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viewing 1 To 18 of 18 items
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FRA 008CD
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"14 pieces originally written for dance and other practical situations, here reassigned and reconstructed for choreographer Amanda Miller and the Nederland Dans Theater. These are loop-based, textural, mood pieces, and invocations of spaces and landscapes, with some fine steel guitar playing. Mostly this is Fred multi-instrumenting, with pianist Daan Vanderwalle, percussionist Willie Wynant, saxophonist Lotte Anker, the Arte Sax and Arditti Quartets, Kiku Day (playing occasional shakuhachi), and violinist/nykelharpist Karla Kihlstedt. Hit from the show: Desert Sundown. Field Days is an exploration of the past--in this case Fred's past as a composer of music for dance. Using music originally composed for choreographer Amanda Miller, and working with her and long-time studio collaborator Myles Boisen, Fred created a vast number of loops of all shapes and sizes, and used them as the setting for additional material that was also largely drawn from pre-existing recordings of other works. Fred then added bottleneck guitar to some of the pieces to provide a certain sonic continuity."
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FRO 013CD
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"Written for theatre in 1987 using a host of avian and mammalian voices, snippets of unidentified musical material and electroacoustic noise-sculpting - as well as invented and real instruments, all played by Fred. This was a hard time and the mood is intense, lean and not cheerful, though there are some gruesomely cheery inserts. No fat but a lot of meat. It is the 'missing' fourth side of the original double LP Technology of Tears, released in 1986. It was composed for a theatre production, created and directed by Matthew Maguire and Creation Company, which premiered at La Mama Experimental Theatre in New York. The play was described as 'political satire filtered through science fiction and John Webster's Jacobean revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi, and coincided with the US interventions in Nicaragua and El Salvador.'"
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FRO 012CD
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"These concerts were part of a solo tour of Japan organized by the now-defunct magazine Fool's Mate. The music on the CD was first released in 1982 by Recommended Records Japan as a 2LP box set in a limited edition of 1,000. The tapes were returned to Japan after mastering in New York, and at some time during the ensuing 20 years, they disappeared. All efforts to unearth them failed. This version was meticulously re-created from 96K vinyl transfers by Tom Dimuzio over a period of several months in 2007, an amazing labor of love. 'In 1974, during the recording of my first LP Guitar Solos, I had placed two guitars on the floor, necks parallel, and improvised a piece using that configuration. Although I pursued the idea in subsequent recordings, notably 'Water/Struggle/The North' On Guitar Solos 2, I never performed concerts in this way until I arrived in New York in 1978 and was persuaded to make a cameo appearance at Giorgio Gomelsky's Manifestival using borrowed instruments. This was a defining moment for me, and for the next few years the 'guitars on the table approach' became my preferred way of playing solo. The Japanese tour was the culmination of this period. Afterwards I abandoned the guitar, preferring homemade instruments made out of slabs of wood. When I returned to the guitar as a vehicle for improvisation a couple of years later, it was in the conventional position.'" --Fred Frith
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FRA 007CD
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"Fred's sixth CD of music for dance, featuring three commissions by three different choreographers each sharing, as Fred says ' a certain obsession with melodic deconstruction.' Two of them feature -- and were especially written for -- the remarkable violinist Carla Kihlstedt. Fred and Carla perform one of them (Fred playing a huge array of instruments here as on all pieces), are joined by Fred Guiliano, (samples) and Gail Brand (trombone) on another, while the third features Fred, Hande Erdem (violin) and Threresa Wong (cello). These are complex studio compositions characterised by a deceptive simplicity, layers and plateau, rhythm and colour."
