FRED FRITH – Step Across The Border (2LP-1990)

Label: RecRec Music – RecRec 30

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation / Country: Switzerland / Released: 1990

Style: Avantgarde, Experimental, Jazz-Rock

Music for the film by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel, Recorded between 1979 and 1989.

Artwork [Lithography] – Busag, Zürich

Design [Cover] – Peter Bäder

Engineer – Benedykt Grodon

Photography By – Oscar Salgado

Recorded By – Jean Vapeur

Compiled with additons and alterations at Sound Fabrik, Munich Dec. 89.

A1 - Sparrow Song ........... (1:31)

A2 - Voice of America, Part III .......... (4:26)

A3 - Selluloid Restaurant ........... (3:12)

A4 - After Dinner .......... (1:49)

A5 - Houston Street .......... (2:56)

A6 - Drum Factory .......... (2:04)

A7 - Regardless of Rain ............ (3:07)

B1 - Candy Machine ............ (3:02)

B2 - Romanisches Café .......... (6:22)

B3 - The Border ........... (3:31)

B4 - Nirvana Again ............ (1:55)

B5 - Scottish Roppongi ........... (1:50)

C1 - Norrgarden Nyvla ............ (2:59)

C2 - Birds ........... (2:21)

C3 - The As Usual Dance towards the Other Flight to What Is Not, Part 3 ........... (1:50)

C4 - Williamsburg Bridge ........... (1:56)

C5 - Same Old Me .......... (4:13)

C6 - The As Usual Dance towards the Other Flight to What Is Not, Part 7 ........... (2:28)

C7 - Lost and Found .......... (3:20)

D1 - Nine by Nine .......... (5:54)

D2 - Evolution ........... (3:23)

D3 - Union Square .......... (1:44)

D4 - Morning Song .......... (2:03)

D5 - Voice of America, Part IV .......... (2:05)

D6 - Too Much Too Little ........... (2:09)

D7 - Too Late ........... (2:25)

Line-up / Musicians:

- Fred Frith / guitar, violin, bass, home-mades, DX7, Casio, voice, percussion, bottles, trumpet

- Tom Cora / cello, drum, voice

- Zeena Parkins / keyboards, drum, voice

- Bob Ostertag / Serge synthesizer, tapes, samples

- Bill Laswell / bass

- Fred Maher / drums

- John Zorn / alto saxophone

- Daihachi Oguchi / factory sound

- Jean Derome / alto saxophone

- René Lussier / bass

- Kevin Norton / drums

- Eino Haapala / guitar

- Marc Hollander / alto saxophone

- Lars Hollmer / keyboards

- Hans Bruniusson / drums

- Tim Hodgkinson / bass clarinet

- Iva Bittová / violin

- Pavel Fajt / beer cans, guitar, voice

- Eitetsu Hayashi / taiko

- Tina Curran / bass

- Haco / piano, voice

Step Across the Border is a 1990 avant-garde documentary film on English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith. It was written and directed by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel and released in Germany and Switzerland. The film was screened in cinemas in North America, South America, Europe and Japan, and on television in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France. It was also released on VHS by RecRec Music (Switzerland) in 1990, and was later released on DVD by Winter & Winter (Germany) in 2003.

Shot in black and white, the 35mm documentary was filmed between 1988 and 1990 in Japan, Italy, France, Germany, England, the United States and Switzerland, and shows Frith rehearsing, performing, giving interviews and relaxing. Other musicians featured include René Lussier, Iva Bittová, Tom Cora, Tim Hodgkinson, Bob Ostertag and John Zorn.

The film won "Best Documentary" at the European Film Awards in 1990. A companion soundtrack album, Step Across the Border was also released by RecRec Music in 1990.

A ninety minute celluloid improvisation by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel.

"Improvisation" here refers not only to the music, but also to the film itself. Humbert and Penzel state in the 2003 DVD release of the film:

“In Step Across the Border two forms of artistic expression, improvised music and cinema direct, are interrelated. In both forms it is the moment that counts, the intuitive sense of what is happening in a space. Music and film come into existence out of an intense perception of the moment, not from the transformation of a preordained plan.”

The film is not narrated, and the musicians, the music and the locations are not identified. Instead it is a sequence of "snapshots' taken of Frith and musicians he has worked with, rehearsing and performing, interspersed with apparent random images of movement (trains, cars, people, grass) that blend in with the music. The improvised nature of the film and its Direct Cinema approach make it more of an art film than simply a documentary on a musician.

The music in the film is performed by Frith on his own, with others, and by others on their own. Some of the music is improvised, some is composed material performed "live", and some is previously recorded material played as accompaniment to many of the "movement" sequences in the film.

