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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

	FRITH, FRED: Allies Code:RECDEC70 Price: £13.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred, with George Cartwright, Tom Cora and Joey Baron. Six pieces for dance. An interesting period Fred's composing career. Here are flat simple/complex music zones, where harmonic movement is held in tension by rhythmic shifts distributed amongst the instruments. Intriguing.
	FRITH, FRED: Allies Code:ReRFRO07 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Reissue of the 1989 dance music album, with Joey Baron, Tom Cora and George Cartwright. One of Fred's open field type compositions - where parallel events proceed serenely, coinciding half-unpredictably, but still often enough to sound connected. There is continuity in modular repetition but so many overlays, small alterations, emergent details and new material that the sonic terrain they invoke is constantly mutating and constantly unpredictable (even after several auditions). Continuity is here irregularly interrupted by disruptive events, always settling back into semi-stable planes. Re-mastered and repackaged
	FRITH, FRED: Back to Life Code:TZ8045 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
An excellent collection of commissioned pieces for piano (played by Daan Vandewalle), the Callithumpian Ensemble (dir.Stephen Drury) and smaller groupings. They fall into the ambit of chamber music but are pretty instantly recogniseable as Fred's. Very nice work.
	FRITH, FRED: Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire ([Photo]Graphic Scores 1992-95) - Double CD with substantial B Code:IDA014 Price: £21.15 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred's large, flexible ensemble project using marked photographs and rules as scores. Fred directing and conducting as well as playing. Permanent members are Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins, otherwise the balance of the 44 strong ensemble changes. Recordings here are taken from 5 concerts, including the first in 1992 at AngelicA, and features 44 musicians (including Jean Derome, Lesli Dalaba, Paulo Angelli, Co Streif, Rene Lussier, Jean Marc Montera, Guy Klucsevek, Myra Melford, Han Bennink, Chris Cutler, Daan Vandewelle, Massimo Simonini and Hans Koch). It comes beautifully packaged with a full colour book containing all the [Photo]Graphic Scores, instructions on interpretative rules and a history by Fred.
	FRITH, FRED: Cheap at half the price Code:ReRFRO Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred's third LP for Ralph Records, back in 1983, was a collection of four-track home studio songs (and a couple of instrumental pieces) in which Fred played all the instruments (exceptions: two bass cameos from Tina Curran and Bill Laswell, and some great drum samples from Hans Bruinnsson. Causing raised eyebrows at the time (from, as Fred calls them 'progressive music snobs' - of which I guess I was one) for its apparent simplicity and departure from what was then thought of as Fred Style, this work has matured with age and perspective and no longer seems (to this former critic) to stand outside the oeuvre, but rather to exemplify a persistent strand within it. Echoes appear in many later works. In context it's a record that makes sense - what was all the fuss about? - and it has become a record that's refreshing to listen to. And political - political and personal. In fact, as well as being a very rewarding, darkish, toe-tapper of a record, it seems also to have tapped an important biographical moment. There are some great guitar sounds, production ideas and of course the expected exemplary playing of everything, all the time. A good argument for reissues. Very nicely re-mastered, and in a nice new package.
	FRITH, FRED: Clearing Code:TZ7605 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred's first solo recording in over a decade.
	FRITH, FRED: Eye to Ear Code:TZ7503 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
A collection of film and theatre Music. Some very beautiful compositions and a little radical guitar noise in a collection of 6 full and characteristic pieces. With a prejudice toward romance, sorrow and beauty.
	FRITH, FRED: Eye to ear II Code:TZ7517 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Second collection of soundtrack compositions on which Fred plays a lot of instruments and works sharply with recordings; the four part cartoon soundtrack Sideshow is pure pleasure, and brilliantly conceived and executed. Guest musicians add trombone, gu zheng, accordion and voices.
	FRITH, FRED: Freedom in Fragments Code:TZ7076 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
A 1994 commission for the Rova Saxophone quartet mixing through-composed with indicational modules which can be assembled in any order.
	FRITH, FRED: Guitar Solos Code:ReRFRO02 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
The original breathtaking solo record that introduced Fred's new instrument and his radical new playing techniques - already in a high state of evolution. Nearly 30 years later it's still almost shocking and has deservedly become a landmark record in the history of C20 guitar. Remastered by Fred to be as close as currently possible to the original recording and repackaged. Listen to a sample of this release
	FRITH, FRED: Helter Skelter Code:RECDEC40 Price: £13.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred's Marseille youth orchestra project. Very Interesting.
	FRITH, FRED: IMPUR VOLUMES 1 & 2 Code:FRITHImpurSpecial Price: £18.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Get Fred Frith "Impur" Volumes 1 & 2 both for one special price.