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FRFC 001CD
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"In 1996, at the end of a two year residency, Fred organized an event at L'Ecole Nationale de Musique de Villeurbanne in France involving as many of the students as possible, grouped according to their departments -- early music, rock, African drumming, classical &c. Each group was set up in a different room in the school building and during the concert the public was encouraged to wander around creating their own mix, or to sit in the courtyard and listen to the sound drifting out through the open windows. For their part, each group of musicians had to play musical material Fred had prepared for them -- occasionally they could improvise. In order to co-ordinate all the groups, who naturally couldn't hear each other, everyone followed a precise time-score prepared by Fred (55 minutes regulated by synchronized stopwatches). The entire event was recorded on 4 A-DAT machines, to be mixed down later, and this CD is the result: a lurching, complex and capricious beast with many heads: an orchestra tuning up; a salute to Sonny Blount; a roiling chaotic mass of sound splitting into layers, colliding back together, pullulating, ululating, roaring and sometimes mewing like a kitten. FRFC is a new tributary of the Fred label, signifying 'Fred Records French Connection.' The first of many."
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FRA 005CD
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"An instant Fred classic, Happy End presents two, related, small-ensemble works for 6 and 7 musicians respectively -- mostly strings of one sort or another, with percussion, flute, clarinet and electronics. Fred, violinist Carla Kilsteht and percussionist Willie Winant play throughout providing continuity across the pieces, as the music constantly unfolds into new textures and dialects. Melody, harmony and rhythm are omnipresent, though not always obviously colluding, and the music moves with a constant assurance, never hesitating and never marking time. There are some affinities with Nicola Kodjbashia's luminous Solitary Walker here (which it predates), particularly in its use of minimal instrumentation to maximum effect, popular materials, exquisite articulation and a kind of modest transcendence. The necessity and simplicity of these pieces conceals a catalog of experimental techniques and novel ideas -- there are those who'd have squeezed a score of albums from this material."
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FRO 010CD
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Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Fred Maher. "This was a time when the worlds of rock, funk, jazz, and improvisation were colliding, and there were many venues willing to host the results without much idea of what was going on, other than that it was new, hip, energetic, and drew crowds. The Zu Band had become Material in 1979, and Frith was intimately involved in their first recording, playing guitar and violin, helping with arrangements, and mixing many of the songs alongside Martin Bisi. Along with Material and Massacre, George Cartwright's Curlew, Rudolph Gray's Blue Humans, Elliott Sharp, Borbetomagus, and many other shorter lived bands were exploring different aspects of a similar terrain, some more jazz-derived, some more dance-oriented, some dealing with ecstatic noise. Massacre's territory was perhaps most closely aligned with punk, and indeed the critics coined the term punk jazz to describe most of the above groups. Massacre's pieces were often very short, always very loud, and involved intricate heads that opened into high-energy explorations of rhythm and timbre. When they performed at progressive rock venues in France in early 1981 it was like a blast of fresh air whose impact was deeply felt and long-lasting. Massacre's new life is still ongoing and they have developed into something very different, reflecting the diverse experiences that the three members have had since the early eighties. Robert Wyatt described a recent performance as demonstrating 'complete authority.' The roots of that authority can clearly be heard on Killing Time, a record that for many at the time changed everything, and which represents a true milestone in the history of experimental rock."
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2CD
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FRO 008/9CD
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"A timely reissue of two timeless classics. On the first CD it's just Fred Frith and Tom Cora, the legendary two man crew who somehow -- in real time, not with endless overdubs -- managed to play all their own instruments (cello, bass, electric guitar, violin, casio) and sing -- as well as, between them, constructing the drum parts -- dislocated into elements with each of them having bits of the kit. This made for some fantastic -- and normally unplayable parts -- most drummers having only one brain. No one sounded like Skeleton Crew, ever. Devious, complicated, brutally simple, always unexpected, turning on a dime, this was not just a pop band but a tocsin, a call to arms -- and in a short recorded life it produced a catalogue of invention that is still breathtaking today. On the second album, the inspired addition of Zeena Parkins (keyboards, accordion, more drums, more vocals) led to some of the best music of the decade. The recording was rawer, more urgent, the songs standing out in sharp relief; every part essential. And yet -- it's a puzzle almost impossible to unravel: how on earth did they ever evolve those dislocated parts and still make them fit so perfectly together? Did I mention the texts? So much to the point, so good. And where are the Skeleton Crews today when we really need them? Both CDs are here, in full, re-mastered by Fred and with 10 extra tracks -- each as good as anything on the official albums."