The recording of the film coincided with the formation and activity of Frith's review band Keep the Dog (1989–1991), and many of the participants of the band appear in the film. There are even a few rare glimpses of the band rehearsing. René Lussier in particular, features prominently and "interviews" Frith about his musical upbringing and approach to music.

The title of the film comes from the lyrics of the song "The Border", recorded by Skeleton Crew on their album, The Country of Blinds (1986). A brief "video" of this song also appears in the film.

Although this is technically the soundtrack to a film of the same name by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel, Step Across the Border actually serves as an excellent overview of Fred Frith's groundbreaking work as a soloist, bandleader, and collaborator. There's an example of his "guitars on the table" approach ("Romanisches Cafe"), and a couple of excellent duos with tape manipulation whiz Bob Ostertag ("Voice of America, Pt. 3," from the lost and lamented Voice of America album they made for the defunct Metalanguage label). There are also scraps of material from his work with Skeleton Crew as well as numerous other well-chosen miniatures that vary from tuneful and charming to stark and forbidding. Perhaps the best thing this album accomplishes is that it puts some of the material from the astounding (but, sadly, long out of print) album of avant-garde power trio compositions and improvisations Frith recorded with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher under the name Massacre back into circulation: the very fine "Legs" is included here, as is a previously unreleased live track from 1983. Very highly recommended.

_ Review by Rick Anderson

The collection itself is wonderful, showing all sides of Frith's skillful and innovative playing and composition. The songs range from sounds similar to The Residents, whose Commercial Album featured Frith as a sideman, to early Zappa, and even one song Evolution, with high pitched vocals and a reggae influenced beat, that sounds sort of like a deranged version of The Police.

This is a gem in my collection. Highly recommended for the RIO fan.

If you find it, buy this album!

SLAPP HAPPY with HENRY COW – Desperate Straights (LP-1975)

Label: Virgin – V 2024

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress / Country: UK / Released: 1975

CD ReR Megacorp – ReR HCSH1 (UK) (2004)

Style: Avantgarde, Jazz Rock, Prog Rock

Recorded at The Manor & Nova Sound Studios, 1974.

Arranged By, Producer – Henry Cow, Simon Heyworth, Slapp Happy

A1 - Some Questions About Hats . . . (1:49)

A2 - The Owl . . . (2:14)

A3 - A Worm Is at Work . . . (1:52)

A4 - Bad Alchemy . . . (3:06)

A5 - Europa . . . (2:48)

A6 - Desperate Straights . . . (4:14)

A7 - Riding Tigers . . . (1:43)

B1 - Apes in Capes . . . (2:14)

B2 - Strayed . . . (1:53)

B3 - Giants . . . (1:57)

B4 - Excerpt from The Messiah . . . (1:48)

B5 - In the Sickbay . . . (2:08)

B6 - Caucasian Lullaby . . . (8:20)

Line-up / Musicians

- Peter Blegvad / guitar, voice

- Lindsay Cooper / oboe, bassoon

- Chris Cutler / drums

- Fred Frith / guitar, violin, xylophone

- John Greaves / bass guitar, piano

- Anthony Moore / piano

- Tim Hodgkinson / clarinet, organ, piano

- Dagmar Krause / voice, wurlitzer

Guest musicians:

- Mont Campbell / French horn

- Nick Evans / trombone

- Mongezi Fezza / trumpet

- Geoff Leigh / flute

- Pierre Moerlen / percussion

Shortly after recording 'Unrest', Henry Cow entered into a merger with label mates Slapp Happy. Slapp Happy comprised Dagmar, a German vocalist who would later win great acclaim for interpretations of Brecht (and sign my copy of this abum), Peter Blegvad, American born but raised and educated in England, played guitar and wrote most of the lyrics and would later contribute the unique strip cartoon Leviathan to the Independent, and Anthony Moore, English pianist who wrote most of the music and who would later work with the post Waters Pink Floyd. Together they produced a kind of skewed pop awash with literary and artistic references. They had recorded 2 albums with Faust, the second of which was re-recorded with session players for Virgin. 2 albums would come from this merger; Desperate Straights (Slapp Happy with Henry Cow) and In Praise Of Learning (Henry Cow with Slapp Happy).

Desperate Straights was the first of the joint ventures to be recorded, and the union of Henry Cow's avant rock with Slapp Happy's warped pop was both challenging and accessible. The majority of the songs were built around a piano/bass/drums accompaniment, with other instruments adding extra colour where needed. Tim Hodgkinson's clarinet is deployed as an instrumental foil to Dagmar's unique voice to superb effect, particularly on the opening song Some Questions About Hats. Elsewhwere, The Owl features Dagmar accompanied solely by horns and Europa has some superb percussion from Pierre Moerlen - all the arrangements are highly original and well thought out. Peter Blegvad takes the lead vocal on Strayed and does a neat pastiche of Lou Reed's drawl. Excerpt From The Messiah is a snippet of Handel as though played by a 70s glam metal band like Slade. There are 2 instrumentals, the title track which is a short, off kilter foxtrot, and the closing track, a lengthy piano/clarinet piece which features the 2 instruments playing scales very slowly. Caucasian Lullaby isn't bad at all, and would have been a superb addition to one of Eno's Obscure label releases, but it is somewhat out of keeping with the rest of the album.

