The Country of Blinds
The Country of Blinds is a studio album by American experimental rock and jazz band Skeleton Crew, recorded at Sunrise Studio, Kirchberg, Switzerland, December 1985 and January 1986. It was their second and final album and was released in 1986.
| The Country of Blinds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1986 | |||
| Recorded | December 1985 to January 1986 | |||
| Studio | Kirchberg, Switzerland | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:25 | |||
| Label | Rift (US) | |||
| Producer | Tim Hodgkinson | |||
| Skeleton Crew chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Skeleton Crew had become the trio of Fred Frith, Tom Cora and Zeena Parkins when this album was made. The music here is richer, more rhythmic and fuller-sounding and the songs more developed than on their first album; this ultimately led to the band's break-up. Frith explained that "we actually started to sound like a normal rock and roll band so it seemed kind of pointless to go on at that point."[2]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Country of Blinds" | Skeleton Crew, Cora | 4:10 |
| 2. | "Money Crack" | Skeleton Crew | 0:58 |
| 3. | "The Border" | Skeleton Crew, Anne Hemenway | 3:28 |
| 4. | "The Hand that Bites" | Skeleton Crew, Frith | 5:32 |
| 5. | "Dead Sheep" | Skeleton Crew, Cora, Frith | 3:22 |
| 6. | "Bingo" | Skeleton Crew, Frith | 3:34 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Man or Monkey" | Skeleton Crew, Cutler | 2:37 |
| 8. | "Foot in Hole" | Skeleton Crew | 3:08 |
| 9. | "Hot Field" | Skeleton Crew | 2:36 |
| 10. | "The Birds of Japan" | Skeleton Crew, Frith | 4:00 |
| 11. | "You May Find a Bed" | Skeleton Crew, Frith, Sharp | 6:10 |
Personnel
- Tom Cora – cello, bass, accordion, drums, contraptions, singing
- Fred Frith – guitar, 6-string bass, violin, home-mades, drums, singing
- Zeena Parkins – organ, electric harp, accordion, drums, singing
Sound and art work
- Tim Hodgkinson – engineer, producer
- Katrina Brändli – assistant engineer
- Fred Frith – cover art work
CD reissues
In 1990 RecRec Music re-issued The Country of Blinds together with Skeleton Crew's previous album Learn to Talk on a single compilation CD, Learn to Talk / Country of Blinds, omitting "Money Crack" from The Country of Blinds, and "Los Colitos" and "Life At The Top" from Learn to Talk.
In 2005 Fred Records re-issued Learn to Talk / Country of Blinds on a double compilation CD, omitting only "Money Crack" from The Country of Blinds, and adding ten extra tracks.
References
- Mills, Ted. "The Country of Blinds". AllMusic. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
- Wolff, Sander R. "Defining The Edge: The Musical World Of Fred Frith". The Long Beach Union Newspaper. Retrieved June 22, 2011.