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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Henry Cow with Slapp Happy - In Praise of Learning

HENRY COW with SLAPP HAPPY:
Tim Hodgkinson: organ, clarinet, piano
Fred Frith: guitar, violin, xylophone, piano
John Greaves: bass guitar, piano
Chris Cutler: drums, radio
Dagmar Krause: voice
Peter Blegvad: guitar, voice, clarinet
Anthony Moore: piano, electronics and tapework
Lindsay Cooper: bassoon, oboe
Guests:
Geoff Leigh – soprano saxophone
Mongezi Feza – trumpet
Phil Becque – oscillator

A team-up with Slapp Happy may seem an obvious meeting of minds in 2000, but not at the time (1975) when all they really shared was a Marxist outlook and a record label (Virgin). The two bands had already recorded Desperate Straights, which focused more on songs and Dagmar Krause's vocals. Here, Krause gets one good song, the terrific Kurt Weill-esque "War" (subsequently covered by the Fall many years later), which leads off the album. "Living in the Heart of the Beast" takes up the rest of side one, and in long form Kraus seems lost. There's some free noise on side two, and it's a bit of a waste seeing Mongezi Feza among others play on the album. The best thing to take away from this meeting is that it went on to produce Art Bears, News From Babel, and several other groups made up from this spectacular personnel.

1975 IN PRAISE OF LEARNING
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