	FRITH, FRED: Impur part II Code:ReRFRFC Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Essentially a pretty great concert by a large 19 strong ensemble with Fred conducting as well as playing. Lots of rhythm, harmony, rock noise, exotic instrumentation, power, complexity and melodic writing, with stretches of chaos, eccentricity and theatre. Totally different, then, from Impur part 1 (ReR FRFC1) which was a deconstructed, spatialised simultaneity of musical events heard through open windows or by wandering through rooms; Impur 2 was an unannounced performance upon which audience members had to stumble (and then collect their friends - or not). The recording here was in fact made a little later, by the same people in a different artspace and has been edited and re-mastered by Fred for this release. It fits well in the aesthetic of earlier group records from Fred: Gravity, Skeleton Crew, Keep the Dog.
	FRITH, FRED: Impur Code:ReR/FRFC1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
In 1996, at the end of a two year residency, Fred organised an event at L'Ecole Nationale de Musique de Villeurbanne in France. He roped in as many of the students as he could, grouped according to their departments (early music, rock, African drumming, classical &c), and set them up in all the rooms in the building. The public wandered around creating their own mix, or sat in the courtyard listening to the sound drifting out through the open windows. For their part, each group of musicians played their own specially written music and occasionally were asked to improvise, all of them following a precise time-score prepared by Fred (55 minutes long). Synchronize watches. The whole thing was recorded on 4 A DAT machines and was later mixed - this was the result: an exiting, lurching and capricious beast with many heads, by turns an orchestra tuning up, a salute to Sonny Blount, a roiling chaotic mass of sound that splitting into layers colliding back together, pullulating, ululating, roaring and sometimes mewing like a kitten.
	FRITH, FRED: Keep The Dog Live (dbl) Code:ReR/FRA03 Price: £20.00 Quantity in Basket: none
FredÕs legendary collected works band, formed in 1989 with allstars Rene Lussier, Bob Ostertag, Zeena Parkins, Jean Derome and Charles Hayward. An album mainly of instrumental compositions. CharlesÕ clean, incisive drums lend a sharp edge to the more jazz inflected horns Ð sometimes shifting into jazz-rock territory, Zeena in less customary role concentrates on Keyboards (and occasionally sings with Fred), Rene and Fred share Bass and Guitar, Jean covers a family of winds with an even handed virtuosity and, for the rest, if you canÕt square it, itÕs probably Bob Ostertag, whose sampler stored parts, noises and whatever no one else had hands for. As with Henry Cow, Fred integrated large stretches of improvising between and within the piecesÉ following the grail many of us pursue still - integration beyond the point of distinguishing between composition, improvisation, interpretation and performance. This double CD was compiled from performances in many countries in 1991 and it represents both the breadth of composition and the extraordinary quality of musicianship and imagination characteristic of that new, homeless, community of composer/performers that emerged from the 70Õs genre collapse, a terminal collapse that was to throw the contents and techniques of Folk, Jazz, Rock and Contemporary musics into what was to become in the space of a few years effectively a new form Listen to a sample of this release
	FRITH, FRED: Middle of the Moment Code:RERFRO05 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Continuing the definitive Fred edition, this is the CD based on Fred's music for the second film he made with Humbert and Penzel - following nomads - that features, along with Fred's compositions and re-workings, a restless and gripping unfolding of atmospheric locations, tuareg and other musics, ethongraphic material and times captured. A collage or a soundwork rather than a straightforwardly musical composition, this is a serious and unfairly marginalised piece (because it falls between worlds?) that nevertheless succeeds brilliantly once the ear is fully opened. A meditation too on the power - and the enigma - of recording.
	FRITH, FRED: Nowhere . Sideshow . Thin Air Code:ReRFRA07 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Three commissions for dance (3 different choreographers), one [2000] performed by Fred and Carla Kihlstedt, one [2001] by Fred and Carla with Fred Guiliano, (samples) and Gail Brand (trombone) and the last [2007[ with Fred, Hande Erdem (violin) and Threresa Wong ((cello). Layers and plateaux, modules and colour.
	FRITH, FRED: Pacifica Code:TZ7034 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
A major composition performed by the Bolognese ensemble EVA KANT under the direction of Fred and produced and mixed by him. A long, permanently mutating and breathing piece, where repetition and mutation constantly entwine; a piece ceaselessly changing and at the same time cycling around a massive immovable core. Precision of sound, terrific dynamics and unusual scoring.
	FRITH, FRED: Prints Code:ReRFRA02 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A collection of various songs and extended songs that Fred has made over the years, including a samples and newspaper project made for WDR (radio) and tributes to Bert Bacharach and Serge Gainsbourg. This is Fred in studio mode, writing great songs - sadly a generally rather thinly documented aspect of his work, and one that, in my opinion, he excels at. A very welcome release. Listen to a sample of this release
	FRITH, FRED: Rivers and Tides Code:FrithRiversTides Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Soundtrack to film about environment artist Andy Goldsworthy, great sound track...
