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ART BEARS — The World as it is Today
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Die dritte und bis heute letzte Platte des "post-Canterbury"-Trios kreiert eine unheimliche Welt, in der alle Elemente einmalig und unvergelich klingen: die kompromilose Gesellschafts- und Systemkritik in den Texten, die eigenwillige Kombination aus schneidenden Gitarren, Geigen, Piano und Mellotron, dazu die dramatische Stimme von Dagmar Krause und die perkussiven, das Schlagzeug-Spektrum erweiternden Klnge von Chris Cutler."Visionen der Apokalypse" wre ein zutreffender Titel fr diese kleinen Horrorszenarios, dabei geht es ja nur um den zur Zeit der Aufnahmen relativ zahmen Kapitalismus. Was wrden die "Art Bears" blo heute textlich zu diesem Thema bringen? Musikalisch am eindrucksvollsten ist diese ausgeprgte Tendenz zur Weltuntergangstimmung auf "DEMOCRACY" gediehen. Ganz hbsch verdreht wird es nochmal auf "ALBION, AWAKE!" (schon allein die Songtitel sprechen fr sich, manchmal sogar demogerecht in Grobuchstaben), was als atonale, gesangslose Soundcollage das Album abschliet. [Siggy Zielinski / Babyblaue Seiten]
New digipak version, of the third Art Bears album, originally released 1980. "If you thought Henry Cow was a pretty political band to start with, you may be even more taken aback by the Art Bears, which was put together following Henry Cow's demise by former Cows Chris Cutler (percussion), Fred Frith (guitar, violin), and Dagmar Krause (voice). On The World as it is Today and its predecessor, Winter Songs, the Art Bears move away from the long-form art rock of Henry Cow and get much, much more politically explicit: song titles like 'The Song of the Dignity of Labour Under Capital' and 'The Song of Investment Capital Overseas' almost sound like Monty Python gags today, but if any humor was intended it was clearly meant to be mordant. Frankly, the lyrics are so overwrought and portentous that it's hard to take them seriously. But the music is something else again. Cutler and Frith are natural collaborators; Cutler's drumming always rides a very fine line between the scattershot and the funky, while Frith bounces his horror-show guitar noise and carnival piano off of Cutler's grooves with manic abandon and fearsome inventiveness. And Krause's singing is just as inventive; she whoops, croons and screams her way through the density of Cutler's lyrics without a hesitation or misstep. Easy listening it isn't, but it's sure worth hearing. Frith fans, in particular, should consider this album a must-own." [label info]
New digipak version, of the third Art Bears album, originally released 1980. "If you thought Henry Cow was a pretty political band to start with, you may be even more taken aback by the Art Bears, which was put together following Henry Cow's demise by former Cows Chris Cutler (percussion), Fred Frith (guitar, violin), and Dagmar Krause (voice). On The World as it is Today and its predecessor, Winter Songs, the Art Bears move away from the long-form art rock of Henry Cow and get much, much more politically explicit: song titles like 'The Song of the Dignity of Labour Under Capital' and 'The Song of Investment Capital Overseas' almost sound like Monty Python gags today, but if any humor was intended it was clearly meant to be mordant. Frankly, the lyrics are so overwrought and portentous that it's hard to take them seriously. But the music is something else again. Cutler and Frith are natural collaborators; Cutler's drumming always rides a very fine line between the scattershot and the funky, while Frith bounces his horror-show guitar noise and carnival piano off of Cutler's grooves with manic abandon and fearsome inventiveness. And Krause's singing is just as inventive; she whoops, croons and screams her way through the density of Cutler's lyrics without a hesitation or misstep. Easy listening it isn't, but it's sure worth hearing. Frith fans, in particular, should consider this album a must-own." [label info]