- No New York
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No New York 
Compilation album by Various artists Released 1978 Recorded Big Apple Studio, NYC
Spring 1978Genre No Wave Label Antilles Producer Brian Eno No New York is a compilation album released in 1978 by Antilles Records under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contained songs by four different artists, it is considered by many to be the definitive single album documenting New York City's late-1970s No Wave movement.
Contents
Background
In New York, New York, a four day New York underground rock festival was hosted at Artists Space.[1] The final two days of the show consisted of Friday with D.N.A. and James Chance and the Contortions, credited as "Contortions", followed by Mars and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks on Saturday.[1] In the audience for the shows was English musician/producer Brian Eno who originally came to New York to master the Talking Heads second album More Songs About Buildings and Food.[1] Brian Eno was impressed by the bands, and was convinced that the movement should be documented and proposed the idea of a No Wave compilation with himself as a producer.[2]
Production
The recording sessions for No New York were done without much of Eno's stylized producing he's done for previous artists albums.[2] James Chance stated that the Contortions tracks were "done totally live in the studio, no separation between the instruments, no overdubs, just like a document."[2] However, in 1979 Eno's famous lecture "The Studio As Compositional Tool" he is quoted saying "On 'Helen Thormdale' [sic!] from the No New York album (Antilles), I put an echo on the guitar part's click, and used that to trigger the compression on the whole track, so it sounds like helicopter blades."[3]
Release and reception
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[4]Creem (?) [5] Pitchfork Media (8.3/10) [6] No New York was released in 1978 on Antilles Records and failed to chart in the Billboard Charts.[4] The album was printed originally with the lyrics printed on the inside of the record sleeve which forced the owner to have to tear apart the sleeve to read them.[5][6] Critic Richard C. Walls writing for Creem initial review described it as the most "ferociously avant-garde and aggressively ugly music since Albert Ayler puked all over my brain back in - what? - 64." and stated "If you're intrepid enough to want to hear this stuff (a friend, 3/4 into the first side, complained that the music was painful - she wasn't referring to any abstract reaction, she was grimacing), be advised that Antilles is a division of Island Records, which ain't exactly Transamerica Corp. You'll probably have to make a little effort to procure it, because there's no way it's going to come to you."[5]
The album was re-issued in 2005 by Lilith Records on vinyl and digipak form on compact disc.[7] Reviews of the album were positive. Todd Kristel of the online music database Allmusic gave the album four and half stars out of five and stated that "this seminal album remains the definitive document of New York's no wave movement." but also mirrored Creem's statement with "Some listeners may be fascinated by the music on No New York while others may find it unbearable".[4] In December of 2007, Blender place the album at number 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever".[8]
Track listing
Side one No. Title Writer(s) Artist Length 1. "Dish It Out" James Chance Contortions 3:17 2. "Flip Your Face" Chance Contortions 3:13 3. "Jaded" Chance Contortions 3:49 4. "I Can't Stand Myself" James Brown, arr. Contortions Contortions 4:52 5. "Burning Rubber" Lydia Lunch Teenage Jesus and the Jerks 1:45 6. "The Closet" Lunch Teenage Jesus and the Jerks 3:53 7. "Red Alert" Lunch Teenage Jesus and the Jerks 0:34 8. "I Woke Up Dreaming" Lunch Teenage Jesus and the Jerks 3:10 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Artist Length 9. "Helen Fordsdale" Nancy Arlen, China Burg, Mark Cunningham, Sumner Crane Mars 2:30 10. "Hairwaves" Arlen, Burg, Cunningham, Crane Mars 3:43 11. "Tunnel" Arlen, Burg, Cunningham, Crane Mars 2:41 12. "Puerto Rican Ghost" Arlen, Burg, Cunningham, Crane Mars 1:08 13. "Egomaniac's Kiss" Robin Crutchfield, Arto Lindsay D.N.A. 2:11 14. "Lionel" Crutchfield, Lindsay D.N.A. 2:07 15. "Not Moving" Crutchfield, Lindsay D.N.A. 2:40 16. "Size" Crutchfield, Lindsay D.N.A. 2:13 Personnel
Contortions
- James Chance — saxophone, vocals
- Don Christensen - drums
- Jody Harris — guitar
- Pat Place — slide guitar
- George Scott III - bass
- Adele Bertei — Acetone organ
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
- Lydia Lunch — guitar, vocals
- Gordon Stevenson — bass
- Bradley Field — drums
Mars
- Sumner Crane — guitar, vocals
- China Burg — guitar, vocals
- Mark Cunningham — bass, vocals
- Nancy Arlen — drums
D.N.A.
- Arto Lindsay — guitar, vocals
- Robin Crutchfield — organ, vocals
- Ikue Ile — drums
Additional personnel
- Brian Eno — producer, cover design, cover photo
- Kurt Munkasci — engineer
- Vishek Woszcyk — engineer
- Roddy Hui — assistant engineer
- Steven Keister — cover design
Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalog United States 1978 Antilles Records LP AN-7067 2005 Lillith Records Digipak CD LR102 Notes
- ^ a b c Reynolds, 2006. p.146
- ^ a b c Reynolds, 2006. p.147
- ^ Downbeat - PRO SESSION - The Studio As Compositional Tool
- ^ a b c Kristel, Todd. "allmusic ((( No New York > Overview )))". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r214674. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ a b c Walls, Richard C. (April, 1979). "No New York - Various Artists". Creem. http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/creem79b.html. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ a b Stosuy, Brandon (November 16, 2005). "No New York : Pitchfork". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/16804-various-artists-no-new-york. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ "Lilith-Records". Lilith Records. http://www.lilith-records.com/index.php?page=catalog&action=show&id=11. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever — #70 to #61". Blender. http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=2977. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
References
External links
- No New York at Lilith Records
Categories:- 1978 compilation albums
- Albums produced by Brian Eno
- No Wave
- Antilles Records albums
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