Dropera
Dropera | ||||
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Studio album by Fred Frith and Ferdinand Richard | ||||
Released | 1991 (1991) | |||
Recorded | August 1989 | |||
Studio | Sound and Vision Studio, Zürich, Switzerland | |||
Genre | Avant-rock | |||
Length | 46:03 | |||
Language | French | |||
Label | RecRec (Switzerland) | |||
Producer | Raymund van Santen | |||
Fred Frith chronology | ||||
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Dropera is a concept album by Fred Frith and Ferdinand Richard, credited as "Fred & Ferd". It was their first collaborative album as a duo and was recorded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1989. It was released on both LP and CD by RecRec Music in Switzerland in 1991. The album's songs were sung in French and a booklet of the song lyrics in French, German and English accompanied the album.
Background
English experimental guitarist/composer Fred Frith and French experimental bass guitarist/composer Ferdinand Richard had previously worked together in other contexts before coming together as a duo to record this album. Frith was a founding member of the English avant-rock band Henry Cow and Richard a founding member of the French avant-rock band Etron Fou Leloublan. Their paths first crossed in the mid-1970s when Henry Cow began touring Europe. Contact consolidated in 1978 when the two bands and three others joined forces to form Rock in Opposition. In mid-1980 Etron Fou Leloublan (including Richard) recorded with Frith in France and Switzerland, and appeared on one side of Frith's 1981 solo LP, Speechless. Frith also played on and produced two of Etron Fou Leloublan's albums in 1982 and 1985.
Content and reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Dropera is a "twisted rock opera" about the comic and surreal adventure of two diners in a French restaurant involving abduction, an aircraft crash, death and re-awakening.[2] Frith and Richard composed the music, and Richard wrote and sung the song texts. The music has been described as a mixture of avant-rock, pastorale with a little improvisation.[1] AllMusic wrote that notwithstanding the "leaden" sound of the programmed drums, "Fans of Frith will not be disappointed with this collaboration.[1]
Track listing
Music by Fred Frith and Ferdinand Richard; lyrics by Ferdinand Richard.
- Face A: On Vit!
- "Petite Entrée: Au Restaurant, On Se Regarde!" – 3:31
- "Tableau 1: Riche Et Mystérieux!" – 5:56
- "Tableau 2: Mauvaise Gauche!" – 2:24
- "Tableau 3: Deux Emballés!" – 2:52
- "Tableau 4: Tous Cuits!" – 4:02
- "Fin Tragique: Flottent Les Petits Morceaux!" – 2:33
- Face B: On Est Mort!
- "Enchaînement Alchimique: Nos Fantômes Naissent!" – 3:42
- "Tableau 5: La Mer Est Notre Mère!" – 4:08
- "Tableau 6: Ah, Que La Vie Est Dure!" – 4:59
- "Tableau 7: Allez, On Danse!" – 4:08
- "Tableau 8: Holà! Tu Rèves! / Fin Comique: A Quand La Suite?" – 7:48
English titles
- Side A: One Lives!
- "Petite Entrée: In the Restaurant, They Eye Each Other!" – 3:31
- "Scene 1: Rich and Mysterious!" – 5:56
- "Scene 2: Wrong Left Turn!" – 2:24
- "Scene 3: Two Abducted!" – 2:52
- "Scene 4: Everyone Fried!" – 4:02
- "Tragic Finale: Little Pieces Floating!" – 2:33
- Side B: One Has Died!
- "Alchemical Outcome: Birth of Our Phantoms!" – 3:42
- "Scene 5: The Sea Is Our Mother!" – 4:08
- "Scene 6: It's a Hard Life!" – 4:59
- "Scene 7: Hey, Let's Dance!" – 4:08
- "Scene 8: You Must Be Dreaming! / Comic Finale: When's the Sequel?" – 7:48
Translations from the album booklet.[2]
Personnel
- Fred Frith – guitars, violins, keyboards, digital and analogue percussion, background vocals
- Ferdinand Richard – six-string bass guitar, lead vocals
- Raymund van Santen – alto saxophone, clarinet, flageolet
Production
- Recorded by Andy Rathgeb in August 1989 at Sound and Vision Studio, Zürich, Switzerland
- Mixed by Tim Hodgkinson in December 1989 at Cold Storage Studio, London
- Produced by Raymund van Santen
- Photography by Bill Gilonis
- Artwork by Peter Bäder
References
- ^ a b c Mills, Ted. Dropera at AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
- ^ a b Booklet accompanying the LP and CD.
External links
- Dropera at Discogs
- v
- t
- e
- Henry Cow
- Art Bears
- Massacre
- Skeleton Crew
- Keep the Dog
- Cosa Brava
- Fred Frith Trio
- Henry Now
- The Orckestra
- Duck and Cover
- French Frith Kaiser Thompson
- Death Ambient
- Fred Frith Guitar Quartet
- Maybe Monday
- Aksak Maboul
- Material
- Naked City
- Guitar Solos
- Gravity
- Speechless
- Cheap at Half the Price
- Quartets
- Clearing
- Prints
- Eleventh Hour
- To Sail, to Sail
- Clearing Customs
- Guitar Solos / Fifty
Music for Dance |
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Music for Film |
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Composer only |
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- Live in Japan
- Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire
- Impur II
- Storytelling
- All Is Always Now – Live at The Stone
- Woodwork
Composer only |
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- With Friends Like These (with Henry Kaiser)
- Voice of America (with Bob Ostertag and Phil Minton)
- Live in Prague and Washington (with Chris Cutler)
- French Gigs (with Lol Coxhill)
- Who Needs Enemies? (with Henry Kaiser)
- Nous Autres (with René Lussier)
- Attention Span (with Bob Ostertag and John Zorn)
- Dropera (with Ferdinand Richard)
- Live Improvisations (with Tim Hodgkinson)
- Helter Skelter (with François-Michel Pesenti)
- Live in Trondheim, Berlin & Limoges, Vol. 2 (with Chris Cutler)
- The Art of Memory (with John Zorn)
- Traffic Continues (with Ensemble Modern)
- 2 Gentlemen in Verona (with Chris Cutler)
- Dalaba Frith Glick Rieman Kihlstedt (with Lesli Dalaba, Eric Glick Rieman and Carla Kihlstedt)
- What Leave Behind (with Toychestra)
- 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 5 (with John Zorn)
- The Compass, Log and Lead (with Carla Kihlstedt and Stevie Wishart)
- Duo (Victoriaville) 2005 (with Anthony Braxton)
- Ironic Universe (with Janet Feder)
- The Stone: Issue Two (with Chris Cutler)
- The Sugar Factory (with Evelyn Glennie)
- The Art of Memory II (with John Zorn)
- Still Urban (with ARTE Quartett)
- The Big Picture (with ARTE Quartett)
- Late Works (with John Zorn)
- Angels on the Edge of Time (with Lindsay Cooper, Gianni Gebbia and Lars Hollmer)
- Cut Up the Border (with Nicolas Humbert and Marc Parisotto)
- Laying Demons to Rest (with Susana Santos Silva)
Compilations |
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Category