''The Art Box'' is a six- CD

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

Art Bears Art Bears were an England, English avant-rock Musical ensemble, group formed during the disassembly of Henry Cow in 1978 by three of its members, Chris Cutler (percussion, texts), Fred Frith (guitar, bass guitar, violin, keyboards) and Dagmar Kr ...

. It contains all Art Bears

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

and

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

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 1980, while the work by other musicians was recorded between 1998 and 2003. The box set was released in 2004 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the band's formation. A double-CD entitled '' Art Bears Revisited'' containing Discs four and five of the box set was released later in 2004. Discs one, two and three are

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ed versions (by Bob Drake) of the first three Art Bears albums, ''

Hopes and Fears ''Hopes and Fears'' is the debut studio album by the English alternative rock band Keane. It was released on 10 May 2004 in the United Kingdom and topped the UK Albums Chart upon release. It was the second best-selling British album of 2004, ...

'' (1978), '' Winter Songs'' (1979) and ''

The World as It Is Today ''The World as It Is Today'' is the third and last album by English avant-rock group Art Bears. It was recorded at Sunrise Studio in Kirchberg, Switzerland between 24 August and 7 September 1980, and was first released in 1981. For technical ...

'' (1981). Discs four and five, entitled ''Art Bears Revisited'', contain remixed and reworked Art Bears pieces by various musicians, plus two Art Bears singles and an unreleased Art Bears track. Disc six contains more remixed and reworked Art Bears pieces by various musicians, including a 1984 cover of "The Song of Investment Capital Overseas" by

Duck and Cover "Duck and cover" is a method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion. Ducking and covering is useful in offering a degree of protection to personnel located outside the radius of the nuclear fireball but still within su ...

, plus five live Art Bears tracks, four of which were never officially released before.

Reception

Dave Lynch at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described

' music as "an adventurous mix of avant rock experimentalism, smatterings of noise and dissonance, British folk flavors, medieval imagery, and leftist, anti-corporate politics". He said that ''The Art Box'' "is a comprehensive document of a band that represented what the best rock music should be: utterly uncompromising".

Dominique Leone Dominique Leone is an American musician and writer based in New York City. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 29, 1973, and grew up in the Dallas, Texas area. Leone began writing music reviews for Pitchfork Media in 2001, and was ...

wrote in

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

that Art Bears made music "almost as ahead of the curve today as it did twenty years ago", and said that they deserve the "deluxe reissue treatment" of a 6-CD box set. In a review at

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

, Peter Marsh wrote that Art Bears "recorded some of the most carefully crafted (and indeed timeless) music you're ever likely to hear". He added that while he felt that many of the remixes "seem unnecessary at best", he liked the live tracks where Art Bears perform songs "never meant to be performed". Marsh particularly liked

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

's guitar solo on "Coda to Man and Boy".

Art Bears personnel

– guitars, violin, viola, harmonium, xylophone, keyboards, bass guitar *

Chris Cutler Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, Ne ...

– drums, percussion, noise *

Dagmar Krause Dagmar Krause (born 4 June 1950) is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups including Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. Her ...

– voice

Disc 1: ''Hopes and Fears''

Contains all the tracks from the original release of the first Art Bears album, ''

'' (1978)

Track list

Additional personnel

Tim Hodgkinson Timothy "Tim" George Hodgkinson (born 1 May 1949) is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds, lap steel guitar, and keyboards. He first became known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group ...

(tracks 1–5, 9–12) – organ, clarinet, piano on "The Pirate Song" *

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the ...

(tracks 1–6, 8–12) – bassoon, oboe, soprano, recorder *

Georgie Born Georgina Emma Mary Born, is a British Academia, academic, Anthropology, anthropologist, Musicology, musicologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born and for her work in Henry Cow and with Lindsay Cooper. Background Born ...

