ...

Lester Bangs: Loud Bangs and Bestial Noises

Essay by Mark Sinker, The Wire, September 2001

In the 20 years since Lester Bangs wrote his 'Reasonable Guide to Horrible Noise', the multi-mediated world has largely assimilated the hostile sounds he espoused. ...

Lydia Lunch: My Life As A Work In Progress

Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 7 October 2008

Alex Ogg sets the tape running and stands back in awed silence as New York no wave shit-kicker Lydia Lunch reflects on life as a ...

Lydia Lunch, Sonic Youth: No Wave: Histories Along The Bowery

Interview by Olly Beck, Garageland, 30 November 2008

The New York No Wave Movement: More Punk than Punk. Olly Beck talks to Thurston Moore ...

Beirut Slump, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Teenage Jesus and the Jerks/Beirut Slump: Shut Up And Bleed (Cherry Red)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, February 2009

THIS COMPREHENSIVE collection of Teenage Jesus And The Jerks recordings features 'Orphans' and 'Less Of Me', both sides of their debut single for Charles Ball’s ...

The Feelies, The Golden Palominos: Anton Fier Profiled (1988): A new career in a new town

Profile by Graham Reid, Elsewhere, 7 June 2010

ANTON FIER was, until recently, a star without a bank account — or manager come to that — and yet at the nucleus of the ...

James Chance: Bow To The Devilish Prince: James Chance Interviewed

Interview by Zoë Street Howe, The Quietus, 7 July 2010

Zoë Street Howe talks to James Chance about his new retrospective collection Twist Your Soul and his relationships with James Brown and Lydia Lunch. ...

James Chance & the Contortions: James Chance: Twist Your Soul – The Definitive Collection

Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, August 2010

Two-disc retrospective of scabrous No Wave figure’s searing jazz-punk contortions. ...

James Chance & the Contortions: James Chance: Twist Your Soul – The Definitive Collection

Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, 2 August 2010

Two-disc retrospective of scabrous No Wave figure's searing jazz-punk contortions. ...

James Chance & the Contortions: Hello Goodbye: James Chance & the Contortions

Interview by Mike Barnes, MOJO, February 2013

Start: punk jazzers picked for their looks. End: the boss alienated them ail... ...

James Chance & the Contortions: Downtown icon James Chance cuts loose

Live Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 16 November 2016

IT WAS WELL after midnight last Thursday by the time James Chance and the Contortions took the stage of the Bowery Electric. Dapper in his ...

back to LIBRARY

COPYRIGHT NOTICE