Henry Cow
Unrest
Dating from 1974, and following on from the re-release of 'Leg End', this is the second in the series of vinyl reissues of the original Virgin albums. Geoff Leigh had left the group and Lindsay Cooper joined on bassoon, oboe, flute and soprano sax. The mix was more 'live' than 'Leg End', with the drums much more up front. The first half is highly composed material, with some of the Cow's best loved tunes, like 'Half Asleep Half Awake' and 'Bittern Storm Over Ulm'. For the second half the material was all written in the studio, using loops, varispeed tapes and electronics, and superimposing live improvisation and composed passages. Classic, historic and still relevant.