01	On Suicide						01:26
	02	The Dividing Line						04:11
	03	Joan						03:05
	04	Maze						05:05
	05	In Two Minds						08:45
	06	Terrain						03:49
	07	The Tube						03:05
	08	The Dance						05:09
	09	Pirate Song						01:28
	10	Labyrinth						02:15
	11	Riddle						02:49
	12	Moeris Dancing						05:08
	13	Piers						02:10
	14	All Hail!						04:48
	15	Collapse						04:03
	16	Coda To Man And Boy						07:13

Art Bears: Hopes and Fears

Random Radar (Re 2188)
UK 1978

Fred Frith, guitars, violin, viola, piano, harmonium, xylophone, bass;
Chris Cutler, drums, electric drums, percussives, noise;
Dagmar Krause, singing;
Lindsay Cooper, bassoon, oboe, soprano sax, recorder;
Tim Hodgkinson, organ, clarinet, piano;
Georgie Born, bass, cello, voice

Tracklist:
1. On Suicide - 1:26
2. The Dividing Line - 4:13
3. Joan - 3:07
4. Maze - 5:15
5. In Two Minds - 8:35
6. Terrain - 3:54
7. The Tube - 3:02
8. The Dance - 5:08
9. The Pirate Song - 1:10
10. Labyrinth - 2:20
11. Riddle - 2:50
12. Moeris, dancing - 5:20
13. Piers - 2:10

total time 48:30

Dominique Leone:
Beginning with "On Suicide", Hopes and Fears is nowhere close to typically prog neighborhoods. It's not that RIO is so radically different than regular prog, but this is something else altogether. Chiefly, these are not really 'pieces' so much as actual songs. This is particularly odd given that Art Bears were born out of Henry Cow, a band more likely to eschew form than to adhere to it. Also, this stuff is obsessively non-pretentious.
Taking their cue from Brecht, the lyrics here are almost totally non-symbolic, emphasizing description and expression over poetry and emotion. "In Two Minds" features one of many raw nerves when Krause's anguished adolescent protagonist proclaims, "Night is the only time I have/The only time it is quiet/The only time people are not trying to confuse me with demands." Try fitting that into a couplet.
Of course, most people will immediately catch on to the music itself. Said music: pretty unqiue stuff. Now is as good a time as any to give Frith and Cutler their due as musicians. Although Frith has seemingly made a career of a chamleonlike guitar and bass hero, Cutler hasn't been as lauded with praise. Perhaps it's because his contributions aren't as immediately obvious - he does make a lot of racket on his kit, but he also plays any number of auxillary percussion instruments, and with Frith, cowrote everything.
None of the songs sound the same. Gary mentioned The Who: "In Two Minds" erupts with "Won't Get Fooled Again" fury about three minutes in; "On Suicide" could have been a Threepenny Opera tune; "Joan" is a ragged durge until the woodwinds transform it into some strange Univers Zero interlude; "Moeris Dancing" is joyous polyrhythm that wouldn't sound out of place on a late Magma album until the gypsy violin comes in; "Pirate Song" shows just how delicate and vulnerable Krause could be. In a word, artful.
This band doesn't get anywhere near the praise they deserve. Of all the avant-progressive music out there, it would seem that Art Bears could be one of the most easily accessible, but for some reason they aren't. My guess is that Krause's rep as a roomclearer scares people away. Or it could be that Genesis fans just don't go for anything with the Henry Cow stamp of approval on it. Whatever the reason, it's undeserved. This is some of the best music and one of the best bands to come out of 70s progressive rock scene, regardless of how they're classified. Recommended, no pun intended.

Gary Niederhoff:
I only dared experiment with the Art Bears, yet another Cow-related output married with Dagmar's voice was too enticing to pass up. Art Bears uses the instrumentation of Henry Cow with a minimalist approach, and capitalizes on Dagmar's astounding vocal capability, with this, their debut, being the most dynamic and, in my opinion, their best.
The project was the result of a rift within Henry Cow, wherein Cutler & Frith wanted to move in a more song-structured direction, adding Dagmar's vocals, and Hodgkinson & Cooper wanted to compose instrumental music (the result of which was Henry Cow's Western Culture). RIO being a hard enough sub-genre to appreciate as it is, this more vocal oriented and experimental take is definitely an acquired taste. The most mainstream moment actually brought The Who to mind (Frith, Born and Cutler do a great Townshend, Entwistle and Moon, but Krause's Daltrey could've used a little brushing up). Aside from that, Cutler's noise frenzies and the overall dour and minimal musical accompaniment to Dagmar take this album in a daunting direction.
"Moeris, dancing", with Frith's eastern tinged strings and Dagmar's similar soundings is the highlight for me, but even it gives way to an eerie fade out and the album cements its solemn and dark tone with a closing of depressing vocals and somber harmonium. I'd hesitate to tell someone this was a great prog album, but its interesting experimental facet and often dramatic vocal shadings make it a great album nonetheless.

