SUPERIOR SONGS
News
About
Contact
The Avengers
John Bender
Frank Birtwistle
The Caribbean
James Chance
Cindy Lee
Crime
Cube
Carla dal Forno
Sarah Davachi
Departmentstore Santas
ESP Summer
The Fates
Flaming Tunes
Henry Flynt
Jon Gibson
The Gordons
Peter Gutteridge
The Harvest Ministers
Penelope Houston
The Higsons
Ike Yard
Inflatable Boy Clams
Peter Jefferies
J. McFarlane's Reality Guest
Keel Her
Le Volume Courbe
Lewsberg
Bob Lind
Lovisoni / Messina
Alex Macfarlane
Ian Masters
Maximum Joy
Noveller
Rob Noyes
Pink Section
Protect-U
The Sea Urchins
Small Sur
Maryse Smith
Spill Gold
The Pin Group
This Kind of Punishment
Wooden Wand
Alex Zhang Hungtai
James Chance
Soon after their 1978 debut on the Brian Eno-produced No New York compilation that defined the No Wave scene, James Chance’s group Contortions had already evolved, becoming sharper, tighter and just plain faster. They were firing on all cylinders and their debut album Buy is a marvel of hot-wired energy. Led by the brash yelps and free-sax squawks of Chance, the band spit out fiercely rhythmic tunes charged wiry guitar, infectious bass and cracking beats.
When Chance instructs listeners to twist themselves into knots on the dancefloor via the instant classic “Contort Yourself”, he has the tools to make them do it. Indebted to the showman funk of James Brown, they flip it into a signature sound that would define the downtown dance-punk scene. There was an immediate influence on ESG, Bush Tetras and the burgeoning disco movement. Contortions imprinted so hard into the grooves that it sounds like they are about to break. Following Buy we are proud to represent all of James’ work and will be adding albums shortly.
