(Free Improvisation / Experimental / Tzadik) The Stone - Issue Two (Fred Frith / Chris Cutler) - 2007, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The second issue Benefit for The Stone presents the Fred Frith/ Chris Cutler set from the Henry Cow reunion weekend of December 2006. Ecstatically endorsed for release by Frith and Cutler, this is likely the best music this historic duo has ever made! Recorded live at The Stone, this limited edition CD is available online only through the Downtown Music Gallery, Tzadik and Ipecac. All proceeds from the sale of this CD will go directly to support The Stone. Only with your help can we keep The Stone alive. ~ Tzadik

This addition to the Frith/Cutler catalogue was recorded during the Henry Cow reunion weekend at New York City's The Stone in December, 2006; for those familiar with the recent working methods of both musicians, the only surprise is how rich and full this document sounds. Consisting of one 50-minute track, the duo creates the illusion of a trio, quartet and sometimes an even larger aggregate.
When legendary British genre-busters Henry Cow disbanded in 1978, it became clear that all members still had much to say in those gray areas where improvisation and composition cancel each other out. Frith and Cutler would go on to form the Art Bears and the studio techniques that permeated their three seminal albums would resonate throughout their numerous offshoots and subsequent solo projects.
Cutler has gone electronic, recently producing several fine solo albums employing samples and found sounds in imaginative ways. His drumming is as precise as ever, replete with subtle razor-sharp and lightning-fast attacks, but his sonic arsenal is now close to limitless and he brings the full fruit of it to bear on the live duo set. Voices swell and fade and his cymbal sounds are seemingly manipulated on the spot, suggesting a real-time sampling aesthetic.
Frith's monumental 1974 Guitar Improvisations prefigures the sonic landscapes he inhabits and he is somehow able to incorporate all that into a seamless live performance. From the largest walls of transparently abstract distortion to chordal washes of pulsing linear drones, even the plucked microtonal musings so much in evidence on Naked City's last album, Frith is clearly one of the finest sound sculptors in improvised music.
There are mysteries on this date, most notably—who's manning the radio? All that aside, this is a more than worthy addition to Tzadik's Stone benefit series and to the dauntingly large collaborative discography of Frith and Cutler. ~ Marc Medwin, AAJ

The Stone: Issue Two is a continuous live performance from electric guitarist Fred Frith and percussionist Chris Cutler that acts as a fast forwarded audio trip from night-to-day and back-to-night. This scenario falls within the urban landscape genre, consistently cresting high and settling into underground subtones. Electronics and percussion are utilized as underpinnings below a distinctive jagged riff, noise wash, chattering or screaming, ringing or vocal-like guitar sound from Frith. A drum phrase by Cutler breaks in only very infrequently. Each small segment comes and goes quickly; up and down, soft and loud, introspective or bold, and little is sustained for any long period. Frith will state an actual bizarre melody, then cut it off, play layers of sound that are replete with girth and grit, then go serene. A ring modulated or vocal speaking-in-tongues motif, wah-wah, gut-bucket, industrial and dense facades, minimalist late-night forest soundscapes, birds, garbage trucks at dawn, carnival atmosphere, bizarro world dynamics, space à la Frippertronics, reverse effects, and sensual midnight serenity is all at the duo's command. Cutler is clearly a co-conspirator as his electronic colorations are most intriguing, but it is Frith who is challenging, commanding, and demonstrative. A recording that fans will have to sit down and listen to as the patrons did during the performance, it will yield the sense of passion, wonder, and depth these two have displayed in their music since their days with Henry Cow, but digging deeper than ever. ~ Michael G. Nastos, AMG

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009
EAC extraction logfile from 2. April 2010, 20:46
Fred Frith / Chris Cutler / The Stone: Issue Two
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