Speechless (album)

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For the Steven Curtis Chapman album of the same name, see Speechless.
Speechless
Speechless cover
Studio album by Fred Frith
Released 1981
Recorded France and Switzerland,
July-August 1980
USA, April 1980
Genre Avant-progressive rock
Length 43:47
Label Ralph Records (USA)
Producer(s) Fred Frith, Tina Curran, Etienne Conod, Robert Vogel and Francois Riether
Professional reviews
Fred Frith chronology
Gravity
(1980)		 Speechless
(1981)		 Live in Japan
(1982)


CD releases
Fred Records CD release. The cover includes a detail of the original Ralph Records (1981) cover.
Fred Records CD release. The cover includes a detail of the original Ralph Records (1981) cover.

Speechless is a 1981 solo album by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith. It was Frith's third solo album and his second for The Residents' Ralph Records label. It was recorded in France, Switzerland and the United States and featured French Rock in Opposition group Etron Fou Leloublan on one side of the LP record, and Frith's New York City band Massacre on the other side.

On Speechless, Frith continues his exploration of world folk and dance music he began on Gravity, his previous solo album. Here, however, he combines the music with generous chunks of "found sounds" and field recordings using studio editing techniques. The tracks on the album vary from folk and melodic pieces (including the waltz ballad "Domaine de Planousset"), to noisy avant-garde rock ("A Spit in the Ocean"), to layered sound collages ("Speechless"). Some of the taped sounds integrated into the music include a street demonstration on "Carnival on Wall Street" and the rhythmic pulse of a malfunctioning water pipe on the title track. [1]

While Speechless is a studio album, some of the tracks were extracted from a Massacre concert and manipulated and added to later in the studio. Peter Marsh in a BBC Music review describes the album as "Beautifully progressive musicmaking that doesn't take itself too seriously." [1]

The album cover artwork was done by Tina Curran, Frith's wife at the time. [2]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

Side One

  1. "Kick the Can (part 1)" (Frith) – 2:19
  2. "Carnival on Wall Street" (Frith) – 2:51
  3. "Ahead in the Sand" (Frith) – 3:16
  4. "Laughing Matter" / "Esperanza" (Frith) – 7:47
  5. "Women Speak to Men; Men Speak to Women" (Frith, Curran) – 5:39

Side Two

  1. "A Spit in the Ocean" (Frith) – 2:17
  2. "Navajo" (Frith) – 3:05
  3. "Balance" (Frith) – 5:04
  4. "Saving Grace" (Frith) – 1:57
  5. "Speechless" (Frith) – 3:05
  6. "Conversations With White Arc" (Frith, Laswell) – 1:14
  7. "Domaine de Planousset" (Frith) – 2:59
  8. "Kick the Can (part 2)" (Frith) – 2:14

On Side Two, tracks 1, 4 and the end of 2 were recorded live at a Massacre concert at CBGB in New York City, April 1980, and were altered and added to later in Switzerland; track 6 is an unaltered improvised piece from the same concert.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Side One

  • Fred Frith – guitar, violin, mellotron, organ and bass guitar (1), voice (3)
  • Etron Fou LeLoublan:
    • Guigou Chenevier – drums, tenor saxophone and voice (3)
    • Margot Mathieu – soprano and tenor saxophones, voice (3)
    • Ferdinand Richard – bass guitar, guimbarde, voice
    • Jo Thirion – organ, harmonium

[edit] Guests

  • Tina Curran – recorders, unusual edits
  • Roger Kent Parsons – bagpipes
  • Asha – singing (5)
  • Storm – singing (5)
  • Bob Ostertag – field tape recordings

[edit] Production

Recorded at Studio Freeson, Pujaut, France and at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg, Switzerland in July and August 1980.

  • Francois Riether – engineer (France)
  • Etienne Conod – engineer (Switzerland)
  • Robert Vogel – engineer (Switzerland)

[edit] Side Two

[edit] Guests

  • Steve Buchanan – snake saxophone (2)
  • George Cartwright – alto saxophone
  • Tina Curran – recorders, bass guitar (2,7)
  • Ferdinand Richard – guimbarde
  • Mars Williams – baritone saxophone

[edit] Production

Recorded at CBGB, New York City, United States in April 1980 and at Sunrise Studios, Switzerland in July and August, 1980.

  • Charlie Martin – engineer (USA)
  • Etienne Conod – engineer (Switzerland)
  • Robert Vogel – engineer (Switzerland)

[edit] CD reissues

  • In 1991 East Side Digital and RecRec Music re-issued Speechless on CD with six additional tracks:
  1. "The Entire Works of Henry Cow" (Frith) – 1:00 (from Miniatures by various artists)
  2. "So Schnell Ich" (Frith, Laswell, Maher) – 3:25
  3. "I'm Still Here and I Know What Time It Is" (Frith, Curran) – 1:06
  4. "No More War" (Frith, Gore) – 4:46
  5. "Typical American Family" (Frith) – 1:01
  6. "Dig" (Frith) – 3:07
  • In 2003 Fred Records issued a remastered version of the original Speechless with no extra tracks.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Marsh, Peter. Speechless review. BBC Music. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
  2. ^ Related Canterbury bands. The Canterbury Website. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.

[edit] External links

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