Art Bears - The World As It Is Today
SKU
RERAB3
Dagmar Krause-vocals
Chris Cutler-drums, electronics
Fred Frith-guitars, keyboards, violin, etc.
This was the 3rd and final album by the successor band to Henry Cow. I'm not really sure why (short playing length? the press had gone onto other things to champion? it wasn't released stateside, unlike the first two?) but this one slipped under the radar of a lot of folks, compared to their 1st two.
It's a very bleak, but also a very solid work. And very clever and sly in its own way - who else would have the opening lyrics for "The Song Of Investment Capitol Overseas be: "Out of town; my work takes me out of town"! Songs with powerful lyrics built upon experimental kernels. Recommended if you wanna go 'riding on a bummer'.
"A scathing, brutal and disturbingly honest venture into the horrors of contemporary inhumanity and political digression. Here Art Bears forage even more boldly into aspects of using the recording studio as a compositional instrument : A tape of a lawnmower is slowed down several steps to convincingly create the sounds of machine-gun fire and bombs. A Geiger counter is emulated by radically E.Q.ing drum sticks played on a tile flooring in the studio. No punches are pulled, and the band goes all-out on this, their final recording. The playing is aggressive and hefty, and the sound immaculate, intense and, at times, downright scary."