Fred Frith
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Fred Frith (born February 17, 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.
Probably best-known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-garde rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew. He has collaborated with a number of prominent musicians, including Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, Lars Hollmer, The Residents, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Derek Bailey, Iva Bittová and Bob Ostertag. He has also composed several long works, including Traffic Continues (1996, performed 1998 by Frith and Ensemble Modern) and Freedom in Fragments (1993, performed 1999 by Rova Saxophone Quartet).
Frith is the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel's award-winning 1990 documentary film Step Across the Border. He has contributed to a number of music publications, including New Musical Express and Trouser Press, and has conducted improvising workshops across the world. Frith's career spans over three decades and he appears on over 400 albums. He still performs actively throughout the world.
Currently Frith is Professor of Composition in the Music Department at Mills College in Oakland, California. He lives in the United States with his wife, German photographer Heike Liss and their children, Finn Liss (b. August 22, 1991) and Lucia Liss (b. January 8, 1994).
Frith was awarded the 2008 Demetrio Stratos Prize for his career achievements in experimental music. The prize was established in 2006 in honour of experimental vocalist Demetrio Stratos who died in 1979.
Frith is the brother of Simon Frith, a well-known music critic and sociologist, and Chris Frith, a psychologist working at University College London.
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[edit]
Discography
Fred Frith appears on over 400 recordings. This is a selection from bands he was/is a member of, collaborations with other bands and musicians, and his solo recordings. The year indicates when the album was first released. For a comprehensive discography, see the Discography of Fred Frith by Michel Ramond, Patrice Roussel and Stephane Vuilleumier.
[edit]
Bands
- Legend (1973, LP, Virgin Records, UK)
- Unrest (1974, LP, Virgin Records, UK)
- Henry Cow Concerts (1976, 2xLP, Caroline Records, UK)
- Western Culture (1979, LP, Broadcast, UK)
- The Virgin Years – Souvenir Box (1991, 3xCD, East Side Digital, US)
- Henry Cow Box (2006, 7xCD, Recommended Records, UK)
- Stockholm & Göteborg (2008, CD, Recommended Records, UK)
- The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009, 9xCD+DVD, Recommended Records, UK)
- Desperate Straights (1975, LP, Virgin Records, UK)
- In Praise of Learning (1975, LP, Virgin Records, UK)
- Hopes and Fears (1978, LP, Recommended Records, UK)
- Winter Songs (1979, LP, Recommended Records, UK)
- The World as It Is Today (1981, LP, Recommended Records, UK)
- The Art Box (2003, 6xCD, Recommended Records, UK)
- Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits (1980, LP, Crammed Discs, Belgium)
- Memory Serves (1981, LP, Celluloid Records, France)
- One Down (1982, LP, Celluloid Records, France)
- Time Out (1983, LP, Celluloid Records, France)
- Improvised Music New York (1991, CD, Muworks Records, Japan)
- Live from Soundscape (1994, CD, DIW, Japan)
- Killing Time (1981, LP, Celluloid Records, France)
- Funny Valentine (1998, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Meltdown (2001, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Lonely Heart (2007, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Learn to Talk (1984, LP, Rift Records, US)
- The Country of Blinds (1986, LP, Rift Records, US)
- Learn to Talk / The Country of Blinds (2005, 2xCD, Fred Records, UK)
- Rē Records Quarterly Vol.1 No.2 (1985, LP, Recommended Records UK)
- Live, Love, Larf & Loaf (1987, LP, Rhino, US)
- Invisible Means (1990, LP, Windham Hill, US)
- Naked City (1990, LP, Elektra/Nonesuch, US)
- Torture Garden (1990, LP, Elektra/Nonesuch, US)
- Heretic, Jeux des Dames Cruelles (1992, CD, Avant, Japan)
- Grand Guignol (1992, CD, Avant, Japan)
- Leng Tch'e (1992, CD, Toys Factory, Japan)
- Radio (1993, CD, Avant, Japan)
- Absinthe (1993, CD, Avant, Japan)