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FRO 007CD
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"Featuring beautifully understated performances from Joey Baron (drums), the late, great master cellist, Tom Cora, and the inimitable sax talents of George Cartwright, Allies is the second in the Music For Dance series, pioneered originally on Fred's Technology Of Tears. While some compositional similarities are reminiscent of that work, Allies employs a more organic approach, weaning mostly acoustic elements into Fred's penchant to explore the musical relationship between the mechanical and the natural elements of sound and modern music. Elegant and meticulously crafted surfaces are constantly under attack from unpredictable elements, creating a particular tension that is haunting and quite unlike any of the composer's other works. The six movements that comprise this amazing disk examine the ways Fred's angular, trademark melodies are constructed/de-constructed, particularly with regards to how multiple melodies can be extracted from a single melodic source. Single notes of different instruments are strung together to 'hocket' particularly gorgeous melodies that expound upon the composer's harmonic developments with mathematical references, much in the same way he is famously known for his work with complex time signatures."
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FRO 006CD
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"Fred's third LP for the US label Ralph Records, back in 1983, was a collection of gloriously direct pop songs, recorded on a four-track home studio system. Fred played almost all of the instruments: guitar, six string bass, Casio 101 keyboard, violin, xylophone, and home mades. There are some great production ideas, with intrusive samples (Ronald Reagan appears in a memorable moment), and guitars snaking, bending and sliding around the mix. It's quite extraordinary, given the sound quality and the vibrancy of the production ideas, that this was recorded on a four-track recorder. There are influences from European café music (the inspired electronic doodling of ZNR springs to mind), and Frank Zappa, East European traditional music, Cajun, and....er...Sting and the novelty singles of The Flying Lizards all make themselves felt. Fred is joined for cameos on bass by Bill Laswell and Tina Curren, and Hans Bruinnsson provides some great drum samples. The album caused ripples in the 'progressive music snob' circuit at the time, for its apparent simplicity. With the benefit of hindsight, Fred really captured something with his popularisation of sometimes excessively elitist po-faced avant-garde music."
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FRO 003CD
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"This is Fred's soundtrack to the independent movie of the same name, by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel, which was voted one of the 100 best films ever by the critics of Cahier du Cinema. The album does not sound like a conventional sound track album, it's one of Fred's most vibrant releases, as the music rushes between styles as far apart as East European folk, Japanese Pop, African drumming and just about everything you can do in between. Of course, Fred's guitar is to the fore, cajoling and coaxing great performances out of an all star cast; Iva Bittova, Joey Baron, Ciro Batista, Tom Cora, John Zorn, Bob Ostertag, Haco, And Zeena Parkins are just some of the musicians who appear. One of Fred's most enduringly popular albums."
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FRO 005CD
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"Field recordings of traditional singing and drumming, the jaunty accordion and violin music of a travelling circus troupe, the sounds of trucks, trains, wells, winds, flies, fire, thunder, camels, goats and a jackal are woven into a multi-layered, subtly shifting cinematic aural journey. This is Fred's poetic soundtrack CD accompanying the Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel documentary film of the same name. Middle of the Moment is a poetic evocation of nomadism; The filmmakers travelled with the Tuereg people in the Sahara desert, and also experienced the exotic wanderings of Cirque 0, an avant garde circus troupe."
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FRO 002CD
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"Here's the original CD as released by the Virgin subsidiary Caroline, in the early '70s. Hugely influential at the time, and still legendary, this is just Fred alone with electric and acoustic guitars, and the help of multiple pick ups, scrapers, and countless new techniques for getting new sounds out of the guitar. At the time it impressed Brian Eno so much Fred got to work with him. It also launched Fred's career as a solo improviser of world stature, which he remains to this day. From rock and roll attacks, to post apocalyptic scraping, Eno-esque delays and ambiences, and wild fuzz lead, Fred does just about everything you could imagine doing to a guitar. The release replaces the first CD version, which was available in the 80's and 90's on the Swiss Rec Rec label."
