[Moshe]

http://www.thisaremusic.com/mix-tape...no-wave-primer


Mix Tape: No Wave Primer

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
There are a lot of bands, artists, and genres out there that the average person wouldn’t be caught dead listening to (for me it’s Italodisco, but to each his own). For even the most ardent supporter of acts like Throbbing Gristle or even Merzbow, no wave might be such a genre. Even the name itself, positioned as a direct affront to new wave, is a hint at the confrontational nature of the music at hand.
Origin

Manhattan is a happening place, no doubt about it. More than a few artistic (and anti-establishment) movements had their start there, including Fluxus and punk rock, the two obvious touchstones for no wave’s beginnings. While the original wave of punk bands didn’t have a very unified sound, most made enough concessions to commerciality to make it onto major labels and the coke habits that came along with that (the Heartbreakers, the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads). But a few stood out more than others. Suicide was one such band. It’s hard to front on Suicide – obvious rock and roll influences like Eddie Cochran, Gene Pitney, and leather jackets in a deathmatch against droning organs and synths, all put together in a package built for confrontation. It was the rockist version of Throbbing Gristle, and while perhaps not as inspirational to as wide a range of people, definitely ranking high in cool points.More bands were inspired to use keyboards thanks to them, even as punk made its way to England and California, bringing with it a new traditionalist stance that seemed to thoroughly oppose the use of instrumentation other than 3 guitar chords. Gradually, the nihilistic stance and anti-establishment creativity of punk began to attract avant-gardists as much as teenagers and junkies; more keyboards, saxophones, and atonal experimentation began to creep into the downtown scene. The scene came to a head with Brian Eno’s compilation No New York, which featured some of the key bands. Today’s mix tape is something like an extension of that. Read on:
Rhys Chatham. You could call it the ultimate in punk rock meets avant-garde: Chatham was LaMonte Young’s piano tuner. But, like so many others, the punk rock of the Ramones got him interested. His works for guitar, part punk rock and part highly orchestrated compositions, paved the way for his later electric-guitar-as-classical-instrument compositions, as well as Glenn Branca’s 100-guitar orchestras. The list of musicians who got their start playing guitars with Chatham is a no wave who’s who: Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Glenn Branca, Michael Gira…
Rhys Chatham: Guitar Trio sample

 

Glenn Branca/Theoretical Girls. In addition to playing in the Guitar Trio, Branca formed a band called Theoretical Girls with Jeff Lohn in 1977. In the context of their scene, Theoretical Girls could almost be called accessible. Not as melodic as Suicide but not nearly as atonal as Mars or any of Lydia Lunch’s bands, they perfected a hard driving, rhythmic sound with recognizable guitar riffs rather than squalling noise. And rather than being nihilistic, they were often tongue-in-cheek. Theoretical Girls are one of my favorite bands, no wave or otherwise, and a lot of fun to listen to (as opposed to a lot of work). This is their “theme song,” whose lyrics consist mostly of “One, Two, Three, Four.”
Theoretical Girls: Theoretical Girls
Lydia Lunch/Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Lydia Lunch had the distinction of fronting two of the scene’s most noted bands, but most importantly her first, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Known for incredibly short, ridiculously aggressive live performances, the 16-year-old Lunch was artistically many years advanced over some of her peers. You might call her one of the first riot grrls as well, although I don’t think her notions of sexuality compare well to someone like Kathleen Hannah. While brilliant, she can’t take full credit for the Jerks – saxophonist James Chance went on to form the equally awesome Contortions. In 1979 Lydia Lunch formed a new band, 8-Eyed Spy with Jim Sclavunos (later a Bad Seed). Through her work with people like Jim Thirwell (Foetus), she became one of the architects of America’s industrial scene. Her discography is currently 6 miles long.
8-Eyed Spy: You Twist, I Shout
James Chance and the Contortions. A band also featured on No New York, the Contortions were notable for being the most obviously influenced by jazz – probably thanks to being led by a sax player. Chance, in addition to being a founder of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, formed a billion other bands: James White and the Blacks, The Flaming Demonics, James Chance and Les Contorsions.
James Chance and the Contortions: My Infatuation
Mars. The lifespan of Mars is closer to that of a moth than a band. By the time No New York actually came out, they were on the breakup trail. Not a musician in the bunch, they’re probably also the culmination of the scratchy, trebly, confrontational and challenging sound of this group of musicians. You can find all their stuff on 78+, which has been partially remastered/remixed by Jim Thirwell.
Mars: 3-E

 

DNA. This band was a jumping-off point for some of its members, but also a great band that typified the No Wave sound. Originally comprised of guitar (American-born, Brazilian-raised Arto Lindsay), keyboards (Robin/R.L. Crutchfield), and drums (mostly non-drummer Ikue Mori), they later picked up a bass player when Crutchfield left. Their name came from a song by Mars, and coincidentally, no wave revivalists Blonde Redhead took their name from a DNA song. Their sound is pretty unique even in this crew: Lindsay’s skronking style was more like Chance’s sax than any guitar playing, and the drums were tom-heavy with less funk influence than other No New Yorkers. Arto Lindsay has gone on to do numerous things with people like John Zorn, and Robin Crutchfield formed the minimal synth-pop outfit Dark Day.
DNA: Blonde Red Head
Dark Day: Arp’s Carpet
Sonic Youth. They probably don’t need much introduction. Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo played under Chatham and Branca before striking out on their own during the middle years of the scene. They took the abuse of guitars to a near-academic level and in the process refined their sound over time to something that earned them commercial success.
SWANS. Another member of the Guitar Orchestra, Michael Gira started his own band with a bass given to him by Rhys Chatham. His goal? The total abolition of all melody, and the construction of the most cathartic sound possible. Two musicians simultaneously played bass and used volume pedals to power tape decks filled with dark sound loops. Add onto that slude-tempoed drums, washes of noisy guitar, and gutturally screamed vocals, and you have one of the more unique bands of the quasi-movement. True, they came later than most, and so could be seen as an evolution, but probably were just plain unique. They continued on through phases of industrial rock, folky acoustic music, and dark ambient electronic before breaking up in 1998. Gira now runs a label (Young God) and fronts a folky band, Angels of Light.
SWANS: Half Life
That hardly hits everyone– the side projects of Contortions members alone could fill a website, and there were bands like Au Pairs and Bush Tetras making a more post-punk sound while crossing into the scene. But hopefully that covers some of the more important cats skronking and screaming during the late 70s/early 80s in the wake of punk.
Legacy

Avant-garde musicians don’t get old the way pop stars do– sometimes they mellow out but they never quite lose that crazed edge. Rhys Chatham orchestrates pieces for hundreds of guitars, Glenn Branca writes “traditional” classical music, Michael Gira discovered Devendra Banhart, Lydia Lunch collaborates with positively everyone, and Sonic Youth continue to sell records.But just as much as those guys keep going, their style and their scene moved on and progressed as well. You can hear the influence in newer bands such as Blonde Redhead, God Is My Co-Pilot, and plenty of others.

[whorefrost]

'nother good one here courtesy of Optimo

[maggot brain]

Interesting read. I never knew James Chance was in Teenage Jesus...