[1977] John Greaves, Peter Blegvad, Lisa Herman - Kew. Rhone.

One of the many gems from the Canterbury Scene, Kew Rhone is the resulting work of three important figures from that time, whose combined experience gave birth to an album strongly hinting at Slapp Happy's art pop vibe and what would later become Art Bears, with a remarkable jazz influence typical of the scene. Joyous and mysterious at the same time, the album is plagued with occult references and hidden clues not only in the lyrics but also in the cover, on which several clues are denoted with roman numerals and paired together with some phrases within the songs. Definitely, anyone with at least a mild interest in the 70's british prog scene should check this excellent album.

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[1979] Art Bears - Winter Songs

Second Art Bears album, following the stylistic approach started with Hopes and Fears (which contained the written, but unperformed Henry Cow "song-oriented" material). Highly dissonant, reactionary songs, fully exploring the vocal range of Dagmar Krause and the first glances of the avantgarde approach Fred Frith and Chris Cutler were about to fully focus into in the next decades. Not as approachable as The World As It Is Today, but it's definitely a compelling listen for these interested in early avant-prog.

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[1974] Henry Cow - Unrest

Essential avant-prog/RIO band and one of my all-time favorites, Henry Cow doesn't need much introduction. Pioneers of the Rock In Opposition movement in which their members thrive to compose quality, complex music outside of the common denominator of the big labels (such as Virgin Records at that time, which brought them a lot of problems that ended up in this detachment) and with a strong leftist/socialist leaning, this album is a blend of jazz with progressive rock put forward in a unique way, almost typical of the Canterbury movement but still detaching a lot from its regular style. Almost completely instrumental, it features some vocals from Leigh and Wyatt (who also collaborated with them during Leg End).

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[1981] Art Bears - The World As It Is Today

An integral part of what became the Henry Cow legacy, Art Bears stands out as one of the most influential, cult-like bands of the rock in opposition/canterbury movement of the late 70's and beginnings of the 80's. The World As It Is Today, their last album, is agressive, dissonant, and full of politics, expressed not only by the acclaimed vocalist Dagmar Krause (in one of her best performances to date), but the complex and (at some points) seemingly random arrangements, which is in fact well structured and rooted in modern classical archetypes and free improvisation. The song Freedom is already considered a classic, in which the rebellious nature of the band (and their stance against corporations and capitalist systems of their time and the present) is fully displayed. Essential listening material.

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Buy it directly from Recommended Records here.