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2CD
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FRA 003CD
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Jean Derome: (alto & baritone sax); Fred Frith: (guitar, bass, violin, voice); Charles Hayward: (drums, voice); Rene Lussier: (guitar, bass); Bob Ostertag: (sampler); Zeena Parkins: (accordion, harp, piano, voice). "This is the legendary band which Fred formed in 1989, but which till now has never been captured on record. The compositions were culled from all periods of Fred's career, and the idea was to re-make them with a wild, inspirational and improvising aesthetic. 'It was a glorious and nerve wracking couple of years, and exactly the kind of transformation I'd dreamed of. I was pulling out all kinds of stuff -- Massacre tunes re-constituted as ballads, Henry Cow material that had stayed in my notebooks, things that had been written for dance and theatre. It was basically 'light the blue touch paper and stand well clear!''. The material on this double album was recorded live at concerts in Germany, Italy and Austria in 1991."
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FRA 002CD
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"It's a real pleasure to hear a new album of Fred's songs. He's rather shy about his singing, but he shouldn't be; he sounds like a cross between David Byrne, Christoph Anders and Robert Wyatt. The songs often make use of samples from well-known sources, and album has to be the most user-friendly he has produced in years. This is Fred in real pop mode, a fascinating, and yes, commercial album. Guest musicians include Mike Johnson and Dave Kerman on vocals, Bernd Lehman on clarinet and sax and Sebastian Gramms on double bass. Other guest appearances include Bill Clinton, Burt Bacharach, Serge Gainsbourg And Helmut Kohl."
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FRO 004CD
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"This one of the most important guitar-based, experimental guitar titles from the avant-guitarist and founding Henry Cow member Fred Frith. Frith's second solo album, Speechless, includes appearances by Estron Fou Leloublan, Massacre, and Bill Laswell. This is a studio Frankenstein of live clips and found sounds. While Frith states attests to the occurrence of many 'happy accidents,' the album comes across confidently and more often more coherent than merely challenging. Six bonus tracks appear on this CD version. This is often cited as Frith's best solo record and its inspired manipulations hold up under repeated scrutiny. There is a bit of European folk influence here, too, but not as obvious as on Gravity."
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FRA 001CD
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"Any new record from Fred Frith, one of the world's leading avant rock guitarists and composers, is a major event. Accidental was commissioned by a British choreographer who lives in Amsterdam, Paul Selwyn Norton, for a dance piece made with the Batsheva Company in Tel Aviv. For Fred it's a return to basics, a series of deeply contrasting moods achieved with the simplest of means. Throughout the CD, noises of rusty metal, electronic detritus, bits of random radio, improvised cut-up vocals and messed up percussion, suggest an unpredictable and hostile landscape."
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FRO 001CD
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"Fred Frith is undoubtedly one of the world's greatest electric guitarists. Starting out with UK avant rock group Henry Cow in the early 70's, he developed a devastating melodic fuzz lead guitar style that took its cue from the 'Canterbury' bands Soft Machine and Hatfield and the North. He's also developed a whole series of Frithisms which do not rely on the fuzz box -- gorgeous jazz chords which swell out of thin air, delicate high melodic lines, fantastically complex riffs, and a new language of the solo improvisation which re-connects Derek Bailey with rock n roll. Gravity, originally released on vinyl by Ralph Records in 1980, is one of Fred's most enjoyable and accessible releases. It was born at a time when he wanted to get away from the massive and complex structures of Henry Cow, and he began to think about more direct song and dance forms. During a Greek holiday he scribbled down the melodies of local musicians on napkins, raw material for this album of intriguing electric guitar and violin tunes. There are some impossibly catchy melodies, arranged with the off kilter sense of harmony and instrumentation reminiscent of the first Cow album, but here delivered with in-your-face brutal simplicity. There is mutated mandolin, township jazz piano, Balkan wedding music, and Fred's trademark fuzz guitar. There's even a vicious re-working of Dancing in the Street. Musicians including The Muffins and Samla Mammas Manna and Marc Hollander are the support."
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