Chris Cutler
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Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and (briefly) Gong/Mothergong. He has collaborated with many musicians and groups, including
Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...
, Lindsay Cooper,
Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard har ...
, Peter Blegvad, Telectu and
The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...
, and has appeared on over 100 recordings. Cutler's career spans over four decades and he still performs actively throughout the world. Cutler created and runs the British
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected mus ...
and is the editor of its sound-magazine, '' RēR Quarterly''. He has given a number of public lectures on music, published numerous articles and papers, and written a book on the political theory of contemporary music, '' File Under Popular'' (1984). Cutler also assembled and released '' The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set'' (2009), a collection of over 10 hours of previously unreleased recordings by the band.


Biography

Chris Cutler was born in January 1947 in Washington, D.C. to a British intelligence officer and his Austrian wife. In 1948 the family moved to England, where Cutler was brought up. He never studied music but tried his hand at banjo, guitar, trumpet and flute while at school. He finally settled for drums "because I wanted to be in a band and drummers were scarcest." Cutler formed his first band in 1963, playing Shadows and Ventures instrumental covers, then played in several R&B and soul bands. In 1966 he joined a band called Louise, with Tony Durant (later of
Fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, '' Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic ...
), which performed on the London
psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...
club circuit for three years before breaking up. Looking for work, Cutler placed a series of advertisements in
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
over a period of nine months in 1970. This put him in touch with a number of musicians which led to Cutler and keyboardist Dave Stewart of Egg forming The Ottawa Music Company, a 26 piece rock composer's orchestra, in 1971. Soon afterwards, Henry Cow, looking to replace the drummer who had just left them, responded to one of Cutler's adverts and invited him to a rehearsal.


Henry Cow

Henry Cow had been formed in 1968 by
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
students
Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...
(guitar) and Tim Hodgkinson (woodwind and keyboards). By 1971 the band had gone through a number of personnel changes and it was only when Cutler joined them in September 1971 that the group stabilised. Frith, Hodgkinson and Cutler became Henry Cow's permanent core until the band split up in 1978. Henry Cow's prominence in
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...
circles launched the careers of many of its members, including Cutler's. Their music was uncompromising and this eventually put them at odds with the mainstream music business, forcing the band to do everything themselves: from recording, manufacturing and releasing their own albums, to organising their own tours and being their own management and agency. All this proved invaluable experience for Cutler that would assist him greatly in his future endeavours. The group spent most of its last three years touring Europe and many of Cutler's future collaborations resulted from contact made with musicians on these tours. In Henry Cow's last few months they initiated
Rock in Opposition Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiated by English avant-rock group H ...
(RIO), a collective of like-minded bands they had encountered through Europe that were united in their opposition to the
music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
.


Recommended Records

After Henry Cow disbanded in 1978, Cutler created
Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected mus ...
in London, an independent label and distribution network for RIO artists. The record label quickly filled the gap left by commercial labels and soon began to also release non-RIO bands and musicians. Recommended Records's aim was to produce records of high technical and musical quality, placing the musicians' interests first and profits second. This strategy, however, led to the label experiencing financial difficulties from time to time, but it stuck to its principles and has survived for over 25 years. There are a number of musicians whose work would never have seen the light of day had it not been for Cutler's label. Cutler also founded November Books in 1982, the publishing wing of Recommended Records.