joe

Several years after Henry Cow's In Praise of Learning, members Fred Frith and Chris Cutler and Slapp Happy liedmistress Dagmar Krause banded together to form the Art Bears. The results here sit generally better with me than the Cow I have heard thus far, perhaps because of the tighter emphasis on composition over improvisation and the addition of Krause. The pieces feel intimate and there's a tight link to other chamber-comrades such as Univers Zero, particularly in the ghastly harmonium of "The Dividing Line," played admirably with a handful of other instruments by Frith. Highlights include the Brechtian "On Suicide," the instrumental "Moeris Dancing," and the included bonus single "All Hail!" Also, Dagmar was born to sing material like "Joan," where it sounds like she might have placed herself on a burning stake to get the performance. The album's centerpiece is "In Two Minds," which somehow manages to jump from character portrait with probably accidental references to family systems theory to an impassioned if overwrought tirade about "wealthy patrons of the state" (Cutler, I'm guessing)...all with nods to The Who thrown in just in case. Well, whatever you think after hearing this, you won't be able to say it ain't interesting.

1-17-04




Art Bears [UK]
Updated 2/2/01
Hopes and Fears (78), Winter Songs (79), The World As It Is Today (80), Winter Songs/The World As It Is Today (87, Compilation)

Basically Fred Frith, Chris Cutler and the either-you-love-her-or-hate-her ex- Slapp Happy vocalist Dagmar of Henry Cow, Art Bears thrived on challenging and very hard to listen to music, and are supposedly the logical step onward from Henry Cow. While not displaying the almost free jazz tendencies of Henry Cow, Art Bears were very cerebral, almost to the point of burning out. Their three albums are all equal in quality and are only recommended (pun not intended) to those who like Univers Zero, Henry Cow, or Magma etc. (of course they sound little like any of these anyway - but you get my picture.) I like 'em anyway.

Henry Cow spinoff (Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Dagmar Krause) that makes some pretty good music but then ruins it with Dagmar's weird amelodic vocals. I suppose one could get used to it, but I've tried many times and haven't yet.

Art Bears are a branch of Henry Cow and include Dagmar Krause on vocals, Chris Cutler on percussion, and Fred Frith on guitar/ violin/keyboards/etc.. Several people have said that they sound a lot like Henry Cow. I have only heard HC's In Praise of Learning and the only song on that album similar to the Art Bears is "As beautiful as the moon ... Terrible as an army with Banners." They are not nearly as psychedelic as Henry Cow and the songs are mostly short peices worked around a single concept. Their music is very dark in concept and in atmosphere. The lyrical content varies with each album. The World as it is Today is very political/marxian (there is a song cycle called "Six corpses in the mouth of the bourgeoisie" composed of songs like "The Song of the Monopolists" and "The Song of the Oppression of Labor Under Management"). Winter Songs is a collection of stories as told by various pieces of 16th century sculpture. Pictures of the art are included in the insert. Hopes and fears deals with the dismal side of the human psyche and songs based on bits of history (pirates and minotaurs).

More than any other group that I've heard, Art Bears' music exemplifies the lyrical content. Each song is made to, almost perfectly, complement the images evoked by the lyric. They use dissonance quite subtly in all their albums. Try Winter Songs or The World as it is Today (they come together on CD from Wayside) then get Hopes and Fears if you like them. Hopes and Fears is more raw and the lyrics don't match the music as much as on the other two.

A trio from Henry Cow. Similar thing but generally quieter.

Criticised for being to cerebral, but you should ignore that sort of criticism whenever it appears. Art Bears are incredible. Very hard to get into, but no-one said it would be easy to learn how to appreciate brilliant music! Dagmar Krause is my favourite female vocalist and she sings really beautifully here. There are wild tonal ranges, bizzare instrumentations and strange compositional arangements. Like In Praise of Learning era Henry Cow taken to it's logical conclusion. Fantastic.

