- Fred Records
Infobox record label
name = Fred Records
image_bg =
parent =Recommended Records
founded = 2002
founder =Fred Frith
defunct =
distributor = RēR Megacorp (UK)
RēR USA (USA)
Locus Solus (Japan )
genre =Rock in Opposition Avant-progressive rock Experimental music
country = flagicon|EnglandEngland
location =Thornton Heath ,Surrey
url = [http://www.fredfrith.com/fredrecords.htm Fred Records]Fred Records is a British
independent record label created in 2002 by Englishguitarist ,composer and improvisorFred Frith to re-release his own back catalogue of recordings and previously unreleased material. It is an independent company working in co-operation withChris Cutler andRecommended Records , utilising Recommended Records' distribution network.Background
From the mid-1980s
Fred Frith released much of his music (solo and in collaboration with other musicians) on the Swissindependent record label RecRec Music . However, the label went bankrupt in 1997 after its founder,Daniel Waldner died in a mountain climbing accident in 1995. [ cite web |url=http://bordermusic.wordpress.com/2007/01/16/recommended-records-zurich-recrec/ |title="Recommended Records, Zürich (RecRec)" |work=Border Music |accessdate=2007-01-30 ] Under Swisscopyright law all the rights to Frith's music released by RecRec reverted back to him, totalling 13 different titles. Having lost money in unpaidroyalties , Frith wanted to re-release all the titles on a single label. In the early 2000s and with the help ofChris Cutler ofRecommended Records , Frith set up his own label, Fred Records as a sub-label of Recommended Records. cite web |url=http://www.fredfrith.com/fredrecords.htm |title="Fred Records" |work=Fred Frith's homepage |first=Fred |last=Frith |accessdate=2007-01-25 ] [ cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060215162125/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/experimental/interviews/int_frith.shtml |title="Interview with Fred Frith" |work=BBC Music |accessdate=2007-01-25 ]The new label gave Frith an opportunity to re-issue material from his archives that would have been difficult to release elsewhere. Advances in technology also enabled Frith to
remaster the original recordings and produce a sound much closer to what was originally intended. In addition, Frith has released previously unreleased material by himself and in collaboration with other musicians. To create a consistent image for the label as a whole, Frith has used the artist,Tomas Kurth to illustrate the CD covers, often incorporating elements of the original LP covers in the design.Tributaries
Currently the Fred Records catalogue is divided into three tributaries:
*FRO (Fred Records Original) – re-releases of Frith's previously released original material;
*FRA (Fred Records Archive) – releases of previously unreleased material from Frith's archive;
*FRFC (Fred Records French Connection) – releases of previously unreleased material from Frith's archive recorded inFrance .The catalogue numbers of each release includes one of these tributary codes. For example "RēR/FRA 02" reads: "Recommended Records / Fred Records Archive #2".Releases
These are all the titles currently released on the Fred Records label. [ cite web |url=http://www.fredfrith.com/artwork.htm |title="Fred Records releases" |work=Fred Frith's homepage |first=Fred |last=Frith |accessdate=2007-01-25 ]
*
Fred Frith : "Gravity" (2002, RēR/FRO 01)
*Fred Frith : "Accidental" (2002, RēR/FRA 01)
*Fred Frith : "Guitar Solos" (2002, RēR/FRO 02)
*Fred Frith : "Prints" (2002, RēR/FRA 02)
*Keep the Dog : "That House We Lived In " (2003, RēR/FRA 03)
*Fred Frith : "Step Across the Border" (2003, RēR/FRO 03)
*Fred Frith : "Speechless" (2003, RēR/FRO 04)
*Fred Frith : "Middle of the Moment" (2004, RēR/FRO 05)
*Fred Frith : "Cheap at Half the Price " (2004, RēR/FRO 06)
*Fred Frith : "Allies" (2004, RēR/FRO 07)
*Skeleton Crew: "Learn to Talk / The Country of Blinds " (2005, RēR/FRO 8/9)
*Massacre: "Killing Time" (2005, RēR/FRO 10)
*Fred Frith : "Impur" (2006, RēR/FRFC 01)
*Fred Frith : "The Happy End Problem " (2006, RēR/FRA 05)
*Fred Frith : "The Technology of Tears " (2008, RēR/FRO 11)
*Fred Frith &John Zorn : "The Art of Memory II " (2008, RēR/FRA 06)ee also
*
Recommended Records
*RecRec Music
*Chris Cutler
*Fred Frith
*List of record labels
*List of independent UK record labels Footnotes
External links
* [http://www.fredfrith.com Fred Frith home page] .
* [http://www.fredfrith.com/fredrecords.htm Fred Records]
* [http://www.rermegacorp.com RēR Megacorp] . "Recommended Records UK".
* [http://www.locus-solus.co.jp Locus Solus] . "Recommended Records Japan".
* [http://www.rerusa.com RēR USA] . "Recommended Records USA".
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