Dropera
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
with a little improvisation
. Allmusic wrote that notwithstanding the "leaden" sound of the programmed drums, "Fans of Frith will not be disappointed with this collaboration.
and Ferdinand Richard
; lyrics by Ferdinand Richard.
Face A: On Vit!
Face B: On Est Mort!
: One Lives!
Side B: One Has Died!
Translations from the album booklet.
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
by Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
and Ferdinand Richard
Ferdinand Richard
Hervé Richard , better known as Ferdinand Richard, is a French avant-rock bass guitarist and composer.Richard was a founding member of the French avant-rock group Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, and remained with them until they broke up in 1986...
, credited as "Fred & Ferd". It was their first collaborative album as a duo and was recorded in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in August 1989. It was released on both LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
and CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
by RecRec Music
RecRec Music
RecRec Music was a Swiss independent record label created in 1983 by Daniel Waldner. The label was modeled on, and affiliated to, the British independent record label Recommended Records, but remained financially independent...
in Switzerland in 1991. The album's songs were sung in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and a booklet of the song lyrics in French, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
accompanied the album.
Background
EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
experimental guitarist/composer Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
and French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
experimental bass guitarist/composer Ferdinand Richard
Ferdinand Richard
Hervé Richard , better known as Ferdinand Richard, is a French avant-rock bass guitarist and composer.Richard was a founding member of the French avant-rock group Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, and remained with them until they broke up in 1986...
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
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Henry Cow
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
and Richard a founding member of the French avant-rock band Etron Fou Leloublan
Etron Fou Leloublan
Etron Fou Leloublan, also known as EFL, were a French avant-rock band founded in 1973 by actor and saxophonist Chris Chanet. They recorded five studio albums between 1976 and 1985, and released a live album, En Public Aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique recorded during a tour of the United States in 1979...
. Their paths first crossed in the mid-1970s when Henry Cow began touring Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Contact consolidated in 1978 when the two bands and three others joined forces to form Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music...
. In mid-1980 Etron Fou Leloublan (including Richard) recorded with Frith in France and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and appeared on one side of Frith's 1981 solo LP, Speechless
Speechless (Fred Frith album)
Speechless is a 1981 solo album by English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith of the group Henry Cow. It was Frith's third solo album, and was originally released in the United States on LP record on The Residents' Ralph record label...
. Frith also played on and produced two of Etron Fou Leloublan's albums in 1982 and 1985.
Content and reception
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. 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, pastoralePastorale
For Beethoven's Pastoral symphony, see Symphony No. 6 Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood....
with a little improvisation
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
. Allmusic wrote that notwithstanding the "leaden" sound of the programmed drums, "Fans of Frith will not be disappointed with this collaboration.
Track listing
Music by Fred FrithFred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
and Ferdinand Richard
Ferdinand Richard
Hervé Richard , better known as Ferdinand Richard, is a French avant-rock bass guitarist and composer.Richard was a founding member of the French avant-rock group Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, and remained with them until they broke up in 1986...
; lyrics by Ferdinand Richard.
Face A
- "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
- "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- "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
- "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.
Personnel
- Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitars, violins, keyboards, digital and analogue percussion, background vocals - Ferdinand RichardFerdinand RichardHervé Richard , better known as Ferdinand Richard, is a French avant-rock bass guitarist and composer.Richard was a founding member of the French avant-rock group Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, and remained with them until they broke up in 1986...
– 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, ZürichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... - Mixed by Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
in December 1989 at Cold Storage Studio, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - Produced by Raymund van Santen
- Photography by Bill GilonisBill GilonisBill Gilonis is an English guitarist and composer. He co-founded the gritty experimental rock group The Work in 1980 with Tim Hodgkinson...
- Artwork by Peter Bäder