Tag Archives: NO WAVE

R.I.P.: James Chance of the Contortions Remembered

Text by Dawoud Kringle

James Chance Saxophonist, bandleader of The Contortions and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and No Wave pioneer James Chance passed away.

Born James Alan Siegfried in Milwaukee, Chance began studying piano in elementary school and in his teens began playing the alto saxophone. He attended Michigan State University and Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee where he formed the James Siegfried Quintet and Death, a Stooges-influenced group. He would later study with jazz saxophonist David Murray.

He moved to New York in 1975 and began using the stage name James Chance. A year later he formed Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with singer Lydia Lunch. In 1977 he formed the first version of the Contortions.

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Peter Gordon

Two New Digital Releases by Sax Maestro Peter Gordon

Wow…Gordon made friends with Captain Beefheart and spent time at Beefheart’s home studio while he was recording Trout Mask Replica!

Reviews by Dawoud Kringle

Peter Gordon Artist: Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra
Title: Piety Street Adjacent
Format: album
Label: Adjacent Records
Genre: Downtown Music/NO WAVE/electronic funky music
Buy here

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CD Review: SoSaLa “1993” – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

SArtist: SoSaLa
Title: 1993
Formats: CD and digital
Cat.#: DBDCD003
Label: DooBeeDoo Rec
Genre: NO WAVE
Stream and purchase CD here: https://sosala.hearnow.com/1993

Album Review by Dawoud Kringle

Retrospectives are a double edged sword. They threaten to over-glorify a past that is gone and will never return. At the same time, they perform an essential service by providing something many people sorely lack: historical perspective (not to mention preserving music that needs to be preserved). Especially in a retrospective recording which looks back to a time when music was made at a special time and with special musicians.

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Review: Live Skull “Party Zero”…every punk is a legend!

“Getting in a room and being really noisy is just a natural response to what’s going on right now, because otherwise you’ll just go crazy. That gave Live Skull a reason to exist again.” – Mark C

Artist: Live Skull
Title: Party Zero
Formats: CD/LP/digital
Label: Bronson Records
Genre: No WaveExperimental, Noise Rock, Alternative Rock
Stream and buy here: https://liveskull.bandcamp.com/album/party-zero

Review by Dawoud Kringle

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