- Naked City Live, Vol. 1: The Knitting Factory 1989 (2002, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Death Ambient (1995, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Synaesthesia (1999, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Drunken Forest (2007, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Ayaya Moses (1997, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- Upbeat (1999, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- Saturn's Finger (1999, CD, Buzz-Records, Netherlands)
- Digital Wildlife (2002, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany)
- Unsquare (2008, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
- That House We Lived In (2003, 2xCD, Fred Records, UK)
- Ragged Atlas (2010, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
- The Letter (2012, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
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Solo
- Guitar Solos (1974, LP, Caroline Records, UK)
- Gravity (1980, LP, Ralph Records, US)
- Speechless (1981, LP, Ralph Records, US)
- Live in Japan (1982, 2xLP, Recommended Records, Japan)
- Cheap at Half the Price (1983, LP, Ralph Records, US)
- Quartets (1994, CD, RecRec Music, Switzerland)
- Eye to Ear (1997, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire (Graphic Scores 1986–1996) (1999, CD, I Dischi di Angelica, Italy)
- Clearing (2001, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Prints: Snapshots, Postcards, Messages and Miniatures, 1987–2001 (2002, CD, Fred Records, UK)
- Eye to Ear II (2004, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Eleventh Hour (2005, 2xCD, Winter & Winter, Germany)
- To Sail, to Sail (2008, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Impur II (2009, CD, Fred Records, UK)
- Eye to Ear III (2010, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Clearing Customs (2011, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
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Music for Dance
- The Technology of Tears (And Other Music for Dance and Theatre) (1988, 2xLP, RecRec Music, Switzerland)
- Allies (Music for Dance volume 2) (1996, CD, RecRec Music, Switzerland)
- The Previous Evening (Music for Dance volume 4) (1997, CD, Recommended Records, UK) (The Previous Evening was designated "Music for Dance volume 4" after Accidental was released.)
- Accidental (Music for Dance volume 3) (2002, CD, Fred Records, UK)
- The Happy End Problem (Music for Dance volume 5) (2006, CD, Fred Records, UK)
- Nowhere, Sideshow, Thin Air (Music for Dance volume 6) (2009, CD, Fred Records, UK)
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Soundtracks
- The Top of His Head (1989, LP, Crammed Discs, Belgium) – original soundtrack to the film The Top of His Head by Peter Mettler
- Step Across the Border (1990, 2xLP, RecRec Music, Switzerland) – original soundtrack to the film Step Across the Border by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel
- Middle of the Moment (1995, CD, RecRec Music, Switzerland) – original soundtrack to the film Middle of the Moment by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel
- Rivers and Tides (2003, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany) – original soundtrack to the film Rivers and Tides by Thomas Riedelsheimer
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Composer only
- Pacifica (1998, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Freedom in Fragments (2002, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Impur (2006, CD, Fred Records, UK)
- Back to Life (2008, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
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Collaborations
- With Various artists
- Guitar Solos 2 (1976, LP, Caroline Records, UK)
- Guitar Solos 3 (1979, LP, Rift Records, US)
- Fred Frith and Henry Kaiser
- With Friends Like These (1979, LP, Metalanguage, US)
- Who Needs Enemies? (1983, LP, Metalanguage, US)
- With The Residents
- Commercial Album (1980, LP, Ralph Records, US)
- Fred Frith, Bob Ostertag and Phil Minton
- Voice of America (1982, LP, Rift Records, US)
- Fred Frith and Totsuzen Danball
- Live at Loft Shinjuku Tokyo Japan 23.July'81 (1982, CT, Floor Records, Japan)
- Fred Frith and Chris Cutler
- Live in Prague and Washington (1983, LP, Recommended Records, UK)
- Live in Trondheim, Berlin, Limoges (1994, CD, Recommended Records, UK)
- 2 Gentlemen in Verona (2000, CD, Recommended Records, UK)
- The Stone: Issue Two (2007, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Lol Coxhill and Fred Frith
- French Gigs (1983, LP, AAA, France)
- Fred Frith and René Lussier
- Nous Autres (1987, LP, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
- Fred Frith and Ferdinand Richard (as Fred & Ferd)
- Dropera (1991, LP, RecRec Music, Switzerland)
- Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson
- Live Improvisations (1992, CD, Woof Records, UK)
- Fred Frith and François-Michel Pesenti
- Helter Skelter (1993, CD, RecRec Music, Switzerland)
- Fred Frith and Marc Ribot
- Subsonic 1. Sounds of a Distant Episode (1994, CD, Sub Rosa/Subsonic, Belgium)
- Fred Frith and John Zorn
- The Art of Memory (1995, CD, Incus Records, UK)
- 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 5 (2004, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- The Art of Memory II (2008, CD, Fred Records, UK)
- Late Works (2010, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Fred Frith and Jean-Pierre Drouet
- En Public aux Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers (1997, CD, Transes Europeennes, France)
- Fred Frith and Tom Cora
- Etymology (1997, CD, Rarefaction, US)
- Percy Howard, Charles Hayward, Fred Frith and Bill Laswell
- Meridiem (1998, CD, Materiali Sonori, Italy)
- Fred Frith and Ensemble Modern
- Traffic Continues (2000, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany)
- Mark Dresser, Fred Frith and Ikue Mori
- Later ... (2000, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
- Fred Frith, Jean-Pierre Drouet and Louis Sclavis
- I Dream of You Jumping (2001, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
- Michel Wintsch, Fred Frith, Franziska Baumann and Bernard Trontin
- Whisperings (2002, CD, RecRec Music, Switzerland)
- Fred Frith, Anne Bourne and John Oswald
- Dearness (2002, CD, Spool, Canada)
- Fred Frith, Jean Derome, Pierre Tanguay and Myles Boisen
- All is Bright, But it is Not Day (2002, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- Derek Bailey, Antoine Berthiaume and Fred Frith
- Soshin (2003, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- Fred Frith, Joëlle Léandre and Jonathan Segel
- Tempted to Smile (2003, CD, Spool, Canada)
- Leslie Dalaba, Fred Frith, Eric Glick Rieman and Carla Kihlstedt
- Dalaba Frith Glick Rieman Kihlstedt (2003, CD, Accretions Records, US)
- Toychestra and Fred Frith
- What Leave Behind (2004, CD, S.K. Records, France)
- Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt and Stevie Wishart
- The Compass, Log and Lead (2005, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
- Anthony Braxton and Fred Frith
- Duo (Victoriaville) 2005 (2006, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
- Janet Feder and Fred Frith
- Ironic Universe (2006, CD+DVD, Ad Hoc Records, US)
- Fred Frith and Chris Brown
- Cutter Heads (2007, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
- Darren Johnston, Fred Frith, Devin Hoff, Larry Ochs and Ches Smith
- Reasons for Moving (2007, CD, Not Two, US)
- Fred Frith and Evelyn Glennie
- The Sugar Factory (2007, CD, Tzadik Records, US)
- Sonargemeinschaft (Sonar Community) and Fred Frith
- Drift (2008, CD, Poise, Germany)
- Fred Frith and Danielle Roger
- Pas de Deux (2008, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- Fred Frith and ARTE Quartett
- Still Urban (2009, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
- The Big Picture (2009, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
- Chris Cutler, Thomas Dimuzio and Fred Frith
- Golden State (2010, LP, Recommended Records, UK) (Golden State is an LP-only release; "a CD just wouldn't be the same, sonically, visually or ontologically." – Chris Cutler.)
- Fred Frith and Annie Lewandowski
- Long as in Short, Walk as in Run (2011, CD, Ninth World Records)
- Joëlle Léandre, Fred Frith, Alvin Curran and Urs Leimgruber
- MMM Quartet – Live at the Metz' Arsenal (2012, CD, Leo Records, UK)
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Fred Frith" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
