''Work Resumed on the Tower'' (also known as ''Sirens and Silences/Work Resumed on the Tower'') is a 1984

studio 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 ...

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 ...

News from Babel News from Babel were an English avant-rock group founded in 1983 by Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper, Zeena Parkins and Dagmar Krause. They made two studio albums with several guest musicians (including Robert Wyatt) and disbanded in 1986. History ...

. It was recorded at

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 ...

's Cold Storage Recording Studios in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

, London, in October and November 1983, and released in 1984. It was their debut album and included guest vocalist

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...

. The music on the album was composed by

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 ...

and the song texts were written by

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 ...

. The album comprises two song-suites ''Sirens and Silences'' and ''Work Resumed on the Tower'', each on one side of the original LP release. The CD releases of the album were entitled ''Sirens and Silences/Work Resumed on the Tower''. For technical reasons, the LP release was pressed on a 12" disc at 45

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

, and not the standard 33⅓ rpm.

Background

The formation of

and the creation of this album was inspired by

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

George Steiner Francis George Steiner, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the ...

's 1975 book on language and translation, ''

After Babel ''After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation'' (1975; second edition 1992; third edition 1998) is a linguistics book by literary critic George Steiner, in which the author deals with the " Babel problem" of multiple languages. ''After Bab ...

''. Commenting on the group,

said: "I liked the idea of a record as a letter or a newscast from a doomed but hopeful place." The album's title referred to the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

. In the booklet accompanying the original LP release, Cutler wrote:''Work Resumed on the Tower'' LP booklet.

CD reissues

*In 1990

Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected mus ...

re-issued ''Work Resumed on the Tower'' and

's next album, '' Letters Home'' on a single CD. *In 2006 Recommended Records issued a

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 version of ''Work Resumed on the Tower'' on CD. *In 2006 Recommended Records released a News from Babel

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 ...

, ''

Complete Complete may refer to: Logic * Completeness (logic) * Completeness of a theory, the property of a theory that every formula in the theory's language or its negation is provable Mathematics * The completeness of the real numbers, which implies t ...

'' comprising remastered versions of ''Work Resumed on the Tower'', ''Letters Home'' and the band's only

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 ...

, "Contraries".

Track listing

Personnel

;News from Babel *

– bassoon, sopranino and alto saxophone, piano, other keyboards *

– drums, electrics, percussion *

Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...

– harp, prepared and electric harps, accordion *

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 ...

– singing ;Additional musicians *

– trumpet ("Victory", "Anno Mirabilis"), singing ("Anno Mirabilis") *

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 ...

– bass guitar ("Black Gold")

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1984 debut albums Recommended Records albums News from Babel albums