SLY AND WHO?

If you were going to press me, I don't know if I could properly tell you why I like ESG. Quite honestly, part of the reason is that if you described them on paper, I'd probably not have the slightest interest. Wait. Nevermind. That's how I first heard of them, on paper, pre-pixel paper, an issue of New York Rocker to be exact, way back in the day. I bought their first EP on the strength of a review and didn't exactly go apeshit over it, but over the years I've returned to it, and subsequent ESG records, over and over again because when you want to hear something like ESG, you're not going to find it anywhere else. I wish I could remember what the review said because if I did, I could paraphrase it, but instead all I can come up with is that "nothing sounds like ESG". Pfft.

The best description might be stripped down funk, in the way Sly and Robbie playing together without any additional instruments is stripped down reggae. I saw that once, at a Black Uhuru show, everyone left the stage one by one until it was just the two of them. People were still dancing. Then Sly Dunbar left and it was just Robbie Shakespeare. Musically naked. Bass bones. And people were still dancing. I can see where this is going.

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Listen:
ESG - Erase You mp3 at Atumblr (?)
ESG - Moody mp3 at Ozgood
ESG - Earn It (live) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
ESG - Dance mp3 at Self Titled
ESG - You're No Good mp3 at Nevver Go there to get it

THE FORTY YEAR IDEA

Holy shit, ESG is playing a fortieth anniversary show in NY. Forty years! Now I know that their first records were decades ago, but I've always thought of them as eternally twenty something. The ladies are likely in their sixties now. But you know what? If I was in NY I'd be going. Hell yeah. They own their thing. The stripped down sound.  I was always wondering how they decided to go that route, because their sound really was unique at the time. Today I found out what their intent was. In the blurb about the fortieth anniversary show that was in The New Yorker, the quote from singer Renee Scroggins from a 2013 interview. "When James Brown took it to the bridge, he cut all the horns. It was just that giant bass and the drums, and letting it rip for that instant. So I said 'Man, if you could just take a song and make it just the bridge, wouldn't that be hot!'" Fucking brilliant. That explains everything.

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Listen:
ESG - Moody mp3 at Ozgood
ESG - UFO (streaming) at YouTube
ESG - Dance to the Beat of My Moody mp3 at Different Kitchen
ESG - Insane (bass mix) mp3 at Pod Pod Pod (?)
ESG - Erase You (streaming) at YouTube This one is the shit.

NO SURF

Guess who else did "B-Gas Rickshaw"? The Raybeats, everyone's favorite instrumental no wave supergroup; part Eight Eyed Spy, part Contortions, a brand of severely twisted surf music, heavy on periodically reverb-enhanced guitar, bass bordering on minimalist funk, Farfisa and sax. Some really tweaked shit. Whammy bar doing overtime. Dig "Tight Turn". So entirely badass. Their whole debut LP is like that. Whatever you want to call it, I'm buying in.

Raybeats, the shit. 1980

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Listen:
The Raybeats - Tight Turn (streaming) at YouTube
The Raybeats - B-Gas Rickshaw mp3 (via Box) at gmtPlus9(-15) (?!)
The first LP:
The Raybeats - Guitar Beat (streaming) YouTube Not the greatest sound on this playlist, but there's tons of individual songs at YouTube

THE CONFOUNDING FATHER

Well I'll be damned, guess who's got new product out? James Chance and his latest version of the Contortions. It's been thirty years since his last studio LP and he doesn't seem to have lost a step. To the contrary, it seems like his age finally caught up with his vision. I'm digging this one, which is the only thing I've heard so far. If you're not familiar with him, there's some of his older stuff with the original Contortions at the bottom.

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Listen:
James Chance and the Contortions - Melt Yourself Down (streaming) at Soundcloud Better sound than the video.
Older stuff:
The Contortions - Designed to Kill mp3 at Nonalignment Pact
The Contortions - Contort Yourself mp3 at Why Prime (?)
The Contortions - I Can't Stand Myself (streaming) at YouTube
No New York - Compilation (steaming) at YouTube The Contortions, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, DNA, Mars
Video: The Contortions - Contort Yourself (Live, 1979) at YouTube
Visit:
Too Weird for Punk: New York No Wave Legend James Chance Keeps On Contorting Himself at Flavorwire Great interview
James Chance at Wikipedia
No New York at Wikipedia
No Wave at Wikipedia

VIVA LA DIFFÉRENCE

I don't listen to James Chance that often, despite having a chunk of his Contortions stuff and the stuff he did with James White and the Blacks. But I dig his music, his perseverance, his whole thing. You just have to pay attention when you listen to his stuff; it's hard to let it roll without notice, and I rarely have time for that. You can't bop or groove, or put the headphones on and trip out to spacey sounds or a badass production. It's hard to go about your business and imagine it as some sort of soundtrack to what you're doing, unless what you're doing happens to be smashing shit up. Some of you know that about him, and that he was a big part of the whole No Wave thing. Let me set the scene for the uninitiated. It's 1978, you're totally sucked in by punk rock and other adventurous music, basically anyone screwing with things. You think that you're relatively immune to abrasive type stuff. Then you hear about some compilation that Brian Eno's putting together with some fringe NYC bands. Okay, you say, I'll bite. The first band on the album is the Contortions. A few seconds into it, you wonder just what it is you're listening to. You are challenged. Just what the hell is this? It's not punk rock, it's not funk, it's not jazz. It's, it's...just what the fuck is going on here?

