The Modern Dance cover

The Modern Dance

Released

This album is the urtext of art-punk. Without Pere Ubu’s debut blast from the Cleveland wastes, there would have been no Mission of Burma; no Pixies; no Pavement. The transition from the chugging kiss-off song “Non-alignment Pact” to the resolutely weird title track is, arguably, one of the most hair-raisingly perfect moments of 1970s rock’n’roll. And then it gets weirder, with tracks like “Real World” and “Over My Head” using herky-jerk rhythms and muttered spoken-word asides to generate moods that were completely alien to pop music at the time. And then the floodgates broke and rock music was never the same again.

Rick Anderson

Recommended by

Suggestions
Mwandishi cover

Mwandishi

Herbie Hancock
Ayaya Moses cover

Ayaya Moses

Fred Frith Guitar Quartet
Empathy cover

Empathy

Cybotron
Snakeoil cover

Snakeoil

Tim Berne
Escalator Over the Hill cover

Escalator Over the Hill

Carla Bley, Paul Haines
Prism cover

Prism

Dave Holland
Stop Your Nonsense cover

Stop Your Nonsense

Position Normal
There's a Riot Goin' On cover

There's a Riot Goin' On

Sly & the Family Stone
Maquishti cover

Maquishti

Patricia Brennan