(tracks 1–5, 9–12) – bass guitar, cello, vocals on "Maze"

Recording information

*Tracks 1–5, 9–12: recorded by

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...

at Sunrise Studio,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, 15–29 January 1978 *Tracks 6–8, 13: recorded by

at Kaleidophon Studios,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 15–18 March 1978

Disc 2: ''Winter Songs''

Contains all the tracks from the original release of the second Art Bears album, '' Winter Songs'' (1979)

Track list

All tracks composed by

and

Recording information

*Recorded at Sunrise Studio,

, 22 November – 5 December 1978

Disc 3: ''The World as It Is Today''

Contains all the tracks from the original release of the third Art Bears album, ''

'' (1981)

Track list

All tracks composed by

and

Recording information

*Recorded at Sunrise Studio,

, August–September 1980

Disc 4: ''Art Bears Revisited disc 1''

Contains remixed and reworked Art Bears pieces by various musicians, plus two Art Bears singles (tracks 17–18)

Track list

Additional personnel

Jon Rose Jonathan Anthony Rose (born 19 February 1951) is an Australian violinist, cellist, composer, and multimedia artist. Rose's work is centered in the experimental music known as free improvisation, where he has created large environmental multimed ...

(track 1) – violin, piano * Elio Martusciello (track 2) *Maurizio Martusciello (track 2) *Fabrizio Spera (track 2) – drums *Luca Venitucci (track 2) *

Sachiko M Sachiko Matsubara (Japanese: 松原幸子; born 1973), better known by her stage name Sachiko M, is a Japanese musician. Her first solo album, ''Sine Wave Solo'', was released in 1999. Working in collaboration with Ami Yoshida under the name Cosmo ...

(track 3) – sine-wave sampling *Eto Naoko (track 3) – prepared piano *Kikuchi Naruyoshi (track 3) – tenor saxophone *Yasushi Utsunomiya (track 11) – sub vocal *Kiyomi Yamada (track 11) – vocal, violin, fieldworks *Tetsuji Hayashi (track 11) – shou, hichiriki *Kouryu Koukiji (track 11) – sub vocal *Sakura Koukiji (track 11) – dog voice *Mitsutarou Inagaki (track 11) – honey bee sound *Herb Heinz (track 12) – Midi boxes, guitar *Martin Archer (track 13) – digital piano, electronics *Jocelyn Robert (track 16) – field recordings

Recording information

*Track 1: recorded Summer 1998 *Track 2: recorded live at

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, 1979 (Art Bears tracks); live at

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

, May 1998; at Roma, December 1998 *Track 3: recorded at GOK Sound,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, 10 November 1998 *Track 4: recorded at Massimo Simonini's home, January 2000 *Track 5: recorded at M.O.R.I.A.,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, February 1999 *Track 6: recorded, March 1999 *Track 7: recorded, March 1999 *Track 8: recorded, January 1996 *Track 9: recorded at Loa Studios and Fx Studio,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

o, January 2000 *Track 10: recorded, January 2000 *Track 11: recorded at Studio Nirvana, 2000 *Track 12: recorded at IS Productions,

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, July 2000 *Track 13: recorded at Telecottage & Sound Kitchen Studios,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, Summer 2000 *Track 14: recorded, August 2000 *Track 15: recorded at Tonstudio Jankowski,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, 13 July 2000 *Track 16: recorded at CannedGods Mobile, September 2000 *Tracks 17–18: recorded at Kaleidophon Studios,

, Winter 1979

Disc 5: ''Art Bears Revisited disc 2''

Contains remixed and reworked Art Bears pieces by various musicians, plus an unfinished Art Bears piece, completed for the box set (track 18)

Track list

Additional personnel

* Bob Drake (track 2) – Solina organ bass pedals *

Andrea Rocca Andrea Rocca (born 9 June 1969, in Rome) is an Italian musician, guitarist and film composer. Rocca moved to London in 1988 where he trained with John White and graduated in ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1997. ...

