Art Bears
Hopes And Fears
*2024 reissue* Debut album released in ‘78 by Art Bears, a unit spawned from the fusion of Henry Cow and Slap Happy. With lyrics by Cutler + songs by Frith and songs by Dagmar, the image of the band is as if the extracts of the above two bands had been extracted and sharpened. A memorable album that could be seen as the starting point for the movement later known as ‘RecoMenkei’. Paper jacket, SHM-CD, remastered in 2015, with four bonus tracks, and even the poster included only on the first pres…
The World As It Is Today
*2024 reissue* Third and final album released in 1980. This album was released as a 45rpm 30 cm LP in analogue format. The entire album is filled with dark, high-tension performances, with a strong message that can be interpreted as an antithesis to the reality of the world, and a foreshadowing of the later activities of ReR and others. Paper jacket, SHM-CD, remastered in 2015, with three bonus tracks, as well as a reproduced 20-page booklet that came with the first pressing. Long-awaited encore…
Winter Songs
*2024 reissue* Brilliant second album by Art Bears, a band/project featuring Fred Frith, Chris Cutler and Dagmar Krause, formed in 1978 after disputes over the musical direction within Henry Cow. 'Winter Songs', originally released in 1979, placed Art Bears in the forefront of the Rock In Opposition Movement. Art Bears' intense and brutal avant-garde approach on the album comes across as primordial expression, which is nailed down by Krause's violently charismatic voice. As a piece of music reve…
the Art Box
The Art Box is a six-CD box set by English avant-rock group Art Bears. It contains all Art Bears album and single releases, plus new material, including live and unreleased Art Bears tracks, and unreleased remixes and reworkings of Art Bears material by other musicians. The box set also contains a book of photographs, artwork, articles, interviews and commentary on the CD tracks, the work process, the band and their tour of Europe in 1979. The Art Bears material was recorded between 1978 and 198…
