Hopes and Fears (Art Bears album)

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Hopes and Fears
Studio album by Art Bears
Released	1978
Recorded	Switzerland, January 1978 London, March 1978
Genre	Avant-progressive rock
Length	48:25
Label	Recommended Records (UK)
Producer(s)	Art Bears Etienne Conod
Professional reviews
Prog. Archives link Robert Christgau (B) link
Art Bears chronology
–	Hopes and Fears (1978)	Winter Songs (1979)
CD releases
CD cover based on the same artwork of the original LP, but with different texts and no figures.

Hopes and Fears is the first album by English avant-garde rock group Art Bears. It comprises tracks by Henry Cow, Art Bears' predecessor, recorded in Switzerland in January 1978, and tracks by Art Bears, recorded in London in March 1978.

Hopes and Fears began as a Henry Cow album, but after the first recording sessions in Switzerland, some of the members of the band were unhappy about the predominance of song-oriented material. As a compromise it was agreed that two albums would be made: the songs would be released under the name of a new group, Art Bears, and the instrumental compositions would be released later by Henry Cow. The newly formed Art Bears recorded four more tracks in London to complete Hopes and Fears, which was released later in 1978. Henry Cow returned to Switzerland in July that year to record additional instrumental pieces for what became their last album, Western Culture (1979).

Contents 1 Description 2 Track listing 2.1 Track notes 3 Personnel 3.1 Guests (from Henry Cow) 3.2 Sound and art work 4 CD reissues 4.1 Track notes 4.2 Additional personnel 5 Album title 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Description

Because of Henry Cow's presence on this album, Hopes and Fears is considered by some to be "the lost Henry Cow album". ^[1] But the predominance of songs makes the album a bridge between Henry Cow and Art Bears, a move away from Henry Cow's usual intense compositions, and the beginnings of Art Bears' music, fully realised later on their next two albums. It also shows Fred Frith experimenting with folk and dance music ("Terrain", "Moeris Dancing", "The Dance"), which he explored further on some of his subsequent solo albums, particularly Gravity and Speechless.

The longest track, "In Two Minds" is the closest Art Bears come to playing "conventional rock music" ^[2]. The instrumental section in the song sounds like a homage to The Who, a fact that Chris Cutler does not deny, considering the influence the band had on him and others. ^[3]

[edit] Track listing

Side 1 (Áhá: Palace courtyard)

1. "On Suicide" (Brecht, Eisler) – 1:26 ¹
2. "The Dividing Line" (Cutler, Frith, Cooper) – 4:11 ¹
3. "Joan" (Cutler, Frith) – 3:05 ¹
4. "Maze" (Cutler, Frith) – 5:05 ¹
5. "In Two Minds" (Cutler, Frith) – 8:45 ¹

Side 2 (Mer: Irrigated land)

1. "Terrain" (Frith) – 3:49 ²
2. "The Tube" (Cutler, Frith) – 3:05 ²
3. "The Dance" (Cutler, Frith) – 5:09 ²
4. "The Pirate Song" (Cutler, Hodgkinson) – 1:28 ¹
5. "Labyrinth" (Cutler, Hodgkinson) – 2:15 ¹
6. "Riddle" (Cutler, Frith) – 2:49 ¹
7. "Moeris Dancing" (Frith) – 5:08 ¹
8. "Piers" (Cutler, Frith) – 2:10 ²

[edit] Track notes

¹ Recorded by Henry Cow at Sunrise Studio, Kirchberg, Switzerland, 15–29 January, 1978
² Recorded by Art Bears at Kaleidophon, London, 15–18 March, 1978

[edit] Personnel

• Fred Frith – guitars, violin, viola, harmonium, xylophone, piano, bass guitar on "Terrain" and "The Tube"
• Chris Cutler – drums, percussion, noise
• Dagmar Krause – voice

[edit] Guests (from Henry Cow)

• Tim Hodgkinson – organ, clarinet, piano on "The Pirate Song"
• Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, oboe, soprano, recorder
• Georgie Born – bass guitar, cello, vocals on "Maze"

[edit] Sound and art work

• Produced by Art Bears and Etienne Conod
• Cover art by E. M. Thomas, assisted by Graham Keatley, Charlotte Sainsbury, Doug Kierdorf and Jane Colling (figures on the original LP cover)

[edit] CD reissues

Hopes and Fears was reissued on CD in 1992 by Recommended Records with three extra tracks:

1. "All Hail!" (Cutler, Frith) – 4:48 ³
2. "Collapse" (Cutler, Frith) – 4:03 ⁴
3. "Coda to Man and Boy" (Cutler, Frith) – 7:12 ⁵

The album was also reissued in 2003 in The Art Box, a 6xCD box set of all Art Bears releases with live and unreleased tracks, plus remixes by other musicians.

[edit] Track notes

³ from Recommended Records Sampler (1982)
⁴ from B-side of the Art Bears 7" single "Rats & Monkeys" (1979)
⁵ from 7" single given free to subscribers of The World as It Is Today (1981) – a coda to the Art Bears track "Man and Boy" from Winter Songs, recorded live at Cantù, Italy, 30 May 1979

[edit] Additional personnel

• Peter Blegvad – bass guitar on "Coda to Man and Boy"
• Marc Hollander – piano on "Coda to Man and Boy"

[edit] Album title

Hopes and Fears derived its name from the following conversation between Charion and Hermes in Satirical Sketches: Charon sees Life by Lucian of Samosata (quoted in the booklet accompanying the CD release of the album): ^[4]

Charion:	All I can see is a complicated muddle – a world full of utter confusion. Their towers are like beehives in which every bee has a sting of his own and uses it against his neighbour – and some are like wasps, preying on the weaker members of the community. But what are those dim shapes flying around them?
Hermes:	Hopes and Fears, Charon...

[edit] References

1. ^ Temple, Alex. Art Bears, Hopes and Fears. Progweed. Retrieved on January 3, 2007.
2. ^ Mason, Stewart. Hopes and Fears. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 3, 2007.
3. ^ Colli, Beppe. An interview with Chris Cutler, February 8, 2004. Clouds and Clocks. Retrieved on January 3, 2007.
4. ^ Lucian. Satirical Sketches: Charon sees Life. Questia – The Online Library of Books and Journals. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Hopes & Fears at All Music Guide
• Art Bears – An unofficial reference. Hopes and Fears.
• Fred Frith discography

v • d • e Art Bears
Chris Cutler  •  Fred Frith  •  Dagmar Krause Peter Blegvad  •  Marc Hollander
Discography
Hopes and Fears (1978)  •  Winter Songs (1979)  •  The World as It Is Today (1981) The Art Box (2003)  •  Art Bears Revisited (2004)
Related bands and movements
Henry Cow  •  News from Babel  •  Rock in Opposition