This release is more representative of Slapp Happy than Henry Cow. All of Slapp Happy's albums are worth checking out - this album was released on CD as a twofer with their first album for Virgin, and is superb value if you can find it. If you've ever wondered what a cabaret band from mars would sound like, this album is definitly for you.

Review by Syzygy,

PROG REVIEWER, February 08, 2005



Buy this album!

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!

HENRY COW – Concerts (2LP-1976) - 2CD-1995

Label: East Side Digital – ESD 80822/832
Format: 2 × CD, Album; Country: US - Released: 1995
Style: Free Improvisation, Abstract, Prog Rock, Jazz, Experimental, Art Rock
Tracks 1-1 to 2-1 & 2-5 originally released as the 2LP set "Concerts" in 1976. 
Tracks 2-2 to 2-4 are taken from the "Greasy Truckers Live At Dingwalls Dancehall" compilation released in 1973.
Original LP mastered by David Vorhaus at Kaleidiphon, London.
Reissue mastered by Bob Drake at Studio Midi-Pyrénées, France.
Mixed By – Bob Conduct (tracks: 1-1 to 1-5), Harold Clark (tracks: 2-1 to 2-8), Jack Balchin (tracks: 2-1 to 2-8), Neil Sandford (tracks: 1-8, 2-12), Sarah Greaves (tracks: 1-6, 1-7, 1-9, 1-10), Tony Wilson (tracks: 1-1 to 1-5)
Recorded By, Mixed By – Henry Cow (tracks: 2-9 to 2-11), Tom Newman (tracks: 2-9 to 2-11)

Disc 1: 1 to 5 recorded 5th August 1975 at BBC Studios (Peel Session).
Disc 1: 6 & 7 recorded 21st May 1975 at the New London Theatre.
Disc 1: 8 & Disc 2: 12 recorded 13th October 1975 in Udine.
Disc 2: 1 to 8 recorded 25th July 1975 at the Hovikodden Arts Centre, Oslo.
Disc 1: 9 & 10 recorded 26th September 1974 at Vera, Groningen.
Disc 2: 9 to 11 Redorded and mixed at the Manor on 4.11.73.

John Greaves: bass, voice, celeste, piano
Tim Hodgkinson: organ, clarinet, alto sax, piano
Fred Frith: guitar, piano, violin, xylophone
Chris Cutler: drums, piano
Lindsay Cooper: bassoon, flute, oboe, recorder, piano
Geoff Leigh: tenor & soprano sax, flute, clarinet, recorder
Dagmar Krause: voice, piano
Robert Wyatt: voice

Disk 1
1. Beautiful As The Moon; Terrible As An Army With Banners / Nirvana For Mice / Ottawa Song / Gloria Gloom / Moon Reprise 22:46
2. Bad Alchemy / Little Red Riding Hood Hits The Road 8:43
3. Ruins 16:25
4. Groningen 8:56
5. Groningen Again 7:22
Disk 2
1. Oslo 28:54
2. Off The Map 8:23
3. Cafe Royal 3:20
4. Keeping Warm In Winter / Sweet Heart Of Mine 10:00
5. Udine 9:42

Henry Cow - Concerts

"Henry Cow is the new King Crimson". Though Frank Zappa and Soft Machine were both mentioned, it was the group's (supposed) similarity to King Crimson that was the main selling point of the first review I ever read of Legend, Henry Cow's debut album. And though a cautious attitude was definitely in order, this being the same magazine - though not necessarily the same writer - that four years earlier had called King Crimson "the new Moody Blues"... well, I got the album.

All were excellent musicians: on sax, clarinet and flute, Geoff Leigh was the most overtly jazz-influenced member; keyboard and reed player Tim Hodgkinson was already a very skillful composer, Amygdala being a track that one could listen to today without having any idea of its real vintage; on guitar (but also on violin, viola and piano), Fred Frith appeared to be the group's most overtly "rock" element; then there was the rhythm section: on bass, John Greaves was absolutely excellent in his choice of notes and their attack and release; while Chris Cutler would prove to be the last in the long line of inventive, personal drummers to come out of the United Kingdom (which is not to say that there were no more "technically proficient" drummers in UK after him). Though the LP definitely featured parts that on first listening sounded quite difficult, it still managed to fascinate and intrigue - while at the same time making one aware of the fact that there were musical dimensions of which the average listener (i.e., this writer) had no awareness whatsoever.

