Thursday, August 28, 2014

HENRY COW – In Praise Of Learning (LP-1975)



Label: Virgin ‎– V 2027
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1975
CD ReR Megacorp – ReR HC3 (US) (2000)
Style: Avantgarde, Jazz Rock, Prog Rock
Recorded at the Manor, February & March 1975, except track A1, recorded November 1974.
Artwork By [Sock] – Ray Smith
Producer – Henry Cow, Phil Becque, Slapp Happy
Recorded By, Mixed By – Phil Becque
Remastered By – Matt Murman

ART IS NOT A MIRROR - IT IS A HAMMER (John Grierson)

A1 - War . . . (2:26)
A2 - Living In The Heart of the Beast . . . (15:30)
B1 - Beginning: The Long March . . . (6:27)
B2 - Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army With Banners . . . (7:02)
B3 - Morning Star . . . (6:06)

Line-up / Musicians
- Dagmar Krause / vocals
- Peter Blegvad / clarinet, guitar, vocals
- John Greaves / bass, piano
- Chris Cutler / piano, trumpet, drums, vocals
- Lindsay Cooper / bassoon, oboe, Wind
- Mongezi Feza / trumpet
- Phil Becque / synthesizer
- Fred Frith / guitar, piano, violin, keyboards, xylophone
- Tim Hodgkinson / organ, clarinet, piano, keyboards, saxophone, vocals
- Geoff Leigh / trumpet, saxophones
- Anthony Moore / synthesizer, piano, keyboards, electronics

The trademark chainmail sock was deep red, and the cover was adorned with a quote from the left wing film maker John Grierson - 'Art is not a mirror, it is a hammer'. The titles of the two instrumentals also explicitly refer to the band's left wing politics; Beginning: The Long March is a reference to the Chinese Revolution, while Morning Star is the name of the daily paper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain.
And what of the music?




HENRY COW had joined forces with the German trio SLAPP HAPPY as they collaborated to make the album "Desperate Straights" under the SLAPP HAPPY name. "In Praise Of Learning" sees this collaboration continue only this one is released under the HENRY COW name. This collaboration would end shortly after this album was released. Still this melding of the two bands makes "In Praise Of Learning" quite different from their previous two studio albums. More avant-garde i'd say plus having Dagmar Krause on vocals changes the mood completely. I am used to her vocals from the ART BEARS albums but those who haven't heard her sing before don't usually view her participation as a positive. Including guests we get eleven musicians involved with the making of this record. SLAPP HAPPY would fold after this recording when Dagmar announced she was staying with HENRY COW as the COW would tour a lot the following year or so. She would return to SLAPP HAPPY though as witnessed on their 1980 release "Acnalbasac Noom".
"War" is only 2 1/2 minutes long and was composed by the SLAPP HAPPY duo of Moore and Blegvad. Both Blegvad and Krause sing on it and Dagmar is quite passionate here. I like the brief instrumental sections. "Living In The Heart Of The Beast" opens with Frith ripping it up with some dissonant guitar leads. Krause comes in vocally and I like this song already much better than the first tune. It settles down before we get some more aggressive guitar. A calm follows with piano and Dagmar returns in a reserved manner. It turns dark before 3 minutes as we get a complex instrumental section that really impresses. Vocals are back before 4 1/2 minutes. Another calm a minute later as the vocals stop and the sounds become intricate. Vocals are back and they do get passionate at times. Another calm before 7 1/2 minutes with organ. Violin joins in from Frith after 8 minutes. It will kick in again but settle back quickly. This is so good ! Vocals are back before 12 1/2 minutes as it stays fairly relaxed. Great, great track composed by Tim Hodgkinson.

"Beginning- The Long March" like the final track "Morning Star" were joint efforts by the two bands. The first is experimental throughout as various sounds come and go. I like this instrumental a lot, it's a real trip. "Beautiful As The Moon-Terrible As An Army With Banners" is a Frith / Cutler composition. It opens with reserved vocals and a laid back sound with plenty of piano. It does become a little more passionate then settles back before 3 minutes. It picks back up before 4 minutes with an excellent instrumental section. Dagmar is back late. Another excellent track. "Morning Star" ends it as we get dissonant horns and random drum patterns to start and more. Avant is the word and it continues throughout. An adventerous instrumental to close out the album...

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER, March 03, 2013


Whether you agree with their politics or not, music as passionate and committed as this is all too rare, and in the prog field it is almost unprecedented. Listen and be amazed.


Never have I heard such a radiant combination of instrumentation, song-writing, emotion, intellect, everything that makes each song unique and full of true magic. If you have not heard it, grant your ears the gift immediately. This album gets my highest recommendation of anything I could write.



Buy this album!

18 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HENRY COW – In Praise Of Learning (LP-1975)
      FLAC/MP3+Artwork

      FLAC – 1fichier:
      https://1fichier.com/?qmbrze9qws

      MP3-320 – Zippyshare:
      http://www72.zippyshare.com/v/14334363/file.html

      Delete
  2. This is what keeps you up all night, eh? Thank you, Vitko!

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  3. Dagmar's vocals are to die for, proving why she is my favorite vocalist. A magnificent amounts of emotion and clarity. Madness, intensity, persistence.

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  4. About music here: a milestone, no more to say. To my ears, the cd version (ESD 1991) sounds a little bit different in some points, 'cause of remixing, but maybe it's only nostalgia of the original vinyl that I had (and lost....)
    Anyway, I could put here as a bonus track Lovers of Gold, that appears only on CD version

    FF

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  5. Just discovered your blog - fantastic stuff!! Starting with this album as I haven't heard it for years. To my mind this was truly progressive music, in a league of its own away from regular 'prog'.

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  6. Correction for "Mellotron Storm": Dagmar didn't "return to SLAPP HAPPY [. . .] on their 1980 release 'Acnalbasac Noom'"; that was an old recording from 1974 (I think), the original recording of their second album (with members of Faust), which was scrapped on the orders of Virgin.

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  7. Hi, Vitko!

    Firedrive seems to be down. Any chance for re-up (lossless version) ?
    Thanks in advance.

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Dear Vitko, sorry for bothering you once again but can I hope for re-up of magnificent HC album in flac ?

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    Replies
    1. Hi cassiber, lossless link arrives today.
      Regards.

      Delete
    2. Thanks a million, Vitko!
      Couldn't wish a better gift for today,

      Delete
  10. Is this the original 1975 rip from Virgin (V 2027)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, this is a reissue of the year 2000, as I wrote in the third row below the cover (CD RER Megacorp - RER HC3 (US) (2000), and also it can read and in the right lower corner of the back cover.

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  11. Hi Vitko, links are dead again, can you please reup this album? Much appreciated

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete