Browse by Artist: HENRY COW

Artist:	HENRY COW
Title:	Leg End
Label:	RECOMMENDED (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	RER HC1

The Henry Cow catalog is now available again in the US, via ReR (note that HC1, 3 & 4 are actually old pressings on the now defunct East Side Digital label). Featuring Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, John Greaves, Tim Hodgkinson and Geoff Leigh. "At last available on CD in the original mix, this is the classic first album from the band who invented a new genre, changed music forever and carved out a permanent place in rock history. Henry Cow were among the first bands signed to Richard Branson's fledgling Virgin label in 1973, on the recommendation of Soft Machine's drummer Robert Wyatt, who described them at the time as 'my favourite band in the world'. The record with the sock on the cover made a huge impact at the time, forging on from where Soft Machine and Frank Zappa had left off. The music was incredibly dense, complex yet melodic progressive rock, with a large dose of wacky English humour."

Artist:	HENRY COW
Title:	Unrest
Label:	RECOMMENDED (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	RER HC2

"This is the second in our series of definitive reissues of the original Virgin Albums, dating from 1974. By the time Unrest was made, Geoff Leigh had left the group and Lindsay Cooper joined on bassoon, oboe, flute, and soprano sax. The mix is more 'live' than Legend, with the drums much more to the fore. The first half of the album is fully composed material, with some of the Cow's best loved tunes, 'Canterbury' anthems like 'Half Asleep Half Awake' and 'Bittern Storm Over Ulm'. For the second half the material was written in the studio, using loops, varispeed tapes and electronics, and superimposing live improvisation and composed passages. The compositions are poised half way between classical and rock, with Bartok and Duke Ellington re-figured for rock instruments, and there is still a residual Soft Machine influence, echoed by the gorgeous sound of Fred Frith's fuzz guitar and Tim Hodgkinson's fuzz organ. The abstract grooves laid down by Chris Cutler's drumming, and John Greaves' sprung bass, are the stuff of legend, and Lindsay Cooper adds a unique voice, with her funky bassoon and pungent oboe playing. First heard live on the John Peel show in 1974, this music is classic, historic and still relevant. This re-issue has been carefully 24 bit re-mastered with a new booklet, photos and documentation."

Artist:	HENRY COW
Title:	In Praise of Learning
Label:	RECOMMENDED (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	RER HC3

"This is the third in our series of classic re-issues, following on from Leg End and Unrest. In Praise... was produced in 1975 by a new version of Henry Cow after they had merged with cult Euro-popsters Slapp Happy, and then split apart again. The process unleashed on their music the extraordinary voice of Dagmar Krause, as songs became a major component of the music for the first time. From the opening track 'War' -- a Moore/Blegvad composition covered by The Fall on the 1993 'Middle Class Revolt' album -- we are thrown into a black comedy, repeated laughter in odd time signatures, and a great Mongezi Feza trumpet solo. The centrepiece of the album, Tim Hodgkinson's 'Living In the Heart of the Beast', is justly famous; its an extraordinary 20 minute epic which manages to fuse Messiaen-like organ with vast fuzz guitar tunes, complex arrangements and revolutionary lyrics. This is the first time In Praise of Learning has been available on CD in the original mix, and it has been carefully re-mastered -- for many years only a poorly mastered remix was available. This album is essential for fans of Henry Cow, the Canterbury/Soft Machine school, and all those interested in challenging music."

Artist:	HENRY COW
Title:	Western Cuiture
Label:	RECOMMENDED (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	RER HC4

"This is the 4th in ReR's series of Henry Cow re-releases, which traces the career of this most influential of experimental rock groups. Following their split with Virgin, the group's history became complicated; bass player John Greaves left, and after a dispute in the recording studio, what was intended as the next Henry Cow album mutated into the Art Bears' much respected Hopes and Fears. In 1978 the members of the Cow agreed to stay together under the Cow banner for a final six months of touring. They decided to record a final album of entirely new music, written by Tim Hodgkinson and Lindsay Cooper -- and that album was Western Culture. It's one of their very best. Titles like 'Industry', 'The Decay of Cities', and 'Falling Away' hurl the listener into a dark world of additive time signatures, spooky organ interludes, and complex instrumental textures. The invigorating blast of energy suggests a new vision of part classical, part Industrial, part Brechtian rock chamber music. Like a minimal, concentrated re-vision of the old Henry Cow, it prefigures the terrifying structures of 80's iconic rock group This Heat. For the first time the group was happy with their recorded sound. Western Culture has been digitally re-mastered, and the CD sounds better than ever before. The booklet is crammed with previously unpublished photographs and biographical material, and there are three extra tracks which have only appeared before on the ReR vinyl magazine."

Artist:	HENRY COW
Title:	Concerts Remastered
Label:	RECOMMENDED (UK)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	RER HC5/6

2006 remastered version, replacing the old ESD version. "Originally released in 1976, this collection offers a snapshot of Henry Cow as audiences would have heard it in the year before. In the chronology, Concerts came between In Praise of Learning and Western Culture -- that is, after Virgin had lost interest in releasing any more Henry Cow studio records and before the band quit to make one of its own. It was also the year of the 'merger' with Robert Wyatt for a series of concerts in which compositions were shared -- the last show, in Rome, was also Robert's last public performance. From its earlier records, the band was known for its rather complex compositional work. This double LP for the first time gave serious space to the improvisations that accounted for maybe a third of any of its lengthy stage performances. When the double LP was reissued as a CD, the Henry Cow side of the long deleted Greasy Truckers album was added -- 5 surprisingly accessible but abstract studio pieces recorded in an afternoon in 1973 -- recovering yet another side of the group's rapidly evolving vocabulary. This new edition, repackaged and carefully re-mastered by Bob Drake, completes our definitive edition of the group's officially released recordings."

Previous Page Index of Artists Next Page