Henry Cow was an English avant-garde rock and free-jazz band that released four studio albums between 1973 and 1975 on Virgin: Legend, Unrest, Desperate Straights, and In Praise of Learning, the last two in partnership with the cabaret-pop trio Slapp Happy. In 1978, Henry Cow recorded the albums Western Culture and Hopes and Fears — […]
News from Babel was an English avant-rock supergroup formed by Henry Cow veterans Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper, and Dagmar Krause. They mixed cabaret and art pop on the 1984–86 Rē albums Work Resumed on the Tower and Letters Home, the latter with Robert Wyatt. Members: Chris Cutler (drums, electronics, percussion, marimba), Dagmar Krause (vocals), Zeena Parkins […]
Letters Home is the second of two albums by avant-garde/art-rock supergroup News from Babel, released in 1986 on Rē Records. Tracklist: A1. “Who Will Accuse?” (2:39) A2. “Heart of Stone (Megalopolis)” (3:04) A3. “Banknote” (3:20) A4. “Moss” (3:58) A5. “A Dragon at the Core” (4:43) B1. “Dark Matter” (4:22) B2. “Waited/ Justice” (5:09) B3. “Fast […]
Lindsay Cooper (March 3, 1951 — Sept. 18, 2013) was an English bassoonist, oboist, and composer. In 1974, she replaced reedist Geoff Leigh in Henry Cow for their second album Unrest. She imprinted their 1975 Slapp Happy merger discs Desperate Straights and In Praise of Learning and composed the “Day by Day” half of their […]
The Rotters’ Club is the second of two albums by Canterburian jazz-rock ensemble Hatfield and the North, released in 1975 on Virgin. Tracklist: A1. “Share It” (3:02) A2. “Lounging There Trying” (3:10) A3. “(Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw” (0:46) A4. “Chaos at the Greasy Spoon” (0:30) A5. “The Yes No Interlude” (7:02) […]
In Praise of Learning is a collaborative album between English avant-garde/jazz-rock quintet Henry Cow and multinational folk/pop trio Slapp Happy, released in May 1975 on Virgin Records. Musically, the album deviates from the chamber/free-jazz approach of prior Cow efforts with a rockier edge replete with vocals — something lacking from all earlier recordings apart from […]
Desperate Straights is one of two albums by the merged entities of multinational cabaret/pop trio Slapp Happy and English avant-garde/jazz-rockers Henry Cow, released in February 1975 on Virgin. Characterized primarily by the trio’s art-pop style, the album was recorded during the same sessions that produced the more Cow-dominated In Praise of Learning, released the following […]
Hergest Ridge is the second album by English composer/multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released in 1974 on Virgin. Tracklist: A. “Hergest Ridge (Part One)” (21:40) B. “Hergest Ridge (Part Two)” (18:51) Credits: Mike Oldfield — composer, electric guitar, glockenspiel, sleigh bells, mandolin, timpani, gong, acoustic guitar, Spanish guitar, farfisa organ, Lowrey organ, organ, producer, engineer David Bedford […]
