James Chance & The Contortions - White Cannibal

James Chance & The Contortions
Guest: Joseph Bowie (on the two last tracks: Money to burn & Contort yourself)

Review

by Al Campbell

Originally released as a ROIR cassette-only, these brutal, yet danceable, live tracks were recorded in New York at the Peppermint Lounge and the '80s Club in 1980 and '81. James Chance and the Contortions mixed punk, free jazz, and funk that has yet to be matched, epitomizing the seedy underbelly of the New York no wave scene of the period. Unlike certain Lydia Lunch performance art projects of the time, Chance provides a timeless attack by combining screeching alto sax and vocal rants with a relentless disco beat. Ornette Coleman and Ronald Shannon Jackson guitarist Bern Nix and trombonist Joseph Bowie (brother of Lester) bring jazz credentials to this late edition of the Contortions while the background vocals of the Discolitas provide the sleazy stage pageantry Chance championed. The sound quality is not great, but that only adds to the original highly charged haze under which it was made. Three of the seven tracks are covers, "That Old Black Magic" and two from James Brown, "I Got You" and "King Heroin."

1981 WHITE CANNIBAL

James Chance & The Contortions - Buy

James Chance & The Contorsions

The Contortions were one of the most important -- and accessible -- bands in New York's short-lived No Wave movement, playing a noisy, clattering avant-funk that drew from punk and free jazz. The group was formed in 1977 by the flamboyantly dressed vocalist/saxophonist James Chance (born James Siegfried), also featuring guitarists Pat Place and Jody Harris, organist Adele Bertei, bassist George Scott, and drummer Don Christensen. The Contortions' live shows embodied the nihilistic ethos of No Wave, as Chance actively picked fights with the audience. The group contributed four tracks to the seminal Brian Eno-produced No Wave compilation No New York in 1978; the following year, Buy the Contortions marked their official album debut, by which time Chance was being billed ahead of the group name. Aside from a few live recordings, the original Contortions lineup didn't release much more material. Chance used most of the group for his funk/disco project James White & The Blacks (with the album Off White also appearing in 1979), and although he continued to lead versions of the Contortions through the early '80s, the original lineup split up in 1980. Place went on to join the acclaimed Bush Tetras, while Harris, Scott, and Christensen formed the Raybeats. [Steve Huey, All Music Guide]

1979 BUY
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