Fred Frith at a piano recording session at New, Improved Recording in
Oakland, California , September 2006.
Fred Frith appears on over 400 recordings. This is a selection from bands he was/is a member of, collaborations with other bands and musicians, and his solo recordings. The year indicates when the album was first released. For a comprehensive discography, see the Discography of Fred Frith by Michel Ramond, Patrice Roussel and Stephane Vuilleumier.
[1]
Studio albums
Guitar Solos (1974, LP,
Caroline , UK)
Gravity (1980, LP,
Ralph , US)
Speechless (1981, LP, Ralph, US)
Cheap at Half the Price (1983, LP, Ralph, US)
Quartets (1994, CD,
RecRec , Switzerland)
Clearing (2001, CD,
Tzadik , US)
Prints: Snapshots, Postcards, Messages and Miniatures, 1987–2001 (2002, CD,
Fred , UK)
Eleventh Hour (2005, 2xCD,
Winter & Winter , Germany)
To Sail, to Sail (2008, CD, Tzadik, US)
Clearing Customs (2011, CD,
Intakt , Switzerland)
Guitar Solos / Fifty (2024, 2xLP, Week-End Records, Germany)
Music for Dance
The Technology of Tears (And Other Music for Dance and Theatre) (1988, 2xLP, RecRec, Switzerland)
Allies (Music for Dance Volume 2) (1996, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)
The Previous Evening (Music for Dance Volume 4) (1997, CD,
Recommended , UK)
[a]
Accidental (Music for Dance Volume 3) (2002, CD, Fred, UK)
The Happy End Problem (Music for Dance Volume 5) (2006, CD, Fred, UK)
Nowhere, Sideshow, Thin Air (Music for Dance Volume 6) (2009, CD, Fred, UK)
Field Days (The Amanda Loops) (2015, CD, Fred, UK)
Propaganda (2015, CD, Fred, UK)
Music for Film
The Top of His Head (1989, LP,
Crammed , Belgium) – original soundtrack to the film
The Top of His Head by
Peter Mettler
Step Across the Border (1990, 2xLP, RecRec, Switzerland) – original soundtrack to the film
Step Across the Border by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel
Middle of the Moment (1995, CD, RecRec, Switzerland) – original soundtrack to the film Middle of the Moment by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel
Eye to Ear (1997, CD, Tzadik, US) – collection of film and theatre music
Rivers and Tides (2003, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany) – original soundtrack to the film
Rivers and Tides by Thomas Riedelsheimer
Eye to Ear II (2004, CD, Tzadik, US) – music from
Gambling, Gods and LSD by Peter Mettler, Returning Home by Andy Abrahams Wilson, Hirschen Mit Goldenen Hufen by Petra Mäussnest, and Sideshow by Kristin Varner
Eye to Ear III (2010, CD, Tzadik, US) – music from Drei Gegen Troja by Hussi Kutulcan, and Thirst by Deborah Kauffman and Alan Snitow
Composer only
Live albums
Live in Japan (1982, 2xLP, Recommended, Japan)
Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire (Graphic Scores 1986–1996) (1999, CD, I Dischi di Angelica, Italy)
Impur II (2009, CD, Fred, UK)
Storytelling (2017, CD, Intuition, Germany)
All Is Always Now – Live at The Stone (2019, 3xCD, Intakt, Switzerland)
Woodwork (2019, CD, Klanggalerie, Austria)
Composer only
Impur (2006, CD, Fred, UK)
Singles
Compilations
Fred and Ralph (1991, 3xCD, RecRec, Switzerland) – Fred Frith releases by Ralph Records
The Fred Records Story 2001–2020 Volume 1: Rocking the Boat (2021, 9xCD, Fred, UK)
Guitar Solos (2002, CD, Fred)
Gravity (2002, CD, Fred)
Cheap at Half the Price (2004, CD, Fred)
Killing Time (2005, CD, Fred)
Impur (2006, CD, Fred)
Middle of the Moment (2004, CD, Fred)
That House We Lived In (2003, 2xCD, Fred)
Dropera (1991, CD, RecRec) – bonus CD
The Fred Records Story 2001–2020 Volume 2: Crossing Borders (2021, 9xCD, Fred, UK)
Live in Japan (2010, CD, Fred)
Speechless (2003, CD, Fred)
Prints (2002, CD, Fred)
Step Across the Border (2003, CD, Fred)
Impur II (2009, CD, Fred)
The Art of Memory II (2008, CD, Fred)
Learn to Talk / Country of Blinds (2005, 2xCD, Fred)
Helter Skelter (1992, CD, RecRec) – bonus CD (remastered)
The Fred Records Story 2001–2020 Volume 3: Stepping Out (2021, 10xCD, Fred, UK)
The Technology of Tears (2008, CD, Fred)
Propaganda (2015, CD, Fred)
Allies (2004, CD, Fred)
Accidental (2002, CD, Fred)
The Previous Evening (1997, CD, Recommended)
The Happy End Problem (2006, CD, Fred)
Nowhere, Sideshow, Thin Air (2009, CD, Fred)
Field Days (The Amanda Loops) (2015, CD, Fred)
Inimitable – Debates for Ganden [with Amanda Miller] (2020, CD, Fred) – bonus CD (previously unreleased)
Live in Tel Aviv and Aubervilliers [with Tom Cora and Chris Cutler] (2020, CD, Fred) – bonus CD (previously unreleased)
Collaborations
With Bruce Ackley,
Henry Kaiser and
Aram Shelton
With
Noël Akchoté
Réel (1996, 10" LP, Rectangle, France)
With Núria Andorrà
Dancing Like Dust (2023, CD, Klanggalerie, Austria)
With
Lotte Anker
Edge of the Light (2014, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
With
ARTE Quartett
With
Derek Bailey and Antoine Berthiaume
With Derek Bailey,
Sonny Sharrock ,
John Zorn ,
Bill Laswell and Charles K. Noyes
Improvised Music 1981 (1992, CD, MuWorks, US)
With Anne Bourne and
John Oswald
Dearness (2002, CD,
Spool , Canada)
With
Anthony Braxton
With
Chris Brown
Cutter Heads (2007, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
With
John Butcher
With John Butcher and
Theresa Wong
Quintillions Green (2016, FLAC, Otoroku, UK)
With
Lindsay Cooper ,
Lars Hollmer and Gianni Gebbia
With
Lol Coxhill
With
Chris Cutler
Live in Prague and Washington (1983, LP, Recommended, UK) – 1990 CD release retitled Live in Moscow, Prague & Washington
Live in Trondheim, Berlin & Limoges, Vol. 2 (1994, CD, Recommended, UK)
2 Gentlemen in Verona (2000, CD, Recommended, UK)
The Stone: Issue Two (2007, CD, Tzadik, US)
With Chris Cutler and
Tom Cora
Live in Tel Aviv and Aubervilliers (2021, CD, Fred, UK)
[b]
With Chris Cutler and Thomas Dimuzio
Golden State (2010, LP, Recommended, UK)
[c]
With Lesli Dalaba, Eric Glick Rieman and
Carla Kihlstedt
With Totsuzen Danball
Live at Loft Shinjuku Tokyo Japan 23.July'81 (1982, CT, Floor, Japan)
With
Jean Derome , Pierre Tanguay and Myles Boisen
All is Bright, But it is Not Day (2002, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
With Michel Doneda
Fred Frith Michel Doneda (2014, CD, Vand'OEuvre, France)
With
Mark Dresser and
Ikue Mori
Later... (2000, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
With
Jean-Pierre Drouet
En Public aux Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers (1997, CD, Transes Europeennes, France)
With Jean-Pierre Drouet and
Louis Sclavis
I Dream of You Jumping (2001, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
Contretemps etc... (2011, CD, In Situ, France)
With
Ensemble Modern
With Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles
Something About This Landscape for Ensemble (2023, LP,
Sub Rosa , Belgium)
With Anil Eraslan, Tom Malmendier and Clara Weil
There or Here and That (2020, CD, Eux Sæm, France)
With
Janet Feder
With
Hardy Fox
A Day Hanging Dead Between Heaven and Earth (2018, CD, Klanggalerie, Austria)
With
Evelyn Glennie
With
Barry Guy
Backscatter Bright Blue (2014, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
With
Tim Hodgkinson
Cut Up the Border by Fred Frith, Nicolas Humbert and Marc Parisotto
With Percy Howard,
Charles Hayward and
Bill Laswell
Meridiem (1998, CD, Materiali Sonori, Italy)
With Nicolas Humbert and Marc Parisotto
With Darren Johnston
Everybody's Somebody's Nobody (2016, CD, Clean Feed, Portugal)
With Darren Johnston
Devin Hoff ,
Larry Ochs and
Ches Smith
Reasons for Moving (2007, CD, Not Two, US)
With Henry Kaiser
With Friends Like These (1979, LP,
Metalanguage , US)
Who Needs Enemies? (1983, LP, Metalanguage, US)
With Enemies Like These, Who Needs Friends? (1987, CD,
SST , US)
Friends & Enemies (1999, 2xCD,
Cuneiform , US)
With
Carla Kihlstedt and
Stevie Wishart
With Hans Koch
You are Here (2017, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
With Joëlle Léandre and
Jonathan Segel
Tempted to Smile (2003, CD, Spool, Canada)
With Annie Lewandowski
Long as in Short, Walk as in Run (2011, CD, Ninth World)
With
René Lussier
With Amanda Miller
Inimitable – Debates for Ganden (2021, CD, Fred, UK)
[b]
With
Helen Mirra
Kwangsi Quail (2015, LP, Shhpuma, Portugal)
With Macio Moretti
Works for Me Should Be the Title (2023, LP, Don't Sit On My Vinyl! / Muzyka z Mózgu, Poland)
With
Ikue Mori
A Mountain Doesn't Know It's Tall (2021, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
With Mózg Injectors
Sylvan Trail (2019, 12" LP and CD, Mózg, Poland)
With
Bob Ostertag and
Phil Minton
With
Bob Ostertag and
John Zorn
With
Evan Parker
Hello, I Must Be Going (2015, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
With Francois-Michel Pesenti
With
Marc Ribot
Subsonic 1. Sounds of a Distant Episode (1994, CD, Sub Rosa/Subsonic, Belgium)
With
Ferdinand Richard (as Fred & Ferd)
Dropera (1991, LP, RecRec, Switzerland)
With Danielle Roger
Pas de Deux (2008, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
Laying Demons to Rest by Fred Frith and
Susana Santos Silva
With
Rusconi
Live In Europe (2016, CD, Qilin, Germany)
With
Susana Santos Silva
With Katrin Scholl, Daniel Erismann, Lucas N. Niggli, Hans Koch and
Peter Kowald
Nil (1995, CD, Unit Records, Switzerland)
With Sonargemeinschaft (Sonar Community)
Drift (2008, CD, Poise, Germany)
With Studio Dan
Rocket Science #1 #5 #8 (2021, CD, ROS, Germany)
With Sudhu Tewari and Cenk Ergün
Lock Me Up, Lock Me Down (2020, Digital, Carrier Records, US)
With
Toychestra
With Benjamin Vergara
Fanfarrisimo (2019, LP, Tour De Bras, Canada)
With Katharina Weber and
Fredy Studer
It Rolls (2015, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
With
Michel Wintsch ,
Franziska Baumann and Bernard Trontin
Whisperings (2002, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)
With
John Zorn
The Art of Memory (1994, CD,
Incus , UK)
50th Birthday Celebration Volume 5 (2004, CD, Tzadik, US)
The Art of Memory II (2008, CD, Fred, UK)
Late Works (2010, CD, Tzadik, US)
