Art Bears
| Company type | Musical group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Founder | Chris Cutler, Fred Frith, Dagmar Krause |
| Defunct | 1981 |
| Headquarters | England |
Area served | Europe |
Key people | Chris Cutler, Fred Frith, Dagmar Krause |
| Products | Studio albums, live performances |
Art Bears was an English avant-rock ensemble established in 1978 amid the dissolution of Henry Cow by members Chris Cutler (percussion, lyrics), Fred Frith (guitar, bass, violin, keyboards), and Dagmar Krause (vocals; previously of Slapp Happy). Between 1978 and 1981, they produced three studio albums and embarked on a European tour in 1979.
In 2008, Cutler, Frith, and other musicians developed Art Bears Songbook, a project revisiting Art Bears' repertoire, which debuted at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Quebec, Canada.
Biography
The inception of Art Bears took place during sessions for Henry Cow's fifth album in January 1978, amid creative disagreements: Frith, Cutler, and Krause preferred vocal tracks, while other members leaned towards instrumentals. To resolve this, the trio issued the vocal compositions as Hopes and Fears under the name Art Bears, with Henry Cow credited as guest contributors. The instrumental pieces were subsequently released on Henry Cow's final album, Western Culture (1979).
Hopes and Fears combined Henry Cow compositions with newly created Art Bears material recorded solely by the trio. Later that same year, they produced their first complete Art Bears album, Winter Songs (1979), which featured fourteen brief songs composed by Frith with lyrics by Cutler inspired by the carvings on Amiens Cathedral.
In December 1978, Art Bears became members of Rock in Opposition (RIO) and toured Europe from April to May 1979. For this tour, they incorporated Peter Blegvad (formerly of Slapp Happy, guitar, bass, vocals) and Marc Hollander (of Aksak Maboul, keyboards, clarinet). Rehearsals took place at Cold Storage Studios in Brixton before performances across Italy, France, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia, including an RIO festival in Milan. Some live recordings from this tour were later included on CD editions of Hopes and Fears and the 2004 compilation The Art Box.
Their final album, The World as It Is Today (1981), was recorded before the group disbanded. In October 1983, Frith, Cutler, and Krause reunited for the "Berlin Programme", a commission from the Berlin Jazz Festival performed in West Berlin, East Berlin (February 1984), and London's ICA (August). This program incorporated segments of three Art Bears songs.
In 1993, the trio collaborated once more on Domestic Stories, a project led by Chris Cutler and Lutz Glandien, featuring saxophonist Alfred Harth. Although reminiscent of Art Bears' style, Glandien's electronic approach imparted a unique character to the work.
Art Bears Songbook
The Art Bears "review" project premiered in May 2008 at the 25th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Quebec. The lineup included Cutler (drums), Frith (guitar, bass, violin, piano), Jewlia Eisenberg (vocals), Carla Kihlstedt (violin, vocals), Zeena Parkins (keyboards, accordion), Kristin Slipp (vocals), and The Norman Conquest (sound manipulation).<ref>Krause was unavailable; thus Frith and Cutler expanded the trio’s repertoire with Eisenberg, Slipp, and Kihlstedt stepping in to replace Krause’s distinctive vocal style.<ref> The ensemble chose this name to avoid being mistaken for an official Art Bears reunion. All About Jazz described their performance as "the highlight of the [five-day] festival."<ref>
The Songbook was performed again at the 2010 French Rock in Opposition event held in Carmaux, with Krause returning from retirement to substitute for the ailing Eisenberg.<ref><ref>
Music
The music of Art Bears was deeply influenced by their socialist ideals and frequently embraced avant-garde and experimental elements. Compared to Henry Cow, their style was more focused on structured songs, with much of the material on their debut album originally composed for Henry Cow.
Their sound was characterized by a notably somber tone and atmosphere. BBC Music described The Art Box as containing "meticulously crafted dissonances, angular folk melodies, abrupt dynamic changes, thick layers of spectral drones, intense noise segments, all complemented by Dagmar's distinctive, flexible Sprechstimme."
Dagmar Krause's vocal delivery played a crucial role in defining the emotional landscape of their tracks. Chris Cutler remarked:
"My lyrics are neither straightforward nor obvious... Dagmar had an extraordinary talent for making them intelligible... She sings from within, and her accent elevates the words beyond their usual confines... No one else could have performed what Dagmar achieved on those records. I remain impressed by her."<ref>
Within the realm of progressive music, Art Bears garnered positive recognition. According to AllMusic, "Although their existence was brief, they created and recorded daring, thought-provoking, and distinctive music that, despite its occasional complexity, proves highly rewarding."
Name
The name Art Bears originates from a phrase found in Jane Ellen Harrison's 1913 work Ancient Art and Ritual: "Even to-day, when individualism is rampant, art bears traces of its collective, social origin." Chris Cutler explained that the quote was intentionally taken out of context for its intriguing ambiguity and vivid imagery.
Members
- Former members
- Chris Cutler – drums, percussion, noise (1978–1980)
- Fred Frith – guitars, violin, viola, harmonium, xylophone, keyboards, bass guitar (1978–1980)
- Dagmar Krause – vocals (1978–1980)
- Touring members
- Peter Blegvad – bass guitar, guitar, vocals (1979)
- Marc Hollander – keyboards, clarinet (1979)
Studio albums
- Hopes and Fears, 1978
- Winter Songs, 1979
- The World as It Is Today, 1981
Compilations
- The Art Box, 2004 (a 6-CD collection encompassing all Art Bears releases including live recordings, unreleased tracks, and remixes)
- Art Bears Revisited, 2004 (a 2-CD remix set; discs 4 and 5 within The Art Box)
7" singles and EPs
- "Rats & Monkeys" / "Collapse", 1979
- "Coda to Man and Boy", 1981 (a single-sided 7" issued exclusively to subscribers of The World as It Is Today)
- "All Hail", 1982 (flexi-7")
See also
External links
- Calyx – The Canterbury Website. Chronology of Henry Cow and Art Bears.
- Chris Cutler homepage. Information on Art Bears.
- Review of Art Bears Songbook at FIMAV 2008. All About Jazz.