UNDER THE INFLUENCE / WHITE SPIRIT :

The 21st century has produced a new generation of young contenders of all kinds, who have, within months, spread a new string of names across the planet such as The Rapture, Playground, LCD Sound system, Liars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radio 4 and the likes, just to name a few. Once again the heat was initiated in NYC, even though its Lower East Side epicenter "cleaned up" by Giuliani and Bloomberg, has moved a few blocks east and across the river to Brooklyn and Williamsburg. It might be wise to remind the younger ones among us that the origins of this new musical cycle is for the most part rooted in the NO WAVE movement of which James Siegfried aka James White, aka James Chance is undoubtedly one of its most prominent figures. New York City was hands down the artistic telluric center of the second half of the 20th century, especially from the 70's, on. Rising from the ashes of the Velvet Underground, a slew of local bands redefined the aesthetics of rock'n'roll which the merchants of the temple hastened to rename under various designations, such as Punk, New Wave, No Wave, Jazz-Funk or even Disco and Disco-Punk...

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