The Del-Byzanteens was a New York-based

no wave No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and r ...

band active in the early 1980s. The band comprised

Phil Kline Phil Kline (born 1953) is an American composer, sound artist, and performer most recognized for his '' Unsilent Night'' (1992) and ''Zippo Songs'' (2004). Beginning as a guitarist and singer in the New York City art punk scene, Kline has since ...

(vocals, guitar);

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

(vocals, keyboards); Philippe Hagen (bass); Josh Braun (percussion, drums); and Dan Braun (drums, percussion).

Lucy Sante Lucy Sante (pronounced ''Sahnt''; formerly Luc Sante; born May 25, 1954) is a Belgian-born American writer, critic, and artist. She is a frequent contributor to '' The New York Review of Books''. Her books include ''Low Life: Lures and Snares of ...

wrote lyrics to some of their songs, while

Jamie Nares Jamie Nares (formerly James Nares; born 1953 in London, England) is a British transgender woman artist living and working in New York City since 1974. Nares makes paintings and films (most notably the no wave film ''Rome '78''); played guitar in ...

sometimes contributed as a percussionist, and occasionally

John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including ''Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...

performed with them on stage. They released a 12" EP: ''Girl's Imagination'' (1981), an LP: '' Lies to Live By'' (1982), and a 7" single: ''Draft Riot'' (1982). In 1985-86 they recorded two more songs ("The Last Time" and "Fascination"), which were never finished or officially released. "At that time everyone in New York had a band," Jarmusch recalled in an interview for ''The Washington Post'' (1984). "The idea was that you didn't have to be a virtuoso musician to have a band. The spirit was more important than having technical expertise, and that influenced a lot of filmmakers." According to Sante, they were "a band that insouciantly blended high and low, virtuosity and amateurism, calypso and science fiction, pots and pans and drones and the Supremes. They released several records, on a British label, which did very well in the former Yugoslavia." They played a number of concerts at clubs such as

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

, Hurrah and the

Mudd Club The Mudd Club was a nightclub located at 77 White Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It operated from 1978 to 1983 as a venue for post punk underground music and no wave counterculture events. It was opened ...

in New York City. Two of their songs were featured in

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

' 1982 film '' The State of Things''. At the time, ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' said that their debut LP was "a debut equal to anything out of New York these past six years", and ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' described it as "mighty stuff... You are strongly urged to investigate this record... outstanding." Like the filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, many of its members have gone on to become famous in their own right, making music (Phil Kline), art (Jamie Nares), and writing (Sante). Their back catalogue has never been re-issued on CD, and Del-Byzanteens vinyl is a rare sight on the second-hand market. However, "Girl's Imagination" was featured on the

Beggars Banquet Records Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin and is part of the Beggars Group of labels. History In 1977, spurred by the prevailing D ...

's 1999 compilation ''

Pspyched! Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin and is part of the Beggars Group of labels. History In 1977, spurred by the prevailing D ...

'', and again on the Gomma compilation ''Anti-NY'' in 2001, while "My Hands Are Yellow (from the job that i do)" was released on ''New York Noise Vol 2'', in 2003. Three of their shows at the Hurrah club were filmed, in their entirety, by Merrill Aldighieri. In early 2011 she released a 52-minute "hand-made" DVD, "Eskimo Lounge Music", featuring live footage from these performances, interfoiled with recent interviews with the band members.

References

External links

The Del-Byzanteens
at

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The Del-Byzanteens
at The Jim Jarmusch Resource Page *http://limitedcontrol.posterous.com/the-del-byzanteens-moving-slow * The Del-Byzanteensat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Del-Byzanteens, The Del-Byzanteens, The No wave groups

References

Further reading

External links