I have Winter Songs. If you like Henry Cow and can tolerate Dagmar Krause's voice (I actually like it. What's wrong with me?), you'll find this album somewhat rewarding. More song-orientated than Henry Cow ever was, though. I heard some of Hopes And Fears as well. It seemed like the lost Henry Cow album. -- Mike Ohman






Tentative Review #123
Art Bears
Winter Songs
(released 1979)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Track: Rating:
1. The Bath Of Stars
2. First Things First
3. Gold
4. The Summer Wheel
5. The Slave
6. The Hermit
7. Rats & Monkeys
8. The Skeleton
9. The Winter Wheel
10.Man & Boy
11.Winter/War
12.Force
13.3 Figures
14.3 Wheels

Personnel:
Chris Cutler: drums, etc, noise
Fred Frith: guitar, violin, keyboards, xylophone
Dagmar Krause: singing
Credits:
All tracks written by Frith & Cutler.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments:
When Slapp Happy and Henry Cow joined forces in the mid-'70s, some cynical observers suggested that this was more an attempt by HC to "poach" SH singer Dagmar Krause than a declaration of ideological brotherhood. Such observers must surely have felt vindicated when the Art Bears grew out of the collapse of both bands, a few years later. In this new incarnation, Cow-veterans Fred Frith, Chris Cutler and Krause managed to release three albums before themselves dissolving in the early 1980s.

Aside from downsizing their membership, the trio also curtailed many of the lengthier jams which had been featured on earlier Cow recordings (eg. the second half of In Praise Of Learning). The Trouser Press Guide has noted a turn towards song-oriented material at this stage; this ignores the prominence of conceptual themes on the albums in question, but is generally correct nevertheless. In temporary sacrificing their virtuosity, Frith and Cutler allowed their art-jazz-noise creations to merge with Krause's vocals in a dialectic that was often haunting, and always impressive.

The first and last Art Bears albums probably did little to surprise their following from a thematic standpoint -- Hopes And Fears (1978), was a powerful study of a urban/leftist despair, and The World As It Is Today (1981) was a open condemnation of global capitalism (including such titles as "The Song Of The Dignity Of Labour Under Capital", and such). Winter Songs, on the other hand, must have puzzled more than a few casual observers.

The lyrics to this album (written by Cutler) tell of an unfolding story, primarily derived from a series of engravings from the Amiens Cathedral (although two other cathedrals, including Nantes, are similarly utilized for one track apiece). The songs which result are primarily descriptive, focusing on the characters presented in the engravings. To the extent that a plot can be identified, however, the saga seems to focus on a boy entering the world by a divine hand, moving through various stages of knowledge (encountering seasonal changes, images of poverty, and war), and finally attaining a state of enlightenment through the mysterious third wheel, itself the passage from unknowing to knowing.

Determining the relative success or failure of this project is not entirely simple. The song-depictions, taken as individual components, work extremely well; the music travels from austerity to chaos in a brilliant fashion, and Krause's voice is almost perfectly suited to the occasion. In terms of the story being depicted, however, a few problems present themselves. Neither the course nor the outcome is particularly clear -- various allusions to the boy's development are easily identifiable, as are assorted references to unequal wealth distribution ... but, it isn't entirely clear what end this is all leading to. It is possible to derive a Gnostic/socialist interpretation of the lyrics (a wheel does move by revolution, after all, and the references to cosmology and the boy's development could easily suggest a gradual process of initiation), but complete gnosis is never given directly to the listener. I suppose that may have been the idea, of course ...

(Actually, part of this thematic obscurity may be traced to the fact that a book featuring the lyrics to this album and other writings was advertised on inside sleeve. These other lyrics may provide some further elucidation of Cutler's intentions -- did anyone actually buy the text?)

The saga begins with a depiction of the boy's birth in "The Bath Of Stars" (not based on an Amiens sculpture). Dagmar's esoteric lyrics ("He steps from a crucible, held by an angel ...") are made even more disturbing by virtue of the unconventional use of overdubs (ie. whispered vocals over a sung line). The angel is the piece is preparing to send a storm upon the boy, whether for destruction or initiation. The music is clearly secondary here, as synthesized majesty intermingles with a minimal keyboard presence.

"First Things First" is a work of instrumental austerity, with guitar, xylophone and vocals co-existing in a state of measured stability; the presence of kit drums adds greater diversity thereafter, though this work still seems balanced in its own enigmatic manner. As per the backmasked vocals at its beginning, the significance of this track to the greater whole is perhaps not entirely apparent to the uninitiated; the image of two trees, interconnecting and dying, certainly has more than its share of esoteric possibilities. This is followed by "Gold", a first-person declaration from the standpoint of the element in question; similar to Henry Cow's "War", this track is heavily drenched in socialist belief ("I disconnect, I can transform anything into what I am"), and may have been the most recognizable message for those confused by the esoterica. While only accompanied by a solo piano, Dagmar nevertheless manages to create a truly nasty vocal inflection for this song.

