No New York is a compilation album released in 1978 by Antilles Records under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contained songs by four different artists, it is considered by many to be the definitive single album documenting New York City's late-1970s No Wave movement. The album became well-known in underground rock circles; an unrelated album was released in 1979 entitled Yes L.A., featuring many punk acts from the L.A. hardcore scene. In 2003, Criminal IQ Records, along with Brian Costello's Protomersh Records released a CD that paid tribute to the two albums' ethos of scene documentarianism by releasing a compilation titled Maybe Chicago?
In New York, New York, a four day New York underground rock festival was hosted at Artists Space. The final two days of the show consisted of Friday with D.N.A. and James Chance and the Contortions, credited as "Contortions", followed by Mars and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks on Saturday. In the audience for the shows was English musician/producer Brian Eno who originally came to New York to master the Talking Heads second album More Songs About Buildings and Food. Brian Eno was impressed by the bands, and was convinced that the movement should be documented and proposed the idea of a No Wave compilation with himself as a producer.
The recording sessions for No New York were done without much of Eno's stylized producing he's done for previous artists albums. James Chance stated that the Contortions tracks were "done totally live in the studio, no separation between the instruments, no overdubs, just like a document." However, in 1979 Eno's famous lecture "The Studio As Compositional Tool" he is quoted saying "On 'Helen Thormdale' [sic!] from the No New York album (Antilles), I put an echo on the guitar part's click, and used that to trigger the compression on the whole track, so it sounds like helicopter blades.
No New York was released in 1978 on Antilles Records and failed to chart in the Billboard Charts. The album was printed originally with the lyrics printed on the inside of the record sleeve which forced the owner to have to tear apart the sleeve to read them. Critic Richard C. Walls writing for Creem initial review described it as the most "ferociously avant-garde and aggressively ugly music since Albert Ayler puked all over my brain back in - what? - 64." and stated "If you're intrepid enough to want to hear this stuff (a friend, 3/4 into the first side, complained that the music was painful - she wasn't referring to any abstract reaction, she was grimacing), be advised that Antilles is a division of Island Records, which ain't exactly Transamerica Corp. You'll probably have to make a little effort to procure it, because there's no way it's going to come to you."
The album was re-issued in 2005 by Lilith Records on vinyl and digipak form on compact disc. Reviews of the album were positive. Todd Kristel of the online music database Allmusic gave the album four and half stars out of five and stated that "this seminal album remains the definitive document of New York's no wave movement." but also mirrored Creem's statement with "Some listeners may be fascinated by the music on No New York while others may find it unbearable". In December of 2007, Blender place the album at number 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever"
Track listing
1 - "Dish It Out" - Contortions - 3:17
2 - "Flip Your Face" - Contortions - 3:13
3 - "Jaded" - Contortions - 3:49
4 - "I Can't Stand Myself" - Contortions - 4:52
5 - "Burning Rubber" - Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - 1:45
6 - "The Closet" - Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - 3:53
7 - "Red Alert" - Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - 0:34
8 - "I Woke Up Dreaming" - Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - 3:10
9 - "Helen Fordsdale" - Mars - 2:30
10 - "Hairwaves" - Mars - 3:43
11 - "Tunnel" - Mars - 2:41
12 - "Puerto Rican Ghost" - Mars - 1:08
13 - "Egomaniac's Kiss" - D.N.A. - 2:11
14 - "Lionel" - D.N.A. - 2:07
15 - "Not Moving" - D.N.A. - 2:40
16 - "Size" - D.N.A. - 2:13
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