Fred Records

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Fred Records
Image:FredRecords logo.png
Parent company Recommended Records
Founded 2002
Founder(s) Fred Frith
Distributing label RēR Megacorp (UK)
RēR USA (USA)
Locus Solus (Japan)
Genre(s) Rock in Opposition
Avant-progressive rock
Experimental music
Country of origin Flag of England England
Location Thornton Heath, Surrey
Official Website http://www.fredfrith.com/fredrecords.htm

Fred Records is a British independent record label created in 2002 by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith to re-release his own back catalogue of recordings and previously unreleased material. It is an independent company working in co-operation with Chris Cutler and Recommended Records, utilising Recommended Records' distribution network.

Contents

[edit] Background

From the mid-1980s Fred Frith released much of his music (solo and in collaboration with other musicians) on the Swiss independent record label RecRec Music. However, the label went bankrupt in 1997 after its founder, Daniel Waldner died in a mountain climbing accident in 1995. [1] Under Swiss copyright law all the rights to Frith's music released by RecRec reverted back to him, totalling 13 different titles. Having lost money in unpaid royalties, Frith wanted to re-release all the titles on a single label. In the early 2000s and with the help of Chris Cutler of Recommended Records, Frith set up his own label, Fred Records as a sub-label of Recommended Records. [2] [3]

The new label gave Frith an opportunity to re-issue material from his archives that would have been difficult to release elsewhere. Advances in technology also enabled Frith to remaster the original recordings and produce a sound much closer to what was originally intended. In addition, Frith has released previously unreleased material by himself and in collaboration with other musicians. To create a consistent image for the label as a whole, Frith has used the artist, Tomas Kurth to illustrate the CD covers, often incorporating elements of the original LP covers in the design. [2]

[edit] Tributaries

Currently the Fred Records catalogue is divided into three tributaries:

  • FRO (Fred Records Original) – re-releases of Frith's previously released original material;
  • FRA (Fred Records Archive) – releases of previously unreleased material from Frith's archive;
  • FRFC (Fred Records French Connection) – releases of previously unreleased material from Frith's archive recorded in France.

The catalogue numbers of each release includes one of these tributary codes. For example "RēR/FRA 02" reads: "Recommended Records / Fred Records Archive #2".

[edit] Releases

These are all the titles currently released on the Fred Records label. [4]

Gravity (2002)
RēR/FRO 01
Accidental (2002)
RēR/FRA 01
Guitar Solos (2002)
RēR/FRO 02
Prints (2002)
RēR/FRA 02
That House We Lived In (Keep the Dog, 2003) RēR/FRA 03
Step Across the Border (2003)
RēR/FRO 03
Speechless (2003)
RēR/FRO 04
Middle of the Moment (2004)
RēR/FRO 05
Cheap at Half the Price (2004)
RēR/FRO 06
Allies (2004)
RēR/FRO 07
Learn to Talk / The Country of Blinds
(Skeleton Crew, 2005) RēR/FRO 8/9
Killing Time
(Massacre, 2005) RēR/FRO 10
Impur (2006)
RēR/FRFC 01
The Happy End Problem (2006)
RēR/FRA 05

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Recommended Records, Zürich (RecRec). Border Music. Retrieved on January 30, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Frith, Fred. Fred Records. Fred Frith's homepage. Retrieved on January 25, 2007.
  3. ^ Interview with Fred Frith. BBC Music. Retrieved on January 25, 2007.
  4. ^ Frith, Fred. Fred Records releases. Fred Frith's homepage. Retrieved on January 25, 2007.

[edit] External links


 v • d • e    Fred Frith
Bands
Art Bears • Henry Cow • Keep the Dog • Massacre • Skeleton Crew

Death Ambient • Fred Frith Guitar Quartet • French Frith Kaiser Thompson
Aksak Maboul • Material • Naked City
Solo discography
Guitar Solos (1974)  •  Gravity (1980)  •  Speechless (1981)  •  Live in Japan (1982)  •  Cheap at Half the Price (1983)  •  Quartets (1994)  •  Eye to Ear (1997)  •  Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire (1999)  •  Clearing (2001)  •  Prints (2002)  •  Eye to Ear II (2004)  •  Eleventh Hour (2005)
Music for Dance:  The Technology of Tears (1988)  •  Allies (1996)  •  The Previous Evening (1997)  •  Accidental (2002)  •  The Happy End Problem (2006)
Soundtracks:  The Top of His Head (1989)  •  Step Across the Border (1990)  •  Middle of the Moment (1995)  •  Rivers and Tides (2003)
Composer only:  Pacifica (1998)  •  Freedom in Fragments (2002)  •  Impur (2006)
Related articles
Fred Frith discography  •  Fred Records
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