It could be said that with each successive album Henry Cow managed to test the limits of what was possible in "rock" - this should be understood as referring to both the form and the commercial environment in which they found themselves operating (this is the early 70s, remember, with T. Rex and Glam Rock as the new craze). Unrest saw the group drop the jazz (and Geoff Leigh) and get a quite different instrumental voice with Lindsay Cooper on bassoon and oboe. If side one was in some ways an extension of the first album, the studio-intensive side two was a leap not many listeners proved to be willing to take. And the lack of any serious interviews didn't help (in just a few years, Virgin Records had signed Faust, Henry Cow, Hatfield And The North, Robert Wyatt, Gong and Slapp Happy, but it was Mike Oldfield - and, later, Tangerine Dream - who paid the bills).

Things became even more confusing with the release of the Slapp Happy/Henry Cow joint album, Desperate Straights. Though the songs on the LP were not at all difficult, the only review I read at the time managed to compare Dagmar Krause's vocals to Yoko Ono's - which could not in any way be taken as a compliment! (I still remember the horrified look of those at Virgin Records - whose offices I briefly visited in Summer '75 - when I referred to In Praise Of Learning as being "Henry Cow's new album after Desperate Straights", a notion they hastened to correct.)

In Praise Of Learning managed to feature many musical streams on the same album - and quite successfully, I'd say: the short song, the long composed piece, the studio works, all was excellent. Plus, the album seriously rocked (well, maybe not in the States, their meaning of "rock" being quite different/definitely more limited than its European counterpart).

Soon all this came to an end - and to a different beginning. The day I got my copy of Concerts - an import copy I bought via mail order (I had previously bought all the group's albums in a shop in the centre of the town, and they were definitely widely available as Italian pressing) - I was quite surprised: who's this Compendium Records? It looked like Virgin Records had finally decided that this music was not, financially speaking, the shape of things to come. And though the Continent would prove to be a more fertile ground for this kind of music for a few more years, the hordes of those "complexity-challenged" who shot point blank in the direction of EL&P and Yes and who ignored even the mere existence of groups like Henry Cow (not that it would have made any difference anyway) were obviously bound to prevail.

As per the album's title, Concerts showed what a different group Henry Cow could be on stage. Compared to the old double LP of 1976 (there had been a CD re-release, about ten years ago, which I never listened to) this new Bob Drake-remastered version sounds miles better. I mean, not in the sense that anything has been "improved"! - the BBC session sounds as good as ever, the Robert Wyatt tracks sound as... well, as mediocre as ever. But it's obvious that a cleaner sound, no surface noise, and the fact of not having to deal with the physical limitations of vinyl definitely make for an easier appreciation of this music, especially when it comes to the long (almost half an hour!) improvisation titled Oslo which was originally compressed on side three.

The BBC session that (still) opens the album could maybe work as a "pocket introduction" for those who have never listened to Henry Cow. One of the group's best songs, Beautiful As The Moon, Terrible As An Army With Banners, opens: nice piano (Frith), expressive vocals (Dagmar), excellent cymbals (Cutler); then a nice reprise of the more "jazzy" Nirvana For Mice, off the first album, with Hodgkinson on saxophone and an ebullient but precise Greaves on bass; The Ottawa Song, an original, and a cover of the Wyatt/MacCormick-penned Gloria Gloom (off Little Red Record, Matching Mole's second album) show the group to be at ease.

Off Desperate Straights, Bad Alchemy has Wyatt on vocals and Greaves on piano; a nice cover of Wyatt's Little Red Riding Hood Hits The Road, off his much-lauded Rock Bottom LP, follows. Off Unrest, Frith's Ruins still sounds fertile and inventive. Originally placed on side four, the two concert extracts titled Groningen, by a Cooper-less quartet, are a superb group rumination on a theme by Hodgkinson.

Oslo is for this writer the real find: a coherent but continuously surprising improvisation sporting ever-changing timbres (Cutler on piano!), it shows how advanced the group's improvisations were at the time. As a bonus, we have the very good cuts that had originally appeared on the out-of-print-for-ages double compilation Live At Dingwalls (while listening to track 10 I happened to look at my old, but still working, turntable: a mere coincidence?). Udine brilliantly closes this (very long, but there's not one superfluous note to be found anywhere) double CD.

Meanwhile, some very dry but (in their own understated way) quite dramatic pages off Chris Cutler's touring diary will speak volumes about the group's "life on the road".

_ Story by BEPPE COLLI
(CloudsandClocks.net | Nov. 2, 2006)



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