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2LP
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SPITTLE 067LP
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2023 restock. . Spittle Records present an expanded reissue of Massacre's Killing Time, originally released in 1981. Following the breakup of Cambridge's avant-rock legends, Henry Cow, guitarist Fred Frith moved to NYC in 1979, and soon found himself deep in the heart of the city's robust post-punk and free-jazz scenes. He performed with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher, from the group Material, as a power trio of sorts under the moniker of Massacre. The group quickly garnered a reputation around town, and around the world for that matter, as a heavy and heady band that experimented greatly with rhythm, time signatures, and tone. As Frith himself put it, "the group was a direct response to New York. It was a very aggressive group, kind of my reaction to the whole New York rock club scene." Massacre released one album, Killing Time, before disbanding for nearly 20 years. Their first wave as a group crashed fast and furiously and this one album, recorded in part live in Paris, and in part at Brooklyn's OAO Studio, is a perfect encapsulation of early '80s NYC. In addition to the original album, first released on Celluloid in 1981, this deluxe three-sided double LP includes eight bonus tracks recorded live between '80 and '81 at The Stone in San Francisco, and Inroads and CBGB in NYC. Avant-jazz-post-punk-noise of the highest order from several legends and one of the most important projects Frith and Laswell were ever involved in. The back cover states: "In contrast to previous CD and LP versions, the Killing Time LP cuts are heard here as originally intended, at the correct speed and pitch and without added reverb."
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CD
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FRO 010CD
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Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Fred Maher. "This was a time when the worlds of rock, funk, jazz, and improvisation were colliding, and there were many venues willing to host the results without much idea of what was going on, other than that it was new, hip, energetic, and drew crowds. The Zu Band had become Material in 1979, and Frith was intimately involved in their first recording, playing guitar and violin, helping with arrangements, and mixing many of the songs alongside Martin Bisi. Along with Material and Massacre, George Cartwright's Curlew, Rudolph Gray's Blue Humans, Elliott Sharp, Borbetomagus, and many other shorter lived bands were exploring different aspects of a similar terrain, some more jazz-derived, some more dance-oriented, some dealing with ecstatic noise. Massacre's territory was perhaps most closely aligned with punk, and indeed the critics coined the term punk jazz to describe most of the above groups. Massacre's pieces were often very short, always very loud, and involved intricate heads that opened into high-energy explorations of rhythm and timbre. When they performed at progressive rock venues in France in early 1981 it was like a blast of fresh air whose impact was deeply felt and long-lasting. Massacre's new life is still ongoing and they have developed into something very different, reflecting the diverse experiences that the three members have had since the early eighties. Robert Wyatt described a recent performance as demonstrating 'complete authority.' The roots of that authority can clearly be heard on Killing Time, a record that for many at the time changed everything, and which represents a true milestone in the history of experimental rock."
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