| Ragged Atlas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Cosa Brava | ||||
| Released | March 2010 | |||
| Recorded | December 2008 | |||
| Genre | Experimental rock | |||
| Length | 62:11 | |||
| Label | Intakt Records (Switzerland) | |||
| Producer | Fred Frith, Intakt Records | |||
| Cosa Brava chronology | ||||
|
||||
Ragged Atlas is a studio album by Fred Frith's United States experimental rock group Cosa Brava. It was recorded in San Francisco in December 2008 and was released on March 5, 2010.[1] Ragged Atlas was the band's first album, and is largely instrumental with a little singing on five of the thirteen the tracks. Frith composed all the music, with lyric contributions on "Lucky Thirteen" by Rebby Sharp, a singer/guitarist Frith had worked with in Orthotonics.
Contents |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz | (favourable)[2] |
| Clouds and Clocks | (mixed)[3] |
John Kelman and Nic Jones wrote favorable reviews of Ragged Atlas at All About Jazz,[2][4] whereas Beppe Colli at Clouds and Clocks had mixed feeling about the album.[3]
Kelman described Cosa Brava as "the perfect nexus between [Frith's] more accessible yet still left-leaning music for dance, [...] and the more challenging structures of his 1970s work with Henry Cow".[2] He said that Ragged Atlas "transcends time and genre" and has "[b]road dynamics, a blend of acoustic and electric instrumentation, fine compositional detail, and surprisingly memorable melodies".[2] Kelman said that it "stands as one of 2010's most auspicious debuts".[2] Jones wrote that there is an "impishness about the music, a sense of fun that [...] stems from the joy of discovery".[4] As an example he said that the "arguably banal lyric" in the track "Falling Up (for Amanda)" is elevated to another level by the supple music of Carla Kihlstedt's violin".[4] Jones said that "Tall Story" works because of the musicianship of the group, and that in lesser hands it "might come off as so much fluff".[4]
Colli was critical of the album, saying that the volume is "deafening", and that the music is "often tacky, bombastic, as if looking for an applause".[3] He did like some of the tracks, for example "Lucky Thirteen", which he said has a "meditative mood, fine unison from vocals and violin", and "Tall Story", with its "light, fine theme".[3] Overall, however, Colli described the album as "kitsch".[3]
All tracks composed by Fred Frith; words on "Lucky Thirteen" by Frith and Rebby Sharp.
Source: CD liner notes written by Frith; all quotes by Frith.