Western Culture

by

Henry Cow

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...the way only Henry Cow could do it.

After Henry Cow's _In Praise of Learning_, the situation in the band was getting a little divisive. Lindsay Cooper and Tom Hodgkinson wanted to compose longer instrumental pieces, while Chris Cutler and Fred Frith wanted to focus on more song-oriented music. Unfortunately, they couldn't come to an agreement so Frith, Cutler, and Dagmar Krause released their song-based material as the first Art Bears album, _Hopes and Fears_, while Hodgkinson and Cooper's work was released as the final Henry Cow album, _Western Culture_.

And let me tell you, it's fookin' brilliant. _Western Culture_ is pretty much entirely composed, with only sporadic glimpses of the band's previous affinities towards improvisation. Hodgkinson and Cooper each compose one side of the album (1 and 2, respectively -- BUT, they both wrote "1/2 the Sky"), and while they are distinctly different, it all ties together nicely because of the consistent harmonic quality and dense, tight arrangements. Best of all, this music, while very strange and complex, is also very moving and evocative, all the while deploying twisted, angular melodies, intense textural colors, dissonant harmonic language, and shifty motivic processes. This is also the most 'classical' sounding of their catalogue, probably because of the emphasis on wind instruments. Hodgkinson's pieces are gritty and atonal, complex and energetic. The organ outburst opening "Industry" takes off with Cutler's drumming unpredictably shifting accents. "The Decay of Cities" begins quite beautifully, with an unusually tuned acoustic guitar and melancholy trombone extending into catchy, danceable melodies, then strains of clattering noise split by a four-note arpeggio played on different instruments, then to scratching violin, and eventually resolving itself with the a rearrangement of the early motif. Cooper's pieces embrace Eastern European folk traditions with astute modernism, like Stravinsky, although some of the most revelatory moments bring out jazz idioms, like the percussive avant-jazz piano in "Gretel's Tale" or the chirping free saxophone over falling, dense, slowly-moving organ chords on "1/2 the Sky", which creates a very ominous sound. Cooper also provides "Look Back", a short, melancholy chamber piece for strings, woodwinds, and bass guitar, and in contrast to the album's prickly music, this is quite lyrical and beautiful (wish it was longer...). "Falling Away" is an aggressive rocker with an intricate folk melody and a churning rhythmic undercurrent. The music deconstructs in the middle, building towards its joyous apogee with its return to main melody at the end -- one of my favorite Henry Cow moments. Chris Cutler's drumming is at its finest here.

Definitely check this one out. This is Henry Cow's swansong, a tremendously rewarding album that still ranks as one of the most compositionally sophisticated 'rock' albums ever. This is one of those albums that I could listen to every day for the rest of my life and not get bored of it. It is intellectually satisfying, eminently listenable (in MY opinion, anyway; looks like some of the other reviewers disagree), and gives me a feeling like no other CD.