Other bands and projects

Cutler's first post-Henry Cow project was Art Bears (1978–1981), a group formed by Cutler, and fellow Henry Cow members, Fred Frith (guitar and keyboards) and Dagmar Krause (vocals), six months before Henry Cow split up. Art Bears were a song-oriented group that recorded three studio albums. Cutler's main contributions were the songs' texts and (with Frith) the album productions. Art Bears (in the wake of Henry Cow) were well received by critics which further boosted Cutler's reputation in "progressive" circles. In 1982, Cutler co-founded the Anglo-German group Cassiber (1982–1992) with German musicians
Heiner Goebbels Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, conductor and professor at Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 2012–14. His composition ''Stifters Dinge ...
,
Alfred Harth Alfred Harth, now known as Alfred 23 Harth or A23H, is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who creatively mixes genres. Career Harth founded a free improvisation band, Just Music (1967 to 1972) ...
and Christoph Anders. Over the next ten years Cassiber produced five albums and toured Europe, Asia, South and North America. Their music was very experimental and often involved spontaneously improvising pre-existing structured and arranged material. In 1983, Cutler formed News from Babel (1983–1986), another song-orientated group with core members Cutler, Lindsay Cooper (from Henry Cow),
Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard har ...
(a United States harpist) and Dagmar Krause. With guest musicians (including
Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming pa ...
and Sally Potter) they made two critically acclaimed studio albums, but did not perform live. Cutler was a member of the United States experimental rock band Pere Ubu between 1987 and 1989. He had first encountered them in Washington DC in 1978 while exploring the possibility of Henry Cow touring America (which never materialised as Henry Cow disbanded soon after). Cutler kept in touch with Pere Ubu until they split in the early 1980s and their singer, David Thomas began a solo career. Cutler and Lindsay Cooper joined Thomas in 1982 to form David Thomas and the Pedestrians, and for the next three years they toured Europe and North America and made two albums. Over the next few years, some of the ex-Pere Ubu members began joining Thomas's Pedestrians. Cooper left in 1985 and by 1987 the group (now called David Thomas and the Wooden Birds) was effectively Pere Ubu again. As Pere Ubu, the band (with Cutler) made two albums. Cutler left in 1989, but was credited as a co-writer on the band's 1991 album ''World in Collision'' for several songs written during his tenure. In 1991, Cutler and German composer Lutz Glandien recorded the critically acclaimed song project ''Domestic Stories''. Cutler wrote the song texts and played drums, while Glandien composed and performed the music with samplers and computers. The supporting musicians were Dagmar Krause (vocals), Fred Frith (bass and guitar) and Alfred Harth (saxophone and clarinet). Cutler collaborated with Glandien again in 1994 to record ''Scenes from no Marriage'' and to participate in p53, a commission for the 25th Frankfurt Jazz Festival with
Zygmunt Krauze Zygmunt Krauze (born September 19, 1938) is a Polish composer of contemporary classical music, educator, and pianist. Biography Zygmunt Krauze is an important artist of his generation: a respected composer, valued pianist, educator, organiser of ...
, Marie Goyette, Otomo Yoshihide. The (ec) Nudes were a band Cutler, Wädi Gysi (guitar) and
Amy Denio Amy Denio (born June 9, 1961) is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Her inspirations include world music, and is mainly known as a voca ...
(vocals, bass, saxophone, accordion) formed in 1993. The trio recorded ''Vanishing Point'', a CD of songs with texts by Cutler and music by Gysi and Denio, and toured all over Europe and visited Brasil. Bob Drake later joined the group on bass and as a quartet they toured all over Europe, Canada and
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, but did not record. Cutler left the group in 1994. Cutler and Yugoslav keyboardist and composer
Stevan Tickmayer Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...
formed The Science Group in 1997 to record ''A Mere Coincidence'' (1999), an album of songs on science topics, including
quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
. Cutler wrote the texts, Tickmayer composed the music, and the rest of the group comprised Bob Drake (bass guitar, vocals) and
Claudio Puntin Claudio is an Italian language, Italian and Spanish first name. In Portuguese it is accented Cláudio. In Catalan language, Catalan and Occitan language, Occitan it is Claudi, while in Romanian it is Claudiu. Origin and history Claudia (gens), ...
(bass clarinet), with guests Amy Denio (vocals) and Fred Frith (guitar). In 2003 Cutler and Tickmayer reconstituted The Science Group as a quartet with Bob Drake (bass guitar) and Mike Johnson (guitars), and released an instrumental album, ''Spoors''. In 1998, he joined John Wolf Brennan's sextet "HeXtet" to record a series of poetry settings, from
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
to contemporary Irish poets like
Theo Dorgan Theo Dorgan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer, translator, librettist and documentary screenwriter. He lives in Dublin. Life Dorgan was born in Cork in 1953 being second child born into a family of 8 boys and 8 girls to pare ...
and
Paula Meehan Paula Meehan (born 1955) is an Irish poet and playwright. Life and work Paula Meehan was born in Dublin in 1955, the eldest of six children. She subsequently moved to London with her parents where she attended St. Elizabeth's Primary School ...
, together with legendary singer
Julie Tippetts Julie Driscoll Tippetts (born 8 June 1947) is an English singer and actress. Career Driscoll is known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan and Rick Danko's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's " Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger and ...
, saxophonist Evan Parker, trombonist Paul Rutