ReR and related : The INCREDIBLE sale!!

Bob Drake: drums, bass, backing vocals, tapes, viola
Susanne Lewis: vocals, guitar, viola, accordion, synths

Venus Handcuffs is an early, pre-Hail project by Bob Drake and Susanne Lewis, both of whom were working in Thinking Plague at the time they were also simultaneously doing this duo work.

"Referred to as "a cross between Throbbing Gristle and Nick Cave" during the band's lifetime, Venus Handcuffs got their start in the ranks of Colorado's most far-reaching band, Thinking...

Woof was Tim Hodgkinson's label. This release is a pretty big deal, if only for the inclusion of the really, really great "I Do, I Do...I Don’t, I Don’t" EP by Tim and Bill Gilonis, which has been unavailable for over 20 years, was a miserable grotty pressing to begin with, and was Tim's very first post-Cow recordings and the roots of The Work. Not to mention the inclusion of Houdini, one of The Work's greatest...uh...works!

"This CD comprises all four 7” releases by the British underground....

When Henry Cow fell apart in the summer of 1978, the main players in the band dispersed. Fred Frith left England to settle in NYC for a good number of years, getting involved the then just beginning to evolve 'downtown' sound, recording three excellent and high-profile albums for Ralph Records, forming first Massacre and then Skeleton Crew. Chris Cutler formed the Art Bears and also was an important member of Cassiber. Lindsay Cooper and Georgie Born did a lot of musical improvising and John Greaves had...

This is a really great album, although I didn’t appreciate it as much when it was first released, because I was a TOTAL fan of Slow Crimes by The Work, and only half that band appears here.
Having said that, as time has gone on, I’ve grown more and more to be aware of what a splendid performance is captured here AND ALSO to appreciate what a utterly slaying performance Chris gives on drums!
And now with the CD issue of this, Udi made what I always thought of a not very good live recording sound...

When Henry Cow fell apart in the summer of 1978, the main players in the band dispersed. Fred Frith left England to settle in NYC for a good number of years, getting involved the then just beginning to evolve 'downtown' sound, recording three excellent and high-profile albums for Ralph Records, forming first Massacre and then Skeleton Crew. Chris Cutler formed the Art Bears and also was an important member of Cassiber. Lindsay Cooper and Georgie Born did a lot of musical improvising and John Greaves had...

Here's something I *never* thought I would see; an album of 'new' (new as in unheard) material by The Work! If you don’t know The Work, they were formed by Tim Hodgkinson after Henry Cow and they are one of the greatest ‘difficult rock music’ bands of the 80s and one of the least heralded.

"The 4th World is the band's long-lost, never before issued, very last album, from 1994. Succeeding See by some two years, it shares that album's aesthetics and approach -- an economy of means, and superior...

"Classic recording by the ever deeper Russian instrument builders and masters of live electroacoustic/song/sound sculptures. Dangerous, Bitter, Desperate and Down to the Bone, but carrying a huge emotional charge and a rare beauty. This is lived music, both mature and profound."-Chris Cutler