HENRY COW
Western Culture (East Side Digital)
Reviewed by Sherman Wick

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Henry Cow was a band truly ahead of its time. The music on Western Culture sounds as fresh today as when it was first recorded in 1978.

The band's lengthy and influential career began as part of the Canterbury Scene in 1968, and quickly became one of Europe's most important progressive rock bands. And the group was progressive in the best sense of the word. Rather than concentrating on extended soloing like some of their contemporaries, they created music that was enormously eclectic and was influenced by classical, jazz, rock and avant-garde. Henry Cow was essentially a commune of musicians with Tim Hodgkinson (keyboards and reeds), Chris Cutler (drums) and Fred Frith (guitar and other stringed instruments) as their constant core.

Western Culture showcases the band's technical and compositional skills. The group gracefully moves from dark and foreboding to lilting dissonant reed soloing on "Half the Sky," as the music races to a conclusion. "The Decay of Cities" begins with warped John Fahey-like acoustic guitar playing that suggests Gastr del Sol (ten years prior to their existence) and then the reeds enter and the instrumental becomes increasingly discordant. The band plays almost straight jazz with elements of third stream (jazz/classical fusion) with the composition "On the Raft." Henry Cow follows a similar modus operandi throughout the record as they perform scintillating and virtuosic music.

© 2005 - Sherman Wick