For followers of the fertile New York City scene circa 1977-1983 thatspawned the avant-punk-funk-dance-jazz meltdowns of the so-calledNo-Wave and Mutant Disco genres, there could be no better news than theresurrection of the classic Ze Records label, and the accompanyingreissue program. Having already released a clutch of fantastically rareand sought-after albums from Was (Not Was) and Lizzy Mercier Descloux,Ze recently unveiled four superior reissues of James Chance/White'sclassic LPs, adding bonus tracks of rare material and reproducing theoriginal artwork and liner notes. Together with recent reissues andcareer-spanning discs from DNA, Mars, Glenn Branca and the TheoreticalGirls, my No Wave cup truly runneth over. Most of this materialappeared on Tiger Style's recent Irresistable Impulsebox, but there's something more satisfying about having replicas of theoriginal packaging, each album kept to its own disc. The only advantageof the Tiger Style set was the inclusion of 1982's Sax Maniacalbum, which tanked on Warner back in its day. However, if you'vetracked down this LP as I have, you would probably agree that thismaterial is far from essential. 1979's Buy is inarguablyessential, however, the first full-length LP from The Contortions aftertheir appearance on Brian Eno's epoch-defining No New Yorkcompilation. Their lopsided funk energy is in full swing on this set ofstudio material, all dissonant melodies, lurching rhythms and jaggedbleats of saxophone, together with Chance's bratty, nihilistic vocaloutbursts. The rolling basslines and urgent drumbeats suggest dancemusic, but the material is so aggressively irregular that it begs forsome kind of interpretive spastic acrobatics, an imperative made clearin the lyrics for the Contortions' most well-known song: "It's betterthan pleasure, hurts more than pain/I've got what it takes to drive youinsane/Now is the time to lose all control, contort your body and twistyour soul...Once you take out all the garbage that's in yourbrain/Forget about your future and just go insane." Chance slows downthe tempo a bit with the intriguiging noir-jazz stylings of"Anasthetic," imparting the dark sense of claustrophobia experienced innarrow metropolitan alleyways. Bonus tracks come in the form of threesuperlative early live cuts, including one particularly angular coverof Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock," which Chance introduces in histrademark confrontational style: "And now a little something for allthose of you who live in the past, and that's about 99 percent of youidiots out there." Read More