	FRITH, FRED: Rivers and Tides Code:W&W910092-2 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
As close as anyone should get to perfect. Soundtrack work for a film, which is also excellent - be sure to see it if it comes your way - on the work of British outdoor artist Andy Goldsworthy..Exquisitely recorded, crystal clear sounds always seamlessly deployed, mostly played by Fred with some double bass, percussion soprano sax and bass-clarinet added;. It's sparse, but not always, set in soundcapes, even breaking in to melody now and then, but holding at all times in a subtle web of tension that isn't tense; and un-intention that isn't aleatoric. Absolutely great. Fred, you're a bloody genius
	FRITH, FRED: SPECIAL OFFER Impur parts I & II Code:ReRImpurSpec Price: £19.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Buy both Fred Frith Impur Volumes I & II and save £6
	FRITH, FRED: Step Across the Border Code:RECDEC30 Price: £13.00 Quantity in Basket: none
This is a retrospective compendium of Fred's work over the last 17 years, with a lot of new material, perfectly put together and exceptionally listenable start to finish- an enlightening journey. It's my favourite of Fred's works in recent times. Close composition for electric and acoustic resources, tapework, concrete constructions, songs, sound effects and noise-art improvisations. Guests inc- Iva Bittova, Tom Cora, Jean Derome, Haco, Tim Hodgkinson, Lasse Hollmer, Rene Lussier, Bob Ostertag, Zeena Parkins and John Zorn.)
	FRITH, FRED: The Happy End Problem Code:ReRFRA5 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A new recording, and instantly a Fred classic. Two, related, small-ensemble works for 6 and 7 musicians respectively - mostly strings of one sort or another, with percussion, flute and clarinet occasionally, and electronics. Fred, violinist Carla Kilsteht and percussionist Willie Wynant play throughout, providing continuity across the pieces as the music constantly unfolds into new textures and dialects. Melody, harmony and rhythm are omnipresent, though not always obviously colluding, and the music moves with constant assurance, never hesitating and never marking time. There are some affinities with Nicola Kodjbashia's luminous 'Solitary Walker' (which it predates) in its use of minimal instrumentation to maximum effect, popular materials, exquisite articulation and a kind of modest transcendence. The necessity and simplicity of these pieces conceals a catalogue of experimental techniques and novel ideas; there are those who'd have squeezed a score of albums from this material. A gem. Buy it. Carla Kilsteht shines throughout.
	FRITH, FRED: The Technology of Tears Code:FRO11 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
With an all-star line-up that features Tenko, John Zorn and Christian Marclay (with guest Jim Staley on trombone), Technology of Tears started life in New York in 1986 as a dance commission by Rosalind Newman. Fred took this opportunity to experiment with Henry Kaiser's brand new synclavier (the absolute state-of-the-art sampling and processing technology of the time - Henry had to take out a second mortgage on his house to buy it). It was the sophisticated sampling that fascinated Fred, and the piece is characterised by technological "comparisons" between real and virtual voices which constantly merge into one another. Tenko and Zorn tear through it all with breathless intensity. Parts two and three, which follow, couldn't be more different, for them Fred adopts a completely different methodology, playing everything himself mostly on low-grade instruments, then inviting turntablist Marclay to add plundered parts. Here is a completely different approach to "sampling": exploring dense layers of quotation intercut with melodies formed using random editing processes (with subsequent transcription and re-performance). Lastly there is Jigsaw, a later work, also made for Rosalind Newman, reflecting the frustrations experienced making Technology... where, every time Fred would complete a stable version, Rosalind would ask for changes (incidentally, sending the recording way over budget). This time Fred decided to make a modular piece that could be re-assembled in any way requested - and having no pre-determined structure at all. The original composition consisted of dozens of musical cells, each recorded separately in increments of between 3 and 12 measures; all at the same tempo, and in the same key. The idea was to play the elements separately and then ask Rosalind how she would like them constructed. Ironically, the test assembly, made as demonstration of what was possible, won instant approval, and no reconstruction was ever necessary.
	FRITH, FRED: The Technology of Tears Code:RECDEC20 Price: £15.28 Quantity in Basket: none
Ballet and other music. Mostly Instrumental. With John Zorn, Tenko, Jim Staley. Title piece especially good.
	FRITH, FRED: The Top of his Head Code:MTM21CD Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Film Score, much sound work and atmospherics as well as tunes.
