"Anti NY: Rare Music from the Early 1980s New York Underground and Some Contemporary Versions"

The "Anti NY" compilation gathers seven songs by bands from the early80s scene that centered around the New York City's Mudd Club (perhapsbest known these days for its invocation in the negative by TalkingHeads, i.e."This ain't no..."). The sound stems from the collision ofpunk, disco and electronic noise that coincided with No Wave (bandslike the Contortions or DNA) and the beginnings of rap. While the songsare certainly fantastic, I can only offer a qualified recommendationfor this comp due to the needless inclusion of five "remixes" at theend that do little more than take up space.
The groups' names might not be instantly familiar to you, but severalof the players should be. The percussive noise trio Gray is actuallypainter Jean-Michel Basquiat and early hip-hop promoter Michael Holman.The electro-funk blast of the Del/Byzanteens was led by future director(and member of John Lurie's Lounge Lizards) Jim Jarmusch. Industrialnoises and proto-hip-hop collide on a track by graffitti artistRammellzee and Death Comet Crew, aka filmmaker and future creator ofclub hit "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" Stuart Argabright. A song bythe writer Vivien Goldman includes contributions from improvisingpianist Steve Beresford and PiL guitarist Keith Levene. Of particularnote is the sexy-as-hell "If I Gave You A Party" by the approriatelynamed Sexual Harassment, which calls to mind the Manchester industrialstreet-party sound of A Certain Ratio. Every track on the CD's firsthalf is remarkable, a fantastic portrait of the dancier facet of NoWave NY. At the time that these bands existed, reactionaries decriedthe invasion of an "art school" element into DIY punk rock, but historymore than bears these folks out as fearless and creative musicians. NewYork must have been an exiting place then!
However (here it comes): the disc includes only one song by each of theseven bands, and then (note the last few words of the albumconspicuously lengthy title) five remixes by contemporary producers.The remixes seem to imply a connection between the early 80s scene thatthe CD documents and current house music and techno. Whether or notthis is a valid point being made by the compilers (it may well be), theeffect as a complete album is jarring, unnecessary, and notparticularly illuminating. First of all, the mixes (by Funkstorung,Paul Mogg, and others) are dull compared to the originals. Second, thegeneological line that I assume is being drawn would have been far moreeffective by an essay or two. Instead, I'm left wishing that anadditional tune by each group was present, rather than the superfuous(and by now clich³) remixes. It seems as if "Anti NY" wants to be twothings at once, both a document and a tribute. By presenting not enoughdocument and a half-assed tribute, it fall short of both. www.gomma.de