Step Across the Border

by Fred Frith

Overview

Although this is technically the soundtrack to a film of the same name by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel, Step Across the Border actually serves as an excellent overview of Fred Frith's groundbreaking work as a soloist, bandleader, and collaborator. There's an example of his "guitars on the table" approach ("Romanisches Cafe"), and a couple of excellent duos with tape manipulation whiz Bob Ostertag ("Voice of America, Pt. 3," from the lost and lamented Voice of America album they made for the defunct Metalanguage label). There are also scraps of material from his work with Skeleton Crew as well as numerous other well-chosen miniatures that vary from tuneful and charming to stark and forbidding. Perhaps the best thing this album accomplishes is that it puts some of the material from the astounding (but, sadly, long out of print) album of avant-garde power trio compositions and improvisations Frith recorded with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher under the name Massacre back into circulation: the very fine "Legs" is included here, as is a previously unreleased live track from 1983. Very highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson

Product Details

Release Date:	03/18/2003
Label:	Fred Records
UPC:	0752725900225
Rank:	155602

Tracks

1. Sparrow Song
2. Voice of America, Pt. 3/Legs
3. Selluloid Restaurant/The Old Man Puts Out the Fire
4. After Dinner
5. Houston Street
6. Drum Factory
7. Regardless of Rain
8. Candy Machine
9. Romanisches Caf¿¿
10. The Border
11. Nirvana Again
12. Scottish Roppongi
13. Norrgarden Nyvla
14. Birds
15. The As Usual Dance Towards the Other Flight to What Is Not, Pt. 3
16. Williamsburg Bridge
17. Same Old Me/Williamsburg Bridge (Reprise)
18. The As Usual Dance Towards the Other Flight to What Is Not, the (Pt. 5)
19. Lost and Found
20. Nine by Nine
21. Evolution
22. Union Square
23. Morning Song
24. Voice of America, Pt. 4
25. Too Much Too Little
26. Too Late

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fred Frith   Primary Artist,Bass,DX-7,Casio,Drums,Bottle,Guitar,Violin,Vocals,Voices,Trumpet,Keyboards,Percussion
Bob Ostertag   Primary Artist,Synthesizer,Tape,Sampling
Bill Laswell   Bass
Fred Maher   Drums
Eitetsu Hayashi   Drums
Jean Derome   Sax (Alto)
John Zorn   Sax (Alto)
Rene Lussier   Bass
Hasse Bruniusson   Drums
Marc Hollander   Sax (Alto)
Tim Hodgkinson   Clarinet (Bass)
Zeena Parkins   Drums,Vocals,Voices,Keyboards
Kevin Norton   Drums
Iva Bittova   Violin,Vocals,Voices
Lars Hollmer   Keyboards
Haco   Piano,Vocals,Voices
Tom Cora   Cello,Drums,Vocals,Voices
Eino Haapala   Guitar
Pavel Fajt   Guitar,Vocals,Sound Effects
Daihachi Oguchi   Sound Effects
Tina Curran   Bass

Technical Credits

Bill Laswell   Composer
Yasushi Utsunomiya   Engineer
Fred Maher   Composer
Fred Frith   Composer
John Zorn   Composer
Martin Bisi   Engineer
Tim Hodgkinson   Engineer
Myles Boisen   Mastering
Bob Ostertag   Tapes,Composer
Haco   Composer
Rudolf Oleschko   Engineer
Jean Vapeur   Engineer,Live Recording,Field Recording
Benedykt Grodon   Engineer
Tomas Kurth   Design
Peter Bader   Cover Design
Pavel Fajt   Composer
Oscar Salgado   Cover Photo,Photography
Y. Utsonomiya   Engineer
Zuerich Busag   Lithography