Killing Time (Massacre album)
Encyclopedia
Killing Time is an album
by avant garde, experimental
power trio Massacre, with guitarist Fred Frith
, bassist/producer
Bill Laswell
, and drummer Fred Maher
. It was the only album produced in a series of four with the original line-up. It consists of a compilation of recordings made at Martin Bisi
's studio
in Brooklyn
, New York
in June 1981, and live recordings taken from their April 1981 Paris
concerts. The group disbanded shortly after eventually reforming in 1998 with Charles Hayward
replacing Maher on drums and further recording three more albums.
Killing Time was well received in progressive music
circles, becoming a "hugely influential album" and a "RIO
classic". Originally released on the OAO imprint (a sub-division of Celluloid Records
), it is considered to be one of the most important pieces of music to expose the gritty, downtown Manhattan
, no-wave
scene during the early 1980´s. Due to popular demand, it was re-issued on RecRec Music
in 1993 with six extra tracks, and on Fred Records
in 2005 with eight extra tracks, including a cover
of "F.B.I" by The Shadows
.
Side two
, June 1981.
b Recorded live at 24 Rue Dunois, Paris
, April 1981.
re-issued Killing Time on CD with six extra tracks:
In 2005 Fred Records
re-issued the album on CD with the above six extra tracks, plus two addition tracks:
"Conversations With White Arc" originally appeared on Fred Frith
's solo album Speechless
(1981). The Fred Records
issue was a re-mastered copy of the original 1982 Japan
ese release on Recommended Records Japan
. It also corrected the original LP's 11 tracks so as to be heard as originally intended, namely "at the correct speed and pitch and without added reverb".
, July 1981.
d Recorded live at 24 Rue Dunois, Paris
in April 1981.
e Recorded live at CBGB, New York City
in April 1980.
f Recorded at Stone Club, San Francisco in June 1981.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by avant garde, experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
power trio Massacre, with guitarist Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, bassist/producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
, and drummer Fred Maher
Fred Maher
Fred Maher is an American drummer, programmer and record producer.He was a member of Massacre , Material, Scritti Politti, Lou Reed, and is best known as the producer of I'm Talking's album Bear Witness , Lou Reed's album New York , Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend , and Information Society's self...
. It was the only album produced in a series of four with the original line-up. It consists of a compilation of recordings made at Martin Bisi
Martin bisi
Martin Bisi is an American producer and songwriter.He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Angels of Light and Herbie Hancock's Grammy-winning song Rockit,In 1979, Martin Bisi...
's studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in June 1981, and live recordings taken from their April 1981 Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
concerts. The group disbanded shortly after eventually reforming in 1998 with Charles Hayward
Charles Hayward (musician)
Charles Hayward is an English drummer and was a founding member of the experimental rock group This Heat. He also played with Mal Dean's Amazing Band, Radar Favourites, Dolphin Logic, and gigged and recorded with old schoolfriend and "Pooh and the Ostrich Feather" member Phil Manzanera in the...
replacing Maher on drums and further recording three more albums.
Killing Time was well received in progressive music
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
circles, becoming a "hugely influential album" and a "RIO
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music...
classic". Originally released on the OAO imprint (a sub-division of Celluloid Records
Celluloid Records
Celluloid Records, a French/American record label, founded by Jean Georgakarakos operated from 1976 to 1989 in New York, and produced a series of eclectic and ground-breaking releases, particularly in the early to late 1980s, largely under the auspices of de facto in-house producer Bill...
), it is considered to be one of the most important pieces of music to expose the gritty, downtown Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, no-wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene during the early 1980´s. Due to popular demand, it was re-issued on RecRec Music
RecRec Music
RecRec Music was a Swiss independent record label created in 1983 by Daniel Waldner. The label was modeled on, and affiliated to, the British independent record label Recommended Records, but remained financially independent...
in 1993 with six extra tracks, and on Fred Records
Fred Records
Fred Records is a British independent record label created in 2002 by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith to re-release his own back catalogue of recordings and previously unreleased material...
in 2005 with eight extra tracks, including a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "F.B.I" by The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
.
Track listing
Side one- "Legs" (Massacre) – 2:13 a
- "Aging With Dignity" (Massacre) – 3:18 a
- "Subway Heart" (Massacre) – 2:59 b
- "Killing Time" (Massacre) – 3:07 a
- "Corridor" / "Lost Causes" / "Not The Person We Knew" (Massacre) – 9:15 b
- "Bones" (Massacre) – 1:48 a
Side two
- "Tourism" (Massacre) – 4:34 b
- "Surfing" (Massacre) – 1:19 a
- "As Is" (Massacre) – 8:49 b
- "After" (Massacre) – 5:29 b
- "Gate" (Massacre) – 2:52 a
Track notes
a Recorded at OAO Studio, BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, June 1981.
b Recorded live at 24 Rue Dunois, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, April 1981.
Personnel
- Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– Burns Black Bison guitar, Casio, radio, voice, WW IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
pilot's throat microphone - Bill LaswellBill LaswellBill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
– 4 and 6 string bass guitars, pocket trumpet - Fred MaherFred MaherFred Maher is an American drummer, programmer and record producer.He was a member of Massacre , Material, Scritti Politti, Lou Reed, and is best known as the producer of I'm Talking's album Bear Witness , Lou Reed's album New York , Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend , and Information Society's self...
– drums, percussion
CD reissues
In 1993 RecRec MusicRecRec Music
RecRec Music was a Swiss independent record label created in 1983 by Daniel Waldner. The label was modeled on, and affiliated to, the British independent record label Recommended Records, but remained financially independent...
re-issued Killing Time on CD with six extra tracks:
- "You Said" (Massacre) – 1:47 c
- "Know" (Massacre) – 2:16 d
- "Conversations With White Arc" (Massacre) – 1:14 e
- "Carrying" (Massacre) – 1:44 d
- "Bait" (Massacre) – 1:59 c
- "3 O'Clock, June 21st, Get Down There and Do It" (Massacre) – 1:34 f
In 2005 Fred Records
Fred Records
Fred Records is a British independent record label created in 2002 by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith to re-release his own back catalogue of recordings and previously unreleased material...
re-issued the album on CD with the above six extra tracks, plus two addition tracks:
- "Third Street" (Massacre) – 4:21 d
- "F.B.I." (WelschBruce WelchBruce Welch OBE, is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer and singer, best known as a member of The Shadows.-Biography:...
, MarvinHank MarvinHank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
, HarrisJet HarrisJet Harris, MBE was an English musician. He was the bass guitarist of The Shadows until April 1962, and had subsequent success as a soloist and as a duo with the drummer Tony Meehan....
, arr. Massacre) – 3:10 d
"Conversations With White Arc" originally appeared on Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
's solo album Speechless
Speechless (Fred Frith album)
Speechless is a 1981 solo album by English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith of the group Henry Cow. It was Frith's third solo album, and was originally released in the United States on LP record on The Residents' Ralph record label...
(1981). The Fred Records
Fred Records
Fred Records is a British independent record label created in 2002 by English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith to re-release his own back catalogue of recordings and previously unreleased material...
issue was a re-mastered copy of the original 1982 Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese release on Recommended Records Japan
Recommended Records
Recommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...
. It also corrected the original LP's 11 tracks so as to be heard as originally intended, namely "at the correct speed and pitch and without added reverb".
Track notes
c Recorded at Inroads, New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, July 1981.
d Recorded live at 24 Rue Dunois, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in April 1981.
e Recorded live at CBGB, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in April 1980.
f Recorded at Stone Club, San Francisco in June 1981.