No wave

No wave was a short-lived avant-garde music, performance art, video art, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the late 1970s in downtown New York City. In part a reaction against punk rock's recycling of traditionalist rock tropes, no wave musicians instead experimented with noise, dissonance and atonality in addition to a variety of non-rock genres. The no wave scene often reflected an abrasive, confrontational and nihilistic worldview.

The term "no wave" was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music, and first became used in downtown New York City concurrent with the 1981 show, "New York/New Wave" that had been curated by the artist/curator Diego Cortez. The term "no wave" was probably inspired by the French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard, with his remark "There are no new waves, there is only the ocean". The movement would last a relatively short time but profoundly influence the development of independent film, fashion and visual art.

Musical styles and characteristics

Wave

In physics, a wave is an oscillation accompanied by a transfer of energy that travels through space or mass. Frequency refers to the addition of time. Wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, which displace particles of the transmission medium—that is, with little or no associated mass transport. Waves consist, instead, of oscillations or vibrations (of a physical quantity), around almost fixed locations.

There are two main types of waves. Mechanical waves propagate through a medium, and the substance of this medium is deformed. The deformation reverses itself owing to restoring forces resulting from its deformation. For example, sound waves propagate via air molecules colliding with their neighbors. When air molecules collide, they also bounce away from each other (a restoring force). This keeps the molecules from continuing to travel in the direction of the wave.

The second main type of wave, electromagnetic waves, do not require a medium. Instead, they consist of periodic oscillations of electrical and magnetic fields originally generated by charged particles, and can therefore travel through a vacuum. These types of waves vary in wavelength, and include radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays.

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth was an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass guitar, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, and rounded out the core line-up. In their early career Sonic Youth were associated with the no wave art and music scene in New York City. Part of the first wave of American noise rock groups, the band carried out their interpretation of the hardcore punk ethos throughout the evolving American underground that focused more on the DIY ethic of the genre rather than its specific sound.

The band experienced relative commercial success and critical acclaim throughout their existence, continuing partly into the new millennium, including signing to major label DGC in 1990 and headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. Sonic Youth have been praised for having "redefined what rock guitar could do", using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings and preparing guitars with objects like drum sticks and screwdrivers to alter the instruments' timbre. The band is considered to be a pivotal influence on the alternative and indie rock movements.

Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch, June 2, 1959, Rochester, New York) is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene. The Boston Phoenix named Lunch "one of the 10 most influential performers of the 1980s."

Her work typically features provocative and confrontational noise music delivery and has maintained an anti-commercial ethic operating independently of major labels and distributors. Lunch's moniker was given to her by Willy DeVille because she stole food for her friends.

Biography

Early life

Lunch moved to New York City from Rochester at the age of 16 and eventually moved into a communal household of artists and musicians. Soon Willy DeVille gave her the name "Lunch" because she often stole lunches for the Dead Boys.

Music

After befriending Alan Vega and Martin Rev at Max's Kansas City, she founded the short-lived but influential No Wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, with James Chance. Both Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and the Contortions, Chance's subsequent band, played on the No Wave compilation No New York, produced by Brian Eno. Lunch later appeared on two songs on James White and the Blacks album, Off-White.

Teenage Jesus

Teenage Jesus is the debut DIY release from One Member Synth-Punk Band The Emotron.

History

Teenage Jesus is the first album released by The Emotron. It was recorded in 2005 and released in 2006, and was the only The Emotron album to be released on Death By Karaoke. Album came about when The Emotron played with Chicago Synth-Pop Act The Mystechs, Singer/Label Owner Emil Hyde asked The Emotron if they would like to record and put out a DIY release on his label Death By Karaoke Records. In November 2005 The Emotron began recording Teenage Jesus in a home studio in North Georgia. The Album came out on The Mystechs and The Emotron tour in Mid 2006. Only 200 Copies of Teenage Jesus Were Made.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Kyle Knight. 

| all_writing = Kyle Knight except for When Cancer Met Sally, written by Monroe Drive.

Personnel