Letters Home (album)

Infobox Album | Name = Letters Home
Type = Studio album
Artist = News from Babel


Released = 1986
Recorded = Cold Storage Studios, Brixton, London, 1985–1986
Genre = Avant-progressive rock
Length = 35:18
Label = Recommended (U.K.)
Producer = News from Babel
Reviews =
*"Allmusic" Rating|4|5 [http://wm02.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fexqehldse link] | Last album = "Work Resumed on the Tower"
(1984)
This album = "Letters Home"
(1986)
Next album = "Complete"
(2006)

"Letters Home" is a 1986 studio album by English avant-garde rock group News from Babel. It was recorded at Tim Hodgkinson's Cold Storage Recording Studios in Brixton, London, in 1985 and 1986, and was released in 1986. It was their second album and included guest vocalists Robert Wyatt, Dagmar Krause, Sally Potter and Phil Minton. Krause (no longer a member of the group) was listed here as a guest and only sang on two songs. ["Letters Home" LP liner notes.]

Picking up where "Work Resumed on the Tower" left off, "Letters Home" continues News from Babel's exploration of "Marxist politics and personal alienation" set to a blend of rock, jazz and cabaret. [ cite web |url=http://www.michaeldraine.com/newsfrombabel.htm |title=News from Babel |work=Michael Draine's Twisted Vista |accessdate=2007-10-10 ] The music on the album was composed by Lindsay Cooper and the song texts were written by Chris Cutler. The album's title was named after "Letters Home", a collection of letters written by Sylvia Plath.

For technical reasons, the original LP release of this album was pressed on a 12" disc at 45 rpm, and not the standard 33⅓ rpm.

Track listing

*Side One
*#"Who Will Accuse?" (Cutler, Cooper) – 2:38
*#"Heart of Stone (Megalopolis)" (Cutler, Cooper) – 3:04
*#"Banknote" (Cutler, Cooper) – 3:19
*#"Moss" (Cutler, Cooper) – 3:58
*#"Dragon at the Core" (Cutler, Cooper) – 4:39
*Side Two
*#"Dark Matter" (Cutler, Cooper) – 4:20
*#"Waited" (Cutler, Cooper) – 5:09
*#"Fast Food" (Cutler, Cooper) – 3:13
*#"Late Evening" (Cutler, Cooper) – 4:58

Personnel

*Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, sopranino and alto saxophone, piano, other keyboards
*Chris Cutler – drums, electrics, percussion
*Zeena Parkins – harp, prepared and electric harps, accordion, ebo guitar

Guests

*Bill Gilonis – bass guitar, guitar
*Robert Wyatt – singing ("Who Will Accuse?", "Heart of Stone", "Moss", "Late Evening")
*Dagmar Krause – singing ("Fast Food", "Late Evening")
*Sally Potter – singing ("Banknote", "Dark Matter")
*Phil Minton – singing ("Dragon at the Core")

CD reissues

*In 1990 Recommended Records re-issued "Letters Home" and News from Babel's previous album, "Work Resumed on the Tower" on a single CD.
*In 2006 Recommended Records issued a remastered version of "Letters Home" on CD.
*In 2006 Recommended Records released a News from Babel box set, "Complete" comprising remastered versions of "Work Resumed on the Tower", "Letters Home" and the band's only single, "Contraries".

References

External links

*amg | id = 10:j9fexqehldse | label = Letters Home
* [http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=nfb-lh Letters Home] at Ground and Sky.
* [http://home.arcor.de/nyds-exp-discogs/parkins.htm Discography of Zeena Parkins] .