Search - James Chance & Contortions :: Buy

Best Punk/Funk Album Ever

raydoast | California | 09/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Contort yourself! Buy "Buy" now! This is the best album by The Contortions and probably the best punk album of all time. "Buy" sounds like it was released yesterday. It defies era like it defies genre...funk, punk, avante garde jazz, angst rock, it's all of those. James Chance aka James White got his recording start from Brian Eno on the "NO NEW YORK" album. A compilation of gritty punky bands tracked in one take. Eno described it as "no wave" music. Honestly, I was mildly impressed, mainly because of the audio quality. (It only sounded good at deafening volumes!)

But I was knocked out when "Buy" was released by The Contortions and "Off White" was released by his alter ego band James White & The Blacks. You have never heard anything like this. This band is so tight and the mastering perfect! Few albums have as much energy or nasty angst as this one. This album wants to shoot heroin with you, then rape and rob you. It gets in your soul and explodes. A minimalist foundation of fast James Brown funk with jagged wailing licks from Pat Place's peddle steel guitar ala Snakefinger. Ayler-like saxophone that whines like a whipped puppy and just enough keyboards to keep it all rolling along. Then there is James Chance's snearing vocals...a spoiled brat shouting and sometimes screaming as if stabbed and sometimes uttering primal animalistic growls. The lyrics are coherent and clever , condescending and rude, punky and junkie, self-centered and complaining unreasonably. It does what New York punks want to do: provoke you, offend you, anger you ...or give least give you some snappy put-downs.

I first read of James Chance in NME as being a band that Jagger and Iggy sought out when in NY. When I saw The Contortions at a second floor punk bar called "Crazy Mamas" in Columbus, Ohio with about 3 dozen other punks I was not disappointed. James Chance was noted for attacking and fighting with fans, reporters, and the human race in general. He told a reporter that he fantasized about performing before an audience that was kept uncomfortably cold. When asked why he made this music he said: "I need something to listen to in my car." He was openly hostile to the audience, singling out individuals with the spot light and berating them, throwing drinks at them and insinuating they had wasted their money. If provoked enough he would jump into the crowd and start throwing punches. Since he was quite diminutive, and usually got beat up, he always had a black eye.

That night they were surprisingly right on time having just arrived from NY. (Chance would drive to a venue, then drive back to NY, then drive to the next venue and back, and so on. He said that he didn't want to be away from his heroin connection!) They came on looking rather clean cut compared to the usual Mohawk bands. The quintet was dressed like Desi Arnez's band, a style called "old prom" white tuxedo jackets that looked like they had been worn for weeks, greasy hair that looked like it had been set with a trowel. They looked like male escorts gone bad and carrying switchblades. They were more sinister than punks, more hardcore. With no introduction Chance fixed his glare on the audience that was within reach, yanked the microphone off its stand and broke into "My Infatuation." That night he posed better than James Brown, strutted better than Mick Jagger, was more egotistical than Frank Sinatra...what a showman! When a punk sat on the edge of the stage he went over and kicked him! He mostly shouted inches from someone's face and the only time he smiled was when a fight broke out in the crowd! He was showing us what punk was all about. Chance spoke to the audience like hostages...but they played every song from "Buy", most of "Off White" and a few James Brown and Michael Jackson tunes, the concert lasted nearly 2 hours and all of it was the greatest."

Mr. alter ego of James Brown, NY style w/ punk attitude.

Chris bct | San Diego, CA USA | 12/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's all about the sax. Squealing, fighting to dominate, makin' you know it's about attitude and funk and NY conquering the world of what should be a nightclub in every major metropolitan region. But, there's only so much James Chance to go around. Lucky for us they invented records. And that Lydia Lunch did her thang with him back in the late 70's. The 4 CD box is nice but there's too much that just doesn't work. What you need is this album and the JAMES WHITE and the BLACKS Off White album. Together, in the studio, where, at least on official record releases, James and his very tight band live forever.



If you like funk and wondered if a skinny white guy could really do it, well James is your answer. I was lucky enough to see the band in about 1980. The show didn't begin until midnight. I had to figure they were on NY time, too cool to play in the day or the evening even. And it wasn't disappointing. Neither is this lp (and Off White). Buy Contortions. With a little bonus trax, I just hope it's well recorded material. I can speak for the studio album. It's kept me funky and (sounds weak but it feels good) punky for 24 years. James Brown gives us the real thing but James Chance gives us something Mr. Brown does not have, he's a fervent sax playin', NY shark skin suit wearin' (I have to assume) cool guy who just performed at All Tomorrow's Parties in Long Beach a coupla years ago. I hope he's still swingin' hard. This record sure does. chrisbct@hotmail.com"

Contortions

Carl | Northeast US | 09/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"James Chance's aesthetic conception was based on the contradiction between his ultra-alienated, self-absorbed, and almost disembodied persona, and the sensuality of funk. This contradiction is reflected in Buy's lyrics, and in the music, which combines a brittle dissonance with a brutal funk rhythm, perfectly intregrated, if its possible to express an integrated contradiction (or paradox). I believe that in its many different incarnations, the Contortions of 1980-81 (in live performances) were one of the best funk bands in musical history; unlike many better known acts, James (following James Brown's mid- and late-1960s bands) realized that funk is essential a stripped-down, unembelished and severe music, and he added a lot of humor and irony to keep it fun."