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Massacre

Killing Time (2LP)

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Killing Time by Massacre—the trio comprised of Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, and Fred Maher—is a molten collision of avant-punk velocity and improvisational deconstruction. With Frith's wiry guitar, Laswell's brutal bass, and Maher's manic percussion, every track lunges between catastrophe and comic relief.​

Temporary super offer! Spittle Records present an expanded reissue of Massacre's Killing Time, originally released in 1981. Following the breakup of Cambridge's avant-rock legends, Henry Cow, guitarist Fred Frith moved to NYC in 1979, and soon found himself deep in the heart of the city's robust post-punk and free-jazz scenes. He performed with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher, from the group Material, as a power trio of sorts under the moniker of Massacre. The group quickly garnered a reputation around town, and around the world for that matter, as a heavy and heady band that experimented greatly with rhythm, time signatures, and tone. As Frith himself put it, "the group was a direct response to New York.

It was a very aggressive group, kind of my reaction to the whole New York rock club scene." Massacre released one album, Killing Time, before disbanding for nearly 20 years. Their first wave as a group crashed fast and furiously and this one album, recorded in part live in Paris, and in part at Brooklyn's OAO Studio, is a perfect encapsulation of early '80s NYC. In addition to the original album, first released on Celluloid in 1981, this deluxe three-sided double LP includes eight bonus tracks recorded live between '80 and '81 at The Stone in San Francisco, and Inroads and CBGB in NYC. Avant-jazz-post-punk-noise of the highest order from several legends and one of the most important projects Frith and Laswell were ever involved in.

Details
Cat. number: SPITTLE067LP
Year: 2023

Format

All music composed or improvised by Massacre.

Recorded live at 24 Rue Dunois, Paris in April, 1981 and at OAO Studio, Brooklyn in June, 1981.

Additional work on the tapes: Greg Curry, Sorcerer Sound, New York.

Original LP and Live in Paris cuts were re-mastered from original 1/4" analog mix reels in January / May 2005 by Myles Boisen at the Headless Buddha Mastering Lab Oakland, CA.

All tracks on Side C were not included on the original LP: C1 & C5 (Inroads, New York, July 1981) C2, C4, C6 & C8 (28 Rue Dunois, Paris, April 1981) C3 (CBGB, New York, April 1980) C7 (Stone Club, San Francisco, June 1981) In contrast to previous LP version, the "Killing Time" LP cuts are heard here as originally intended, at the correct speed and pitch and without added reverb.

Tape backing services by George Horn at Fantasy Records, Berkley, CA.

Release notes

All music composed or improvised by Massacre. Recorded live at 24 Rue Dunois, Paris in April, 1981 and at OAO Studio, Brooklyn in June, 1981. Additional work on the tapes: Greg Curry, Sorcerer Sound, New York. Original LP and Live in Paris cuts were re-mastered from original 1/4" analog mix reels in January / May 2005 by Myles Boisen at the Headless Buddha Mastering Lab Oakland, CA. All tracks on Side C were not included on the original LP: C1 & C5 (Inroads, New York, July 1981) C2, C4, C6…

Tracklist
A1Legs
A2Aging With Dignity
A3Subway Heart
A4Killing Time
A5Corridor
A6Lost Causes
A7Not The Person We Knew
B1Bones
B2Tourism
B3Surfing
B4As Is
B5After
B6Gate
C1You Said
C2Know
C3Conversations With White Arc
C4Carrying
C5Bait
C6Third Street
C73 O'Clock, June 21st, Get Down There And Do It
C8F.B.I.
Credits
Bill Laswell
Bass [4-string], 6-String Bass, Trumpet [Pocket]
Fred Maher
Drums, Percussion
Greg Curry
Engineer [Additional Tape Work]
Martin Bisi
Engineer [Sound in New York]
Jean-Marc Foussat
Engineer [Sound in Paris]
Fred Frith
Guitar, Voice, Keyboards [Cassiotone]
Massacre
Music By [Composed Or Improvised]
Heike Liss
Photography By
Tina Curran
Photography By
Jan Luss
Photography By, Cover
Thi-Linh Le
Photography By, Cover
Myles Boisen
Remastered By

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