I just ran into an fairly recent interview with Chance. If you're into his stuff, you'll dig it. If he's new to you, check the link to the No New York compilation below, listen to the Contortion cuts. Go hit Wiki or something. Catch up for crying out loud.

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Listen: 

The Contortions - Designed to Kill mp3 at Nonalignment Pact
The Contortions - Contort Yourself mp3 at Why Prime (?)
The Contortions - I Can't Stand Myself (streaming) at YouTube
The compilation:
No New York - Compilation (steaming) at YouTube The Contortions, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, DNA, Mars

Video:

The Contortions - Contort Yourself (Live, 1979) at YouTube
Visit:
Too Weird for Punk: New York No Wave Legend James Chance Keeps On Contorting Himself at Flavorwire Great recent interview
James Chance at Wikipedia
No New York at Wikipedia
No Wave at Wikipedia

THE CRAZY GIRLFRIEND

I don't like to think of Lydia Lunch as a brand, which is why I only follow her intermittently.  I don't know, she could be a Henry Rollins, as in a "You want to know what I think? Sure. And you'll give me money to let it rip, okay, let's go" type deal. She began her thing as the singer of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, then solo, Eight Eyed Spy, spoken word, books, and, if I remember correctly, a handful of films. In other words she's been all over the place in the last few decades. The damn buffet is right there, but I'm not going near it. Why? It's like this, although Henry Rollins can be entertaining, and he does have relatable insights, sometimes I wonder if I know too much, I'd almost rather know him as the singer of Black Flag and that's it. I don't want to know Henry Rollins, the brand, In other words, I'm trying my damnedest to avoid thinking of Lydia Lunch as a brand.

But, I dig her. Not really sure why, it might just be that she is one of the very few people that can pull off the I don't give a shit attitude for decades, or at least seem to, Again, could just be the brand, Regardless, I was pleased as punch to run into this thing below. A video where she throws it all out there, publicly inviting Louis C,K, to do all sorts of nasty things. Here's what I dig about it, other than the fact that she's held up well over the years. It might occur to you, as it did me, that the Louis C,K, that she is all hot about, is his character in his TV show, not necessarily the real life C.K. Acknowledging that the two C,K,s are closely related, it still begs the question, what if this video is just another movie role, a "project"? Occam says: "Who cares?!!"

For any of you unfamiliar with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, here's about where they exist. You know the band Wire, right? In particular, their first LP, Pink Flag, It's entirely listenable minimalist punk, some would say post-punk, Whatever, it's punchy and, like I said, entirely listenable, to the point of awesomeness.. Okay, so you have them on one side on the room, right? On the other side of the room you have Yoko Ono, whose shrieking-era music is about as abrasive vocally as it gets. Nails on a chalkboard, I believe, is how it is most often described, Okay, so she's on the other side of the room. Somewhere in between the two is Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Just exactly where in between depends on your taste and your preference for abrasive stuff. I happen to dig them.

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Listen:
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - Burning Rubber mp3 at You Better Shut Up and Listen
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - Orphans mp3 at Cold Crush
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - Baby Doll mp3 at Dusted
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - Woke Up Dreaming mp3 at Warped Reality

...FIVE TIMES!

In 1986, I learned more about James Chance in one short moment than I had after listening to his music, or reading about him in articles written during (and about) the early No Wave scene. It was at a small performance space in lower Manhattan, a word-of-mouth show in a tiny room, with no bar or club-like trappings. During one of his patently manic sax solos, the microphone stand was knocked to the ground. Most performers, even the most humble, might shoot a dirty look at the person who knocked it over. Some would keep playing and wait for someone else to upright the stand. At the very least, they might pick it up themselves. Not James Chance. He got down and continued the solo, lying on his side. On the floor.

.

It wasn't at all a daring or dangerous move, nor was it something that required talent. What it did require was a different way of of reacting, without a predisposition to do what was reasonable or expected. Click...Now I get James Chance.

.

If you know me, you know I'm always partial to a good larynx shredding. So, while the whole of the Contortion's first album Buy is worthy, you really, really, need to download "Contort Yourself" for your morning pilates.

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The Contortions - Contort Yourself mp3 at Swan Fungus

The Contortions Buy, individual tracks and complete album downloads (and bio) at Swan Fungus

Thank you Swan Fungus