Fred Frith - Speechless (1981)

Fred Frith - Speechless (1981)

rock, avantgarde | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 350MB

ESD 80542

Allmusic:
This is one of the most important experimental guitar-based titles from avant guitarist and founding Henry Cow member Fred Frith. Frith's second solo album, Speechless, includes appearances by Etron Fou Leloublan, Massacre, and Bill Laswell. This is a studio Frankenstein of live clips and found sounds. While Frith 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.

Tracks
-01. "Kick the Can (part 1)" – 2:19
-02. "Carnival on Wall Street" – 2:51
-03. "Ahead in the Sand" – 3:16
-04. "Laughing Matter" / "Esperanza" – 7:47
-05. "Women Speak to Men; Men Speak to Women" (Frith, Curran) – 5:39
-06. "A Spit in the Ocean" – 2:17
-07. "Navajo" – 3:05
-08. "Balance" – 5:04
-09. "Saving Grace" – 1:57
-10. "Speechless" – 3:05
-11. "Conversations With White Arc" (Frith, Laswell) – 1:14
-12. "Domaine de Planousset" – 2:59
-13. "Kick the Can (part 2)" – 2:14
---bonus tracks
-14. "The Entire Works of Henry Cow" – 1:00
-15. "So Schnell Ich" (Frith, Laswell, Maher) – 3:25
-16. "I'm Still Here and I Know What Time It Is" (Frith, Curran) – 1:06
-17. "No More War" (Frith, Gore) – 4:46
-18. "Typical American Family" – 1:01
-19. "Dig" – 3:07
All tracks composed by Fred Frith except where noted.

Personnel
tracks 1-5:
* Fred Frith – guitar, violin, mellotron, organ and bass guitar (track 1), voice (track 3)
* Etron Fou Leloublan:
--Guigou Chenevier – drums, tenor saxophone and voice
--Bernard Mathieu[15] – soprano and tenor saxophones, voice
--Ferdinand Richard – bass, guimbarde, voice
--Jo Thirion – organ, harmonium
* Guests
--Tina Curran – recorders, unusual edits
--Roger Kent Parsons – bagpipes)
--Bob Ostertag – field tape recordings
Recorded at Studio Freeson, Pujaut, France and at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg, Switzerland in July and August 1980.
tracks 6-13:
* Fred Frith – guitar, violin, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, voice
* Massacre:
--Bill Laswell – bass guitar
--Fred Maher – drums
* Guests
--Steve Buchanan – snake saxophone
--George Cartwright – alto saxophone
--Mars Williams – baritone saxophone
--Tina Curran – recorders, bass guitar

sample & buy: Speechless