The primary theme is then rejoined with "The Summer Wheel", a jazz-rock track describing the wheel's presence above a summer field -- Cutler provides some excellent work on drums, Frith add some quality jazz guitar additions in the instrumental section, and Krause seems a bit less disruptive to the general process than usual (for whatever reason). Musically, this is an easy highlight for the work.

Even better is "The Slave", with its European violin stylings and curiously syncopated drum presence (somewhat heavier than on the other tracks as well). Krause's voice depicts a slave "day-dying" at a gate in this track, with emphasis on the soil about his presence; there then follows a more curious section -- "Then did we dream over our houses" -- which seems a response to the economic injustice which produced such a character; it isn't clear if the revolutionaries are of the lower or higher orders, though. Frith provides a truly harsh guitar section at the very end of the track, which soon reaches an abrupt end.

"The Hermit" is an odder work -- also depicting an image of poverty, but doing so in a tender, lullaby fashion more traditionally associated with conservative myths of "noble peasants" than with those of dedicated socialists. Frith and Krause both provide strangely consonant presences here, depicting the valiant hero of the image as he warms a fish (hmm ...) over an open fire. Strangely Celtic violins and drums appear in the instrumental breaks, for reasons not immediately apparent.

Perhaps such an idealized image of poverty was incapable of defending itself for long. In any event, "Rats & Monkeys" shatters the piece of the previous track, with Dagmar repeatedly warning of animal vermin overtaking the city; musical chaos surrounds her, including a profoundly deep bass presence and the expected guitar dissonance -- the music in the song's reprise is, if anything, even more chaotic than the primary body of the work. Considering the source (both the band and the inspiration for the song), it isn't too difficult to consider the piece as a metaphor for urban revolution, achieved as the piece reaches its end.

"The Skeleton" is another austere piece, depicting a figure dancing himself to the bones while in the grip of St. Vitus. The harsh keyboard presence offsets the order of the track somewhat, and Dagmar's harshly nonchalant take on the events in question gives the track a strong element of morbid beauty; on the other hand, Frith's decision to repeat the vocal line on guitar may not have been the best of all possible decisions.

This is followed by "The Winter Wheel", re-introducing the primary narrative of the track once again -- perhaps in reference to the plague activities described in the previous track, "black winter's wheel" is depicted as an isolating force, separating man from man, and creating further interest in otherworldly beliefs. This track combines the austerity and jazz-rock elements which dominate the album, with some good piano and drums performances in the process. From herein, all of the tracks seem focused towards the cycles of revolution, and the developing ambitions of the boy character.

"Man & Boy" reintroduces the boy-child to the story, depicting his harvesting of a "twisted tree" while his father uses the wood for fire (leading to an extremely strange hi-hat crescendo). The music of the piece is founded primarily on background chaos, with high-pitch wailing (from an electronic source) dominating much of the track, and isolated conversations audible on occasion; some production trickery is also present in Dagmar's voice towards the end.

The next two track flow together, joined by an extremely ambient guitar solo which seems as far removed from virtuosity as would be conceivable under the circumstances. "Winter/War" consists of an apprehensive piano line and metallic percussion, depicting "the breath of spring, cut short by death" as a season of war approaches. "Force" depicts a chaotic presence, identified as female, who "contains the winter, spewing forth the spring". The cycle clearly continues, though one may wonder if Cutler's Bonham-esque mixing for the middle section was called for.

"3 Figures" is one of the most important tracks in the series, depicting the responses of the boy, the man, and an aging king to the emerging presence of war (at some level, at least). As the boy wishes to lead forth into battle, his father attempts to limit his enthusiasm; the king, meanwhile, resigns himself to avoidance of the world and all of its trappings, though looking upon the boy with a profound (Saturnian?) fear. The music is marked by Frithian craftiness, resulting in possibly the most satisfying track in the cycle.

