Frith, Fred

Technology of Tears

Label: Recommended Records Country: USA

The Technology of Tears was commissioned by Rosalind Newman and Dancers and first performed at the Joyce Theater, New York in February 1987, with design by Pier Voulkos and animation by Pierre Hébert. The title is taken from a poem by Zbigniew Herbert, which is printed on one of the gatefold sleeves, is about the problems of commercially exploiting genuine tears.

The music uses a vast repertoire of oddly metered, shifting rhythms and samples. Tenco provides a fierce vocal presence, with a strong cry and discussion from John Zorn's alto sax, while Marclay drops the needle for other unexpected sounds and interventions - Frith does all the rest. The pieces, intended for dance, easily stand alone apart from their performance counterpoints. Each is a journey filled with a mix of compositional, improvisational, and rock leanings, with literate references to form. They put strong rhythmic tension together with equally strong melody and an oddly street-wise swagger, using a wonderfully cynical sense of fun to glue it all together. And, of course, the pieces use technology, a great blend of synthetic and natural sources that make for an unusual and memorable album. This is New York City Fred Frith right after Skeleton Crew, an active member of the exploding downtown scene, mining many creative avenues with great result. Highly recommended.