POST NO. 18: CONTORT YRSELF

I'm late to the James Chance fan club. As far as no wave artists are concerned, James Chance & the Contortions -- who also went by James White & the Blacks -- had the NYC scene by the balls in 1979. His hybrid of James Brown, John Zorn, Pere Ubu, and free-jazz skronk was truly a thing to behold. Chance's stylings predate Jon Spencer's similar schtick, and hence should make James Chance & the Contortions of interest to fans of the Blues Explosion.

Continuing with the theme of records that I snagged at the garage sale, I picked up The Contortions debut Buy in its original pressing on the ZE Records label. It's heads and tales better than the Contortions live album, Lost Chance, that I picked up last year. You can hardly tell a difference in Chance's delivery from record to live setting; he's an uncontrollable urge in each case. But, I prefer the more song-oriented Buy to the less-structured live recording. It's definitely recommended listening for anyone into modern bands like The Watchers, Erase Errata, the Ex Models, and the like.

James Chance & the Contortions - "Contort Yourself"

For a more general overview of the no wave scene circa 1980, click here. For a compilation from ZE Records from the era, see this. The "definitive" no-wave comp (produced by Brian Eno), No New York, can still be found, too. ZE has also reissued Buy on CD.