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1676 - SLAPP HAPPY/HENRY COW - Desperate Straights (1975)

SLAPP HAPPY/HENRY COW
''DESPERATE STRAIGHTS''
1975
36:42
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1/Some Questions About Hats/Peter Blegvad / Anthony Moore /1:53
2/The Owl/Anthony Moore /2:17
3/A Worm Is at Work/Peter Blegvad / Anthony Moore /1:52
4/Bad Alchemy/Peter Blegvad / John Greaves /3:06
5/Europa/Peter Blegvad / Anthony Moore /2:48
6/Desperate Straights/Anthony Moore /4:14
7/Riding Tigers/Peter Blegvad /2:02
8/Apes in Capes/Anthony Moore /2:16
9/Strayed/1:54
10/Giants/Peter Blegvad / Anthony Moore /1:57
11/Excerpt from the Messiah/Peter Blegvad / George Frederick Handel /1:49
12/In the Sickbay/Peter Blegvad / Dagmar Krause /2:09
13/Caucasian Lullaby/Chris Cutler / Anthony Moore /8:25

Peter Blegvad /Clarinet, Guitar, Vocals, Voices
Muchsin Campbell /French Horn, Horn
Lindsay Cooper /Bassoon, Oboe, Wind
Chris Cutler /Drums
Nick Evans /Trombone
Mongezi Feza /Trumpet
Fred Frith /Guitar, Violin
John Greaves /Bass Guitar, Piano
Tim Hodgkinson /Clarinet, Piano
Dagmar Krause /Piano, Vocals, Wurlitzer Piano
Geoff Leigh /Flute, Wind
Pierre Moerlen /Percussion
Anthony Moore /Keyboards, Piano, Vocals

REVIEW
by Ted Mills
A surprising team up at the time of its release (1975), Desperate Straights is a surprisingly melodic album, light on the art school angst and heavy on the playfulness, which one would hardly expect from such determined socialists as these. But here it is: "Some Questions About Hats" sounds like a Kurt Weill outtake, "A Worm Is at Work" gallops along with a sweet tune. Dagmar Krause remains restrained and not given to flights of horrible fancy. "Strayed" is reminiscient of Kevin Ayers's brand of art rock, and most of the songs clock in under two minutes. But never fear: the album ends on the eight minute "Caucasian Lullaby," a minimal woodwind piece that suddenly bursts into one last jab of Krausian despair.