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Henry Cow - Unrest |
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ALBUM REVIEWSPick of the Chick: Our Favorite Releases, 1999-Present |
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Of all the '70s prog rockers, Henry Cow were the most successful at merging the improvisational elements of jazz with rock. Henry Cow's music, however, went beyond the typical jazz fusion of the period. With its quirky rhythmic changes and Fred Frith's unorthodox guitar work, their music was more experimental, more daring, and more trippy than the music of their contemporaries. The East Side Digital label has reissued Unrest, the 1974 follow-up to Henry Cow's excellent debut, Legend. Unrest opens with "Bittern Storm Over Ulm" and "Half Asleep; Half Awake"-- two tracks that are musical extensions of the strange fusion found on Legend. But it's the third track, entitled "Ruins," that really sets the course for the album. "Ruins" begins with a sax and piano hitting strange notes over a wash of high-pitched organ. The song breaks into a fusion groove that soon yields to an abstract landscape where the instruments seem to have a mind of their own. Melodies vanish, and musical themes shift. A violin and oboe wander around this abstract landscape, which is also marked by guitar chatter. "Solemn Music," provides a short breather. A guitar and oboe perform intertwining melodies creating a baroque feel. After this track, Unrest goes off the deep end of abstraction. Melody becomes even more scant, and song structure becomes as loose as any free jazz workout. The sea of abstraction parts at the end of "Deluge," the last track on the album. In the final minute of the song, John Greaves sings a simple melody backed by a piano. Prior to this point on the album, the vocals leaned toward the primal side (e.g., screaming, chanting, scatting). Henry Cow reminds us at the end of the record that there are indeed humans behind those instruments--humans with a sense of melody (when they choose to use it). Whether you'll like Unrest or not depends on your perspective. For adventurous souls who get a buzz off of experimental music, Unrest should be a rewarding listen. For those who are more comfortable with traditional rock sounds, it could be a pretty miserable trip. PIGEONHOLE: An experimental mix of jazz fusion and atonal tinkering. A '70s progressive
rock classic.
Andrew Helminger |
HENRY COW