(track 3) – ambient noises, electric guitar *Vitor Rua (track 4) – bass flute, prepared piano, virtual orchestra, electronics *Stevan Tickmayer (track 5) – virtual instruments *Brian Woodbury (track 6) – bass guitar, piano, Microkorg synthesizer/Vocoder, Roland XV-3080 module, vocals

Recording information

*Track 1: recorded, 22 January 2003 *Tracks 2,7: recorded at Studio Midi-Pyrenees, Summer 2003 *Track 3: recorded at

, Summer 2003 *Track 4: recorded at Telectu's Studio,

Lisboa Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, September 2003 *Track 5: recorded at The Rusty Scupper,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, August 2003 *Track 6: recorded at Studio Midi-Pyrenees, September 2003 *Track 8: recorded in Stevan Tickmayer's work room, April 2003 *Track 9-11: recorded at the Djerassi Artist's Residency Program,

Woodside, California Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. Woodside is among the wealthiest communities in the United States, home to many technology billionaires and investment manager ...

, Autumn 2002 *Track 12–15: recorded at Dys Studio,

Bellvue, Colorado Bellvue is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in Larimer County, Colorado. It is a small agricultural community located in Pleasant Valley, a narrow valley just northwest of Fort Collins near the mouth of the Poudre Canyon between ...

, Spring/Summer 2001 and Fall/Winter 2002/2003, edited, January 2003 at Eye In The Sky,

Laporte, Colorado Laporte (originally spelled La Porte and alternatively spelled LaPorte) is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the For ...

*Track 16: recorded, August 2003 *Track 17: recorded at Noise Media,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Summer 2003 *Track 18: recorded at Sunrise Studio, Switzerland, November/December 1978, at Tonstudio Jankowski,

, 13 July 2000 and at Studio Midi-Pyrenees, 29 June 2003

Disc 6: ''Free Box CD''

Contains remixed and reworked Art Bears pieces by various musicians, plus five live Art Bears pieces (tracks 4–7,11)

Track list

Additional personnel

Tom Cora Thomas Henry Corra (September 14, 1953 – April 9, 1998), better known as Tom Cora, was an American cellist and composer, best known for his improvisational performances in the field of experimental jazz and rock. He recorded with John Zorn, B ...

(track 2) – bass guitar *

Heiner Goebbels Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, conductor and professor at Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 2012–14. His composition ''Stifters Dinge ...

(track 2) – piano, synthesizer *

Alfred Harth Alfred Harth, now known as Alfred 23 Harth or A23H, is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who creatively mixes genres. Career Harth founded a free improvisation band, Just Music (1967 to 1972) ...

(track 2) – tenor saxophone *

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexica ...

(track 2) – trombone *

Marc Hollander Marc Hollander is a Belgian musician, producer and creator of the independent record label, Crammed Discs. Hollander is the leader of the Belgian avant-rock group Aksak Maboul, which he founded in 1977 with Vincent Kenis. Aksak Maboul first rele ...

(tracks 4–7,11) – keyboards *

Peter Blegvad Peter Blegvad (born August 14, 1951) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, writer, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of German/English avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many sol ...

(tracks 4–7,11) – bass guitar *Kiyomi Yamada (track 10) – vocal, violin, fieldworks * Mariko Ohkubo (track 10) – shamisen

Recording information

*Track 1: recorded at Studio Midi-Pyrenees, Summer 2003 *Track 2: recorded live at the Brecht Ensemble,

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, 16 February 1984 *Track 3: recorded March 1999 *Tracks 4–7: recorded live, probably at

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** C ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, 16 April 1979 *Track 8: recorded at Dys Studio,

and edited, October 2003 at Eye In The Sky,

*Track 9: recorded at Tonstudio Jankowski,

, 13 July 2000 *Track 10: recorded at Studio Nirvana, August 2001 – March 2002 *Track 11: recorded live at

Cantù Cantù (; Brianzöö: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Como, located at the center of the Brianza zone in Lombardy. It is the second largest city in Brianza. History The name could stem from that of the Canturigi, a population of I ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, 30 May 1979

''Art Bears Revisited''

Discs 4 and 5 above were also released in 2004 on a double-CD entitled ''Art Bears Revisited''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Art Box, The 2004 compilation albums Recommended Records compilation albums Experimental music compilation albums Art Bears albums