“Further additions may follow” is how HENRY COW warn their followers of one of the greatest injustices in a music fan’s life: the frequent incompleteness of an supposedly all-encompassing box set. In the case of these proponents of Canterbury experimentalism it was 2019’s “Redux” whose 18 CDs spanned the ensemble’s entire history yet missed on some important, if previously unissued – even on bootlegs – moments the documents of which have been found fairly recently to be released now as “Glastonbury And Elsewhere” on compact disc and as a download.
Glastonbury And Elsewhere
Designed to both fit in the box set and be available as a standalone item, it focuses on rare, relatively short-lived line-ups – such as the Martin Ditcham, Fred Frith, John Greaves and Tim Hodgkinson quartet of June 1971; and the Frith, Hodgkinson, Chris Cutler and Phil Minton two-week foursome of April 1978 – playing rare material, including THE ORCKESTRA cuts and a few numbers that never made it to the studio. All this outweighs sonic imperfections which the listener may encounte even after the tapes were cleaned, so while there’s no detailed tracklisting offered heading over to the veterans’ Bandcamp page is highly advised.
1. Glastonbury Fayre, 1972
2. Oxfordshire, 1973
3. Chaumont, Salles de fetes, 1976
4. France, Unknown Venue, 1977
5. Bilbao Teatro S. Vincente, 1977
