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Henry Cow - In Praise of Learning [Vinyl]
The Canterbury "progressive" school was renewed in the 1970s mainly by Henry Cow and the solo works of its members.
Formed in 1969 on the Cambridge campus by guitarist Fred Frith (a violin virtuoso and former composer of ballet music), with Tim Hodgkinson on keyboards and Geoff Leigh on woodwinds, Henry Cow won a competition for young talent and composed a Dionysian rock opera about Euripides' "Bacchae." They were later joined by John Greaves on bass and Chris Cutler on percussion.
After a taster work, Desperate Straights (Virgin, 1974), still a bit rusty (but with the splendid Caucasian Zullaby, folkloric and dissonant, and with Bad Alchemy), comes In Praise Of Learning (1975), another masterpiece. The ensemble's music stands as an original fusion of expressionism and electronics, rock-cabaret and "Darmstadtian" avant-garde.
In Praise Of Learning is, above all, a work of synthesis: the two expressive moments of Henry Cow, the first dedicated to Wyatt and Zappa, the second matured, through uncertain rehearsals and long pauses, in free improvisation, converge and benefit from Krause's icy, harsh voice. This certainly represents the most destabilizing element: animator of German intelligentsia circles, militant feminist, orthodox Brechtian. But credit must also be divided among the others: Cutler, angelic percussionist of chaos and Wyatt's greatest disciple; Hodgkinson, who confirms himself as an eclectic keyboardist; Cooper, masterful and frugal manipulator of oboes and bassoons; Moore, emulator of the great German electronic school. The semi-serious tone of the early days gives way to a severe expressive tension. One senses the hostile presence of a message, but one struggles to understand the new philosophy, based on mystery, the unknown, the magical, the fantastic. The plots count for nothing, for from their slender scaffolding unravel disturbing thickets of sound, clusters of screams and somber instrumental phases that sway between psychoanalysis of the subconscious and universal religiosity. Expressionist cabaret (for the singing) and horror cinema (for the instrumental parts) are echoed in the tenebrous ballads War and Beautiful As The Moon Terrible As An Army (complex Brechtian lied for Krause's vibrant declamato, with Frith's glacial solo). To the total avant-garde can be ascribed the long rarefied jam Living In The Heart Of The Beast (with alternating singing and instrumental improvisations and an epic band-like finale), the cacophonous chaos of Morning Star, and The Long March, which from electronic and percussive dissonances seeps an eerie mantric rumble.
Source: https://www.scaruffi.com/vol3/henrycow.html
Tracklist:
A1. War 00:00
A2. Living In The Heart Of The Beast 02:32
B1. Beginning: The Long March 18:45
B2. Beautiful As The Moon - Terrible As An Army With Banners 24:47
B3. Morning Star 31:50
genre: Avantgarde
Carrier: LP
Year of release: 1975
Label: Virgin V 2027
Country: UK
Audio codec: FLAC
Rip type: image+.cue
Recording format: float32/96
Distribution Format: 24/96
Digitization source: by the author of the distribution
Vinyl Condition Code: VG+
Playback device: Saba PSP 248
Recorder head: AT440 + AT140LC
Preamplifier: Aiwa XA-007
ADC: Echo Indigo IO
Digitizer: Audacity
Processing: Manual click removal
Category | None |
Sensitivity | Normal - Content that is suitable for ages 16 and over |
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