Western Culture (album)

Infobox Album | Name = Western Culture
Type = Studio album
Artist = Henry Cow


Released = 1979
Recorded = Sunrise Studio, Kirchberg,
Switzerland July-August 1978
Genre = Avant-progressive rock
Length = 36:27
Label = Broadcast (UK) Celluloid (France)
Producer = Henry Cow and Etienne Conod
Reviews =
*"Allmusic" Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:28q6g4ettvoz link]
*Piero Scaruffi (6.5/10) [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol3/henrycow.html link]
*"Pitchfork" (8.0/10) [http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/18448-western-culture link]
*Review-Christgau|A-|cgurl=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=579&name=Henry+Cow| Last album = "Henry Cow Concerts"
(1976)
This album = "Western Culture"
(1979)
Next album = "Henry Cow Box"
(2006)

"Western Culture" is an album by British avant-garde rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Sunrise Studios in Kirchberg, Switzerland in July and August 1978. It was their last album and was released on Henry Cow's own private label, Broadcast, in 1979.

"Western Culture" is an instrumental album which came about as a result of disagreements in the band as to what the composition of their next album should be. Recording had already begun at Sunrise Studios in January 1978 and some members were not happy about the predominance of song-oriented material. As a compromise it was agreed that two albums would be made: one of "songs" (released soon after as "Hopes and Fears" under the name of a new group Art Bears) and one of purely instrumental compositions. The group returned to Sunrise Studios in July that year to record the instrumental pieces for "Western Culture", except "½ the Sky", which had been recorded during the January sessions.

Henry Cow split up shortly after recording this album.

Track listing

Side one: "History and Prospects" – 18:10
#"Industry" (Hodgkinson)
#"The Decay of Cities" (Hodgkinson)
#"On the Raft" (Hodgkinson)Side two: "Day by Day" – 18:17
#"Falling Away" (Cooper)
#"Gretels Tale" (Cooper)
#"Look Back" (Cooper)
#"½ the Sky" (Cooper, Hodgkinson)

Personnel

*Tim Hodgkinson – Organ, clarinet, alto saxophone, Hawaiian guitar, piano
*Lindsay Cooper – Bassoon, oboe, soprano saxophone, sopranino recorders
*Fred Frith – Electric & acoustic guitars, bass guitar, soprano saxophone (background "On the Raft")
*Chris Cutler – Drums, electric drums, noise, piano, trumpet (background "On the Raft")

Guests

*Anne-Marie Roelofs – Trombone, violin
*Irène Schweizer – Piano ("Gretels Tale")
*Georgie Born – Bass guitar ("½ the Sky")

ound and art work

*Henry Cow – Producers
*Etienne Conod – Producer
*Chris Cutler – Cover art

CD reissues

"Western Culture" was reissued on CD by Broadcast in 1988 and East Side Digital in 1995.

It was reissued again by Recommended Records in 2001 and East Side Digital in 2002 with four extra tracks:
#"Untitled" (silence only) – 1:29
#"Viva Pa Ubu" (Hodgkinson) – 4:28
#"Look Back (alt)" (Cooper) – 1:21
#"Slice" (Cooper) – 0:36

"Viva Pa Ubu" includes the singing of Dagmar Krause, making the extended album no longer an instrumental.

"Viva Pa Ubu" and "Slice" had been previously released on the "Recommended Records Sampler" (1982).

ee also

*"Henry Cow Box" (2006)

External links

* [http://home.arcor.de/nyds-exp-discogs/frith.htm Fred Frith discography]