Henry Cow, Slapp Happy - In Praise of Learning (Original Mix)

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Music reviews of In Praise of Learning (Original Mix)

Music Review: THE SOCK MOVES FIRMLY TO THE LEFT FOOT...
Rating: 5 Stars

The album kicks off nicely with War (Energy enslaved), written by Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad (two-thirds of Slapp Happy)  its a scathing myth-like tale of the birth and appearance of War on Earth. The powerful lyrics remind the listener that, while War make fight on both sides of conflicts, invoked by varying causes and ideologies, and might employ assorted tools and techniques over the course of history, her purpose and deliverance have always been death and destruction. The next piece, the Tim Hodgkinson opus Living in the heart of the beast, takes the bands revolutionary philosophy and message further  its a history lesson as well as a rallying cry, and the final section, with Fred Friths guitar taking the lead, is one of the most powerful pieces of music Ive ever heard. From the final section: Now is the time to begin to determine directions, refuse to admit the existence of destinys rule The other vocal selection (from the original album) is Beautiful as the moon  terrible as an army with banners, a group composition with lyrics by Chris Cutler. The images it contains are dark (or bright, depending on which side you stand) portents of a class struggle coming to revolutionary fruition, of a people rising up and retaking control of their lives and labor. Its overtly political in thought, backed by some more outstanding and moving ensemble playing.

The two instrumental pieces from the original album are Beginning: the long march (a nod to the Long March that Mao led during the early days of the Chinese Revolution) and Morning star  each with plenty of room for the band to stretch out and improvise. The final track on this disc is a bonus, not released previously, entitled Lovers of gold, another group composition with lyrics by Chris.

Instrumentally, this album shows a progression from the styles developed on the groups first two albums  the biggest change here is the presence of so many vocals. The merger of Henry Cow with the group Slapp Happy (Peter Blegvad, Anthony Moore and Dagmar Krause) brought two new instrumentalists into the mix  and gave the bands political philosophy a near-perfect voice in Dagmar. Her instrument is like no other. She is obviously possessed of enormous talents and dedication  and her style fits her role to a T. She can cover an amazing range of tone and delivery, from a coo to a cackle to a scream  and her German accent brings to mind the social/political songs of Brecht/Eisler/Weill from the first half of the 20th century, artists whose work is extremely relevant to the songs presented here. After the demise of Henry Cow, Dagmar, Fred Frith and Chris Cutler went on to form Art Bears (hey Amazon, where are their cds?), who recorded three absolutely amazing and essential albums during their short career.

IN PRAISE OF LEARNING is not easy listening  either musically or philosophically. It is, however, intelligent and sincere and honest in both categories  and its an album that will always remain a vital element of my collection.

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