Henry Cow with Slapp Happy - Desperate Straights

HENRY COW with SLAPP HAPPY:
Dagmar Krause: voice, wurlitzer
Peter Blegvad: guitar, voice
Anthony Moore: piano
Tim Hodgkinson: clarinet, piano
Fred Frith: guitar, violin
John Greaves: bass guitar, piano
Chris Cutler: drums, etc
Guests:
Geoff Leigh – flute
Pierre Moerlen – percussion ("Europa")
Mont Campbell – french horn
Mongezi Feza – trumpet
Nick Evans – trombone
Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, oboe

A surprising team up at the time of its release (1975), Desperate Straights is a surprisingly melodic album, light on the art school angst and heavy on the playfulness, which one would hardly expect from such determined socialists as these. But here it is: "Some Questions About Hats" sounds like a Kurt Weill outtake, "A Worm Is at Work" gallops along with a sweet tune. Dagmar Krause remains restrained and not given to flights of horrible fancy. "Strayed" is reminiscient of Kevin Ayers's brand of art rock, and most of the songs clock in under two minutes. But never fear: the album ends on the eight minute "Caucasian Lullaby," a minimal woodwind piece that suddenly bursts into one last jab of Krausian despair.

1975 DESPERATE STRAIGHTS
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