James White & The Blacks

★★★★ Melt Yourself Down MODERN HARMONIC. CD/DL/LP

Rare Japan-only 1986 LP from New York no wave singer/saxophonist.

His James White alias allowed bequiffed jazz-punker James Chance ample space to indulge his obsession with The Godfather Of Soul. He went straight to the source on his third outing, building on the pounding groove of Superbad and walking the wilder side of Cold Sweat, sexing up James Brown’s originals with freestyle rhymes and agitated screams. A piano-led, Wendy Whitelaw-sung flip on Hot Voodoo (from 1932 Marlene Dietrich film Blonde Venus) adds levity to the fidgety funk grooves of the title track (so powerful it spawned a band) and Hell On Earth, extended jams that let White’s jittery alto sax squeak and squawk away with Ornette Coleman-like abandon. A trio of live CD extras show how White’s vocal limitations are no impediment to party starting.