History

There are eight million ways to break down New York’s downtown music scene during the ‘70s and ‘80s. With interest still riding high with well-received comps such as Disco Not Disco (Strut) and Soul Jazz’s just-released book New York Noise, along comes a website offering a directory of the era. Although not much to look at, Peter Cherches’ "Downtown Music, 1971-1987: An Overview and Resource Guide” summarises the city’s artistic cross-pollination. Cherches focuses more on jazz, no wave and new music than punk-funk, but the site fulfils its purpose as an overview of all styles. Its strength is as a glossary: five of its ten pages are packed with links to further web, book, film and music resources.