Improvised Music from Japan / Discography

Fred Frith

Step across the Border

(Fred Records / ReR Megacorp, ReR/FRO 03) (UK) (CD)

  1. Sparrow Song (Frith) (1:31)
  2. Voice of America, Part III (Frith / Ostertag) -- Legs (Frith / Laswell / Maher) (4:26)
  3. Selluloid Restaurant (Frith) -- The Old Man Puts Out the Fire (Frith) (3:12)
  4. After Dinner (Haco) (1:49)
  5. Houston Street (Frith / Zorn) (2:56)
  6. Drum Factory (Frith) (2:04)
  7. Regardless of Rain (Frith / Cora) (3:07)
  8. Candy Machine (Frith) (3:02)
  9. Romanisches Café (Frith) (6:22)
  10. The Border (Frith / Hemenway) (3:31)
  11. Nirvana Again (Frith) (1:55)
  12. Scottish Roppongi (Frith) (1:50)
  13. Norrgården Nyvla (Frith) (2:59)
  14. Birds (Frith / Hodgkinson) (2:21)
  15. The As Usual Dance towards the Other Flight to What Is Not, Part 3 (Frith) (1:50)
  16. Williamsburg Bridge (Frith) (1:56)
  17. Same Old Me (Frith) -- Williamsburg Bridge Reprise (Frith) (4:13)
  18. The As Usual Dance towards the Other Flight to What Is Not, Part 7 (Frith) (2:28)
  19. Lost and Found (Frith) (3:20)
  20. Nine by Nine (Frith / Hayashi) (5:54)
  21. Evolution (Frith) (3:23)
  22. Union Square (Frith) (1:44)
  23. Morning Song (Bittová / Fajt / Pitinsky) (2:03)
  24. Voice of America, Part IV (Frith / Ostertag) (2:05)
  25. Too Much Too Little (Frith / Curran) (2:09)
  26. Too Late (Frith) (2:25)

Fred Frith (1-3, 5-22, 24-26): guitar, violin, bass, home-mades, DX7, Casio, voice, percussion, bottles, trumpet, etc.

Tom Cora (1, 7, 10): cello, drum, voice
Zeena Parkins (1, 10): keyboards, drum, voice
Bob Ostertag (2, 11, 24): Serge synthesizer, tapes, samples
Bill Laswell (2, 17): bass
Fred Maher (2, 17): drums
John Zorn (5): alto sax
Daihachi Oguchi (6): factory sound
Jean Derome (11): alto sax
René Lussier (11): bass
Kevin Norton (11): drums
Eino Haapala (13): guitar
Marc Hollander (13): alto sax
Lars Hollmer (13): keyboards
Hans Bruniusson (13, 21): drums
Tim Hodgkinson (14): bass clarinet
Iva Bittová (19, 23): violin
Pavel Fajt (19, 23): beer cans, guitar, voice
Eitetsu Hayashi (20): taiko
Tina Curran (25): bass
Haco (4): piano, voice

Recorded:
by Tim Hodgkinson at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg, Switzerland, December 1985 (1, 10)
by Martin Bisi at OAO Studio, New York, 1981 (2)
by Yasushi Utsunomiyaat MUE Studio, Osaka, February 1988 (3, 4)
in rehearsal at Roulette, New York, 1989 (11)
by Rainer Carben at Bavaria TV Studios, Munich, December 1989 (2, 3, 6, 8, 12, 15-18, 22, 24, 26)
live at PASS, New York, January 1981 (2, 24)
at the Chickenhouse, Uppsala, Sweden, and Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg, Switzerland, 1979 (13)
at home in New York, August 1983 (17, 21, 25)
live at ROX, Tokyo, February 1988 (14, 20, 22)
live at The Kitchen, New York, February 1989 (5, 7)
live at Romanisches Café, Tokyo, February 1988 (9, 12)
by Rudolf Oleschko in Provence, France, and Paosostraße, Munich, 1989 (19)
in a hotel room, Bern, Switzerland, 1989 (23)
at home in Yorkshire and Brixton, 1988 (14)
with additional field and live recordings by Jean Vapeur

"Sparrow Song" originally released as part of Skeleton Crew's contribution to the Island of Sanity compilation (1986)
"Legs" from Massacre's LP Killing Time (1981)
"The Border" from Skeleton Crew's LP The Country of Blinds (1986)
"Norrgården Nyvla" from the LP Gravity (1980)
"Evolution," "Same Old Me" and "Too Much Too Little" from the LP Cheap at Half the Price (1983)

Compiled at Sound Fabrik, Munich, December 1989
Engineered by Benedykt Grodon
Mastered by Myles Boisen at Headless Buddha Mastering Lab, Oakland, August 2002
Cover photo by Oscar Salgado
Design by Tomas Kurth

Released 2003
Originally released as CD and LP by the Swiss label RecRec Music, 1990