	FRITH, FRED: To Sail, to Sail Code:TZ7625 Price: £15.86 Quantity in Basket: none
Fred's first solo CD in a long while, all played on a six (steel) string acoustic guitar. A compendium of many techniques. The 16 tracks are dedicated individually to people Fred identifies as his teachers (including Champion Jack Dupree, John Cage, Terry Riley, Daevid Allen, Barre Phillips and Davy Graham). A sure and light touch from a player with nothing to prove, just following his fingers and his imagination.
	FRITH, LEANDRE, SEGAL: Tempted to Smile Code:SPL120 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Segal plays violin and guitar, Fred plays acoustic and electric, Joelle Contrabass, as known. Players interestingly are panned left, right and centre. A fine improvised concert.
	FRITH. FRED: Speechless Code:ReRFRO04 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
After Gravity, where he worked with The Muffins and Samla Mammas Manna, this was FredÕs second solo release for The ResidentsÕ Ralph Records, this time working with French RIO band Etron Fou Leloublan - notably their drummer, Gigou Chenevier, who makes a major musical and aesthetic contribution to the character and atmosphere of these recordings. Here are clear, melodic, through composed pieces that both hold to the Folk/Rock vocabularies explored on Gravity and continue the exploration of territory opened up on Hopes and FearsÕ ÔMoeris DancingÕ. These tracks drive and rock and swing; they are tense and dense and often dramatic. Environmental recordings of FredÕs New York environment also colour the mix. And listen out for SatieÕs typewriter..
	FRITH/LUSSIER: Nous Autres Code:VictoCD01 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	FRIZZELL, REV DWIGHT: Natural Selection Code:PD12 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Nicely assembled CD of storms, environments, bassoon in a forest of noises, telephone exchanges, weather, mysterious presences, machinery, foregrounded backgrounds and strange mini-dramas. Original, organic and Intelligent.
	FROHMADER, PETER: Cycle of eternity Code:RUNE59 Price: £12.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	FROHMADER, PETER: Macrocosm Code:RUNE23 Price: £12.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	FROHMADER,PETER/RICHARD PINHAS: Fossil Culture Code:Rune123 Price: £12.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	FUKI, TARA: Kapka Code:MAM214-2 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
New CD by Andrea and Dorota, the usual mixture - singing and dual cellos, inevitably a bit bittova-esque but rather ambitiously produced this time; less of the simple charm and more weight, a development which is curiously distancing to my ear. It's hard to fault but less easy to like.
	FULLMAN, ELLEN: Staggered Stasis Code:NOM29 Price: £12.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Famous for her long string drone pieces.These drones sweep through overtones and the natural harmonics, if you really concentrate; or make a soothing background noise, if you don't. Otherwise they are staggeringly boring. This is only for those who already like drones. For them these are highly evolved, focused drones that home in on specific harmonic relations.
	FULLMAN,ELLEN, TAKEHISA KOSUGI, MARIO VERANDI, FAST FORWARD, OLGA NEUWIRTH, HORATIO VAGGIONE: Zeite Code:Parallele20002 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Fullman: her celebrated long string instruments plus oboe multiphonics; Vaggione, tape and contrabasse flute (unconventional techniques); Fast Forward, a nice faux Japanese tape-piece and, with Kosugi, a performance with violin, steel pans and other metal percs; Verandi, for water and a plastic bottle; Neuwirth for 3 Percussionists and live electronics - a long and substantial work
	FURT: Defkt Code:mrcd50 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
Hard to categorise, but the intentionality and attention to detail ,as well as the predominating aesthetic seem to want it to be here. Furt is Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer, both of whom are credited with electronics (samples, studio) but who work under compositional rules and imperatives. The first piece is made from piano material generated by the duo on pianos and later reworked in a studio. The second is derived from The Winterreise a very concise and hallucinogenic tumble down a rabbit-hole. With plundering. The third, Volkmusic, is provocative politics, performed near Vienna during the Haider ascendancy: more plunder, some ridicule, a fair bit of oompah, modernity and dissonance, beautifully assembled and featuring adolf chaplin on vocals. Uncomfortable for that audience I think. The last, long piece is more demanding and requires quiet and time. An excellent CD.
	FURUTA MARI: Crossing There Code:CORart001 Price: £15.57 Quantity in Basket: none
Four excellent pieces from a Japanese composer and performer who moves happily from one world to another; she is a member of the fine Bidziliba and of Otomo Yoshihide's Cathode but here she presents more formal compositions - for environmental sound and percussion ensemble; for flute, oboe and marimba (slightly reminiscent of Ravel); for three guitars (a beautiful piece employing sparse playing, dissonant tuning, interference patterns, as she says 'like ripples...confirming the reality of their existence'; and for bass marimba and vibraphone (faster, denser but also forming a slow spreading pattern). A fine CD showing again that