One of the most singular and influential groups to emerge from the European avant-garde, finally given the definitive treatment. This box gathers the complete studio works of Slapp Happy - the German/British/American trio whose blend of naïve pop, chanson, bossa nova and experimental textures created a template for intelligent art-pop that resonates to this day.
Formed almost as a joke in Hamburg 1972, when British experimental composer Anthony Moore - frustrated by Polydor's rejection of his avant-garde work - proposed a pop project with visiting American friend Peter Blegvad and his German girlfriend Dagmar Krause. Moore and Blegvad considered themselves terrible singers; when Krause reluctantly agreed to lend her voice, what was meant as a lark became something unexpected and extraordinary.
Sort Of (1972) captures that initial spark - primitive pop recorded at Wümme with Faust as backing band, produced by left-wing film critic Uwe Nettelbeck. Krause's pure, innocent voice (credited as "Daggi") floats over arrangements recalling the Velvet Underground at their most tender, French chanson, psychedelic folk. A cult classic that sold poorly because the trio categorically refused to perform live.
Acnalbasac Noom - the rejected second album, recorded 1973 with Faust but shelved by Polydor until Recommended Records rescued the tapes in 1980. Moore's compositions had grown harmonically richer, Blegvad's lyrics more poetic. The group called their approach "the Douanier Rousseau sound" after the self-taught French painter - deliberate naïveté as aesthetic strategy. Virgin would later have them re-record these songs with session musicians as Slapp Happy/Casablanca Moon (1974), but the raw Faust-backed originals remain vastly superior.
Ça Va (1998) marks the reunion - twenty-three years later, Moore having written lyrics for post-Waters Pink Floyd, Blegvad having built a parallel career as cartoonist and collaborator with Andy Partridge, Krause having continued through Art Bears and her celebrated Brecht/Weill interpretations. Here they play all instruments themselves, crafting layered modern pop that recalls Brian Eno and Massive Attack while retaining the trio's characteristic wit and intelligence. Krause's voice, transformed by time - deeper, sensual, world-weary - defines these mature reflections on love and loss.
Camera (recorded 1991, released 2000) stands apart: a contemporary chamber opera commissioned by Channel 4 television, based on Krause's original concept. Moore composed for the Balanescu Quartet, brass and woodwind sections, five operatic singers; Blegvad contributed the libretto. Krause takes the lead role of Melusina, a woman who has never left her room, in this Kafkaesque allegory of bureaucratic intrusion and isolation. Not a Slapp Happy album per se, but an essential document of where these three remarkable artists could go when given complete creative freedom.
Essential listening for fans of Henry Cow, Art Bears, Faust, the Canterbury scene, or anyone interested in the more adventurous corners of European art-rock. Japanese mini-LP sleeve editions on high-fidelity SHM-CD, 2024 remasters supervised by Anthony Moore, with bonus tracks, liner notes and Japanese translations.