With John Zorn, Onnyk and
Toyozumi Yoshisaburo
Ars Longa Dens Brevis (2000, CD, Allelopathy, Japan)
Bands
Henry Cow
Legend (1973, LP,
Virgin , UK)
Unrest (1974, LP, Virgin, UK)
Concerts (1976, 2xLP, Caroline, UK)
Western Culture (1979, LP, Broadcast, UK)
The Virgin Years – Souvenir Box (1991, 3xCD,
East Side Digital , US)
Henry Cow Box (2006, 7xCD, Recommended, UK)
Stockholm & Göteborg (2008, CD, Recommended, UK)
The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009, 9xCD+DVD, Recommended, UK)
The Henry Cow Box Redux: The Complete Henry Cow (2019, 17xCD+DVD, Recommended, UK)
Henry Cow /
Slapp Happy
Art Bears
Hopes and Fears (1978, LP, Recommended, UK)
Winter Songs (1979, LP, Recommended, UK)
The World as It Is Today (1981, LP, Recommended, UK)
The Art Box (2004, 6xCD, Recommended, UK)
Aksak Maboul
Material
Massacre
Killing Time (1981, LP, Celluloid, France)
Funny Valentine (1998, CD, Tzadik, US)
Meltdown (2001, CD, Tzadik, US)
Lonely Heart (2007, CD, Tzadik, US)
Love Me Tender (2013, CD, Tzadik, US)
Skeleton Crew
Learn to Talk (1984, LP, Rift, US / Recommended, Europe)
The Country of Blinds (1986, LP, Rift, US / Recommended, Europe)
Learn to Talk / Country of Blinds (1990, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)
Etymology (1997, CD-ROM, Rarefaction, US)
Free Dirt (Live) (2021, 2xCD, Klanggalerie, Austria)
Duck and Cover
French Frith Kaiser Thompson
Live, Love, Larf & Loaf (1987, LP,
Rhino , US)
Invisible Means (1990, LP,
Demon , UK,
Windham Hill , US)
Naked City
Naked City (1990, LP,
Elektra/Nonesuch , US)
Torture Garden (1990, LP, Elektra/Nonesuch, US)
Heretic, Jeux des Dames Cruelles (1992, CD,
Avant , Japan)
Grand Guignol (1992, CD, Avant, Japan)
Leng Tch'e (1992, CD,
Toy's Factory , Japan)
Radio (1993, CD, Avant, Japan)
Absinthe (1993, CD, Avant, Japan)
Naked City Live, Vol. 1: The Knitting Factory 1989 (2002, CD, Tzadik, US)
Death Ambient
Death Ambient (1995, CD, Tzadik, US)
Synaesthesia (1999, CD, Tzadik, US)
Drunken Forest (2007, CD, Tzadik, US)
Fred Frith Guitar Quartet
Ayaya Moses (1997, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
Upbeat (1999, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
Maybe Monday
Saturn's Finger (1999, CD, Buzz, Netherlands)
Digital Wildlife (2002, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany)
Unsquare (2008, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
Keep the Dog
The Orckestra
"Unreleased Orckestra Extract" (3" CD single, 2006, Recommended, UK)
Oakland/Lisboa by MMM Quartet
Cosa Brava
MMM Quartet
[d]
Live at the Metz' Arsenal (2012, CD,
Leo , UK)
Oakland/Lisboa (2015, CD, RogueArt, France)
Fred Frith Trio
Lantskap Logic
Lantskap Logic (2018, CD,
Clean Feed , Portugal)
Hidden Danger Lets Me In (2023, CD, Clean Feed, Portugal)
^
The Previous Evening was designated "Music for Dance Volume 4" after
Accidental was released.
^
a
b A limited edition bonus CD included in the Fred Records Story box set.
^ Golden State is an LP-only release; "a CD just wouldn't be the same, sonically, visually or ontologically." –
Chris Cutler .
[2]
^ MMM stands for "MillsMusicMafia", with reference to
Mills College where Leandre, Frith and Curran teach music.
[3]
References
External links
Studio albums Music for Dance Music for Film Composer only
Live albums
Collaborations
Related