In comparison, the concluding "3 Wheels" falls slightly short of its goals; though successful in depicting the rise of the narrator (presumably the boy) to a state of higher knowledge, it nevertheless isn't quite as satisfying as it should be (though close). Krause's voice depicts the vision of the sun's double-wheel in the sky, and subsequently the image of a third wheel, not bound as the others in temporal matters; wondering if s/he is as Ezekiel in a trance, this figure then describes the wheel as a portal to wisdom, "which moves and is unmoving". This section could have been an extremely triumphant conclusion to the cycle [if a conclusion it is...], but is hindered somewhat by poorly conceived lyrical depictions (breathless depictions of "a wheel within a wheel", for instance, can hardly score many points on a scale of profundity). The music, after a ritualized percussive backing in the first section, is as esoteric as the lyric, revealing many possibilities while not actually affirming terribly much.

The album is strongly recommended to adventurous fans, though the inscrutable nature of some thematic variants may frustrate some listeners (obviously, those initiated in the secrets of Cocteau's grave or caught in eternal battle against the legacy of Clement V will feel perfectly at home). This is easily the most curious of the Art Bears releases; a case could be made that it's the best of the three as well.

The Christopher Currie
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 27 Aug 1998)





ART BEARS


Discography

Hopes and Fears (1978)
Winter Songs (1979)
The World As It Is Today (1981)

Singles/EPs:
"Coda to Man & Boy" (1978)
"Rats and Monkeys/Collapse" (1979)


County Of Origin: England/Germany
Established: 1978
Prog Sub-Genre: RIO, Avant-Garde


Biography

In the late 70s, the seemingly monolithic Henry Cow, founders of the Rock in Opposition movement, found themselves split down the middle: Tim Hodgkinson and Lindsay Cooper wanted to write longer pieces, while Fred Frith and Chris Cutler wanted to work on song-based material. The result was the dissolution of Henry Cow, with the longer pieces being released as Henry Cow's Western Culture and the shorter vocal tracks being released as the first Art Bears album, Hopes and Fears.

Since it was recorded during the same sessions as the last Cow album, Hopes and Fears features several members of Henry Cow as guests, and sounds somewhat more Cow-like than the other albums. The esoteric Winter Songs is something rather different: a concept album based on French cathedral carvings, with a dry, stark sound to match. The World As It Is Today, the Bears' final album, is a bitter, sarcastic critique of capitalism, complete with heavy-handed Marxist lyrics from Cutler and a blocky, strident sound. - Alex Temple [December 2001]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hopes and Fears (1978)

I've heard this referred to as "the lost Henry Cow album." There is some truth to that, I guess -- after all, it was recorded during the same sessions as Western Culture, and the Cow members who didn't go on to form the Art Bears are all listed as guest musicians. But except for a few passages, Hopes and Fears doesn't really sound like Henry Cow. While Cow synthesized their influences into a single style, this album is unabashedly eclectic. There are songs that sound like Kurt Weill ("Pirate Song"), dissonant neoclassical instrumentals ("Terrain"), wild folky dances ("Moeris Dancing") and thundering atmospheric noise collages ("The Tube"). Perhaps the most stylistically unexpected moment is in the longest track, "In Two Minds." This piece starts out as a sort of angst-ridden, twisted folk song, but somewhere in the middle we get a ponderous major-key section that's surprisingly close to straightforward rock. This section would probably seem very heavy-handed in any other context, but in the middle of an album that for the most part has little to do with rock 'n' roll, it somehow makes perfect sense. If there's anything to complain about here, it's the lyrics, which start out affectingly simple and lure you into listening to them, before hitting you with horribly overwrought phrases like "to discredit conscience and reject all criticism."
The eclecticism of Hopes and Fears may be part of why it works so well. Transitions like that between the first two songs -- quiet tonal clarinet-playing segueing into a stark distorted texture of rattly drumming and weird synthesizers -- keep the listener on his toes at all times. It's certainly an advantage over the Art Bears' other two albums, which seem a bit stagnant at times. But I think what really makes this album so great is its depth. While much of the Art Bears' later work seems cool at first but gets less interesting with successive listens, this one just keeps getting better. Even the more unassuming tracks take on their own identities, and sections that once seemed limp suddenly seem beautiful. At the time of this writing, the only part of the album that has not thoroughly wormed its way into my head is the final section of "The Dance," which is just too blocky and lacking in subtlety for my taste.

I also have to say that this is one of the most melodic RIO releases I've heard. Nearly every song has a memorable and beautiful vocal line, from the rather straightforward chromatic tonality of "On Suicide" and especially "Pirate Song" to the weirder but utterly convincing tunes of songs like "Riddle" and "Maze." You could almost call it a sort of avant-garde pop music.

And of course, I have to say something about the bonus tracks. A lot of people are not crazy about bonus tracks, and I'd be tempted to agree in this case, except that "All Hail!" (mislabeled as "Collapse" on the back of the CD) is simply amazing. Possibly my favorite Art Bears song, it sounds like "Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army with Banners," only with a hell of a lot more bite. The sound of Dagmar's anxious double-tracking over Frith's melancholic piano and Cutler's vicious drumming sends chills down my spine, and the variety of instrumental tone color, here more than anywhere else on the CD, makes me wish that Hogkinson, Cooper and Born had stayed with the Art Bears for their other two albums. - Alex Temple [December 2001]


1. On Suicide - 1:26
2. The Dividing Line - 4:11
3. Joan - 3:05
4. Maze - 5:05
5. In Two Minds - 8:45
6. Terrain - 3:49
7. The Tube - 3:05
8. The Dance - 5:09
9. Pirate Song - 1:28
10. Labyrinth - 2:15
11. Riddle - 2:49
12. Moeris Dancing - 5:08
13. Piers - 2:10

Bonus tracks:
14. Collapse - 4:48
15. All Hail! - 4:03
16. Coda to Man and Boy - 7:13

Chris Cutler - drums, electrified drums, percussions, noise
Fred Frith - guitars, violin, viola, piano, harmonium, xylophone, bass
Dagmar Krause - singing
with:
Lindsay Cooper - bassoon, oboe, soprano sax, recorders
Tim Hodgkinson - organ, clarinet, piano
Georgie Born - bass, cello, voice

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winter Songs (1979)

If I had to describe this album in two words, they would be "stark" and "minimal." If I could add another sentence, it would be: "And that doesn't mean what you think it does."

To be sure, there is a good deal of music here that really is stark in the usual sense. Dagmar Krause's not-exactly-harmonious voice is sometimes presented alone ("First Things First"), doubled by a thin instrumental line ("Gold"), or accompanied by harsh, dissonant clanging tones ("Winter/War"). Some instrumental passages are incredibly thin-textured, without a consonance in sight: "The Skeleton" starts with nearly a minute of clomping 6/8 drumming and dissonant organ chords. At the same time, though, many of the harshest-sounding textures are actually quite full, as in the distorted, noisy collage of "Man & Boy," and what seems to be very fleshed-out harmony is often actually played by a very thin instrumentation, as in the quiet, lilting Celtic-tinged folk of "The Hermit."

The "minimal" quality also manifests itself in some unexpected ways. Sometimes the instrumentation or texture is minimal, as described above. Sometimes, as in the hyperkinetic "Rats and Monkeys," the music is full of detail, but minimalist in construction; here, Krause spends the first half song shrieking the same two meaningless lines over Fred Frith's scraping violin figures and Chris Cutler's maniacal drumming. Halfway in, there is a short pause, and the second part of the song is taken up by furious and even more repetetive electronic manipulations of samples from the first half, resulting in something in between RIO, techno and noise. Unlike a lot of minimalist music, the effect of the repetition is not hypnotic but invigorating.

Actually, I wish there were more on this album like "Rats and Monkeys." There are a few other songs which really stand out as different -- "The Hermit," the liquid and jazzy "The Summer Wheel," and the vocal polyphony of "Three Figures," which comes off like a harsh and percussive Gentle Giant. Most of the album, though, is taken up by bleak quasi-tonal miniatures, which are beautifully fascinating at first, but get tiresome by the end of the album. The last two tracks in particular, except for "Three Figures," are so harmonically static and texturally thin that I sometimes lose my patience and turn off the album before it's over.

Overall, I'd have to say that this is my least favorite Art Bears album, without the compelling eclecticism of Hopes and Fears or the sarcastic solidity of The World As It Is Today. The presence of some truly excellent material certainly redeems it, but at the same time only makes it that much more frustrating. - Alex Temple [December 2001]


1. The Bath of Stars - 1:45
2. First Things First - 2:50
3. Gold - 1:40
4. The Summer Wheel - 2:46
5. The Slave - 3:37
6. The Hermit - 2:58
7. Rats and Monkeys - 3:14
8. The Skeleton - 3:11
9. The Winter Wheel - 3:06
10. Man & Boy - 3:21
11. Winter/War / Force / Three Figures - 5:51
12. Three Wheels - 3:38

Fred Frith - Guitars, Violin, Keyboards, Xylophone
Chris Cutler - Drums etc., Noise
Dagmar Krause - Vocals