Yes New York Vs. No New York

Not a goddamn chance. This'll just be seen as an attempt by Vice to be on that cutting edge doncha know, if that.

i posted my thoughts on yny on the old thread about this... basically it's just surprisingly dull. even the good songs sound shitty within the comp's context. still, a smart play by vice.

(also, ain't ted from nj?)

I've SEEN 'em. They're OK -- sorta proggy, but no big deal. No songs, and not much of a rhythm section. Maybe like if Can listened way too much to *Pet Sounds* and not enough to Miles Davis. Or something.

(Actually, though, I contradicted myself above -- I do think the no wave bands influenced bands like the Scene is Now and Mofungo {and Red Dark Sweet, feat. Frank Kogan!} in interesting and meaningful ways; I'm sure they influenced Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore and ???? in meaningful and interesting ways, too. So in a way, they HAVE had a lasting impact. But I don't think many CURRENT NY bands {some of whom I like a lot} have learned much from them. And bands like Black Dice and the Liars are, at best, just really half-assed parodies of them. Oneida, who make more interesting music than any of the bands on *Yes New York*, might be an exception, but I hear them more as Atomic Rooster crossed with Faust or something; they're not exactly no wave.)

(And the Fever do have a some Richard Hell in their vocals, I guess. And he undoubtedly *inspired* some *No NY* bands, if that matters.)

And made NY sound dangerous too, which is a good thing

Well, if by "best", you mean "best found in a used CD store six months later"

This would obviously suck, due to the lack of dirty limericks and Mountain songs about sleighrides.

Possibly Peoria
Maybe Morristown
Definitely Not Danville
etc...

Maybe if it was an instrumental. Mark E. Smith's voice doesn't sound very Brooklyn.

(Maybe a good parallel would be the Max's Kansas City comp, w/ also-rans like the Fast and Philip Rambow? Oh yeah, and "Final Solution" is on there too...)

1. Piss Factory performed by Patti Smith - 4:41
2. Little Johnny Jewel performed by Television - 3:43
3. (I Belong to the) Blank Generation performed by Hell, Richard & the Voidoids - 2:54
4. (It Was So) Funny (That Song That They... performed by Erasers - 3:38
5. Animal Instincts performed by Model Citizens - 2:36
6. Disneyland performed by Come On - 1:54
7. U. S. Millie performed by Theoretical Girls - 3:03
8. Red Lights performed by Marbles - 3:04
9. Don't Look performed by Nervus Rex - 3:53
10. Ignorance Is Bliss performed by US Ape - 3:38
11. With the T.V. On performed by Invaders - 2:52
12. Scream and Scream Again performed by Mumps - 4:49
13. Let Me Take Your Foto performed by Speedies - 3:06
14. Past Tense performed by Student Teachers

D.I.Y.: Blank Generation: The New York Scene...

Song List
1. Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones
2. Cars And Girls, (I Live For) - The Dictators
3. Ask The Angels - Patti Smith Group
4. All For The Love Of Rock 'N' Roll - Tuff Darts (live)
5. Let Me Dream If I Want To - Mink DeVille
6. Max's Kansas City 1976 - Wayne County & The Back Street Boys
7. X Offender - Blondie
8. Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
9. See No Evil - Television
10. In The Flesh - Blondie (bonus track)
11. Spanish Stroll - Mink DeVille (bonus track)
12. Venus - Television (bonus track)
13. Sonic Reducer - Dead Boys
14. Chinese Rocks - The Heartbreakers
15. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - Ramones
16. Crocodile Tears - Mumps
17. Love Comes In Spurts - Richard Hell & The Voidoids (bonus track)
18. Born To Lose - The Heartbreakers
19. Cheree - Suicide

I doubt with every fibre of being.

Julio, have you ever heard "Piss Factory"? It makes me believe what Luc Sante says: there was a Patti live that, except for that one track, never was captured on record. (As there was a Contortions live that was never captured at all.)

There was a late '70s or early '80s compilation with Information and Blinding Headache and (I think) Mofungo that seems to have disappeared from my collection, sort of a precursor to Peripheral Visions, where a lot of those musicians ended up. They took the No Wave sound and made it happy. (As a representation of what downtown New York of that time was like, No New York was ridiculous, but it's pretty good as a representation of what downtown New York pretended to be like.)

V

no I haven't. with patti I heard her first two albums but if i can find 'piss factory' i'll get it.

I'm sure Manhattan is not as interesting now - rents are too high.

Sad but very true.

the best bands on there aren't anywhere near as interesting as the worst ones on *No New York*

They're really just not in the same league. When No New York hit unsuspecting record store shelves, the cache of Eno's involvement may have helped shift a few units, but I certainly don't believe it wasn't designed to suggest a bubbling well-spring of untapped profit-generators so much as take a snapshot of a truly unique, fleeting art movement. Strikes me that Yes New York is nothing more than a device to cash in, where as No New York was a more amorphous artefact.

That said, I don't decry all the bands on Yes New York. I do openly grit my teeth and extend a middle-finger salutation to those responsible for having Jenny Eliscu write the liner-notes, seemingly writing off whole generations of bands inbetween the CB's golden age (Ramones, Blondie, etc.) and today's crop (what? Pussy Galore, Cop Shoot Cop, Swans, etc. just meaningless blips on the radar to you, Jenny?)

Lastly, if I'm not totally mistaken, aren't the Secret Machines originally from Texas? And isn't Ted Leo from Jersey? What about Le Tigre? I want to say they're from Olympia, Washington or something (pedants don't get in a rash -- I've never payed enough attention to them to know or care where they're actually from, but wasn't Kathleen Hanna part of that whole "riot grrl" scene?) Hmmph.

more irrational 'hatred' from alex in NYC yawn.

that chick needs to get away from the mic and into the shower.

Why is my hatred of Patti Smith "irrational", Coolio? It's quite grounded in reason, I assure you. The reason being that I find virtually everything about her to be abysmally repellant, from her artless vocals through her militant ambitions through her painfully earnest staces on any number of subjects. She should be burnt at a fucking stake.

"Patti Smith ain't nothin' but a barefoot hippie!" - Lydia Lunch

what sort of things does she say?

I've read a couple of interviews w/her and there was nothing remotely 'controversial' in them.

Really? In all candor, Julio, I haven't heard a public statement from her that was about anything other that whatever cause (decidedly apart from music) that she was currently espousing.

Oh come on, this is all THAT far-fetched!

Yeah -- and actually, I capiced your greater point (which I totally agree with) in the first place, Alex. I was just being obnoxious:)

And yes, James, I believe she is speaking purely in terms of the realm of 'rock music.'

He is. But I am biased. ;-)

like what?

Good God this No New York record that I'm listening to right now is AWFUL!! Annoying noisy unlistenable crap. Give me Yes New York any day of the week.

And Yes New York wasn't even half as good as it could (and should) have been!! "Tired" instead of "Give It Up" (or "Losing My Edge")? "Save Your City" instead of "Dance to the Underground"? The crappy live version of "New York City Cops" instead of the kickass still-unreleased studio version that we all know and love? And what the hell are the Walkmen and Calla doing on here? Where's Chk-Chk-Chk? They're from New York, aren't they? "Me and Giuliani..." should have been on here! Take about three or four crappy no-name bands out and replace all the songs I just mentioned and you've got yourself a DAMN fine compilation. As it is, it's pretty mediocre.

Still beats this No New York shite any day of the week, though.

classic snrub revive

No New York has to be one of my favorite albums. I think it's kinda lame that the only 2 threads about it are both comparing it to a comp that has so little to do with it...

What are some more of the best no wave bands? I wouldn't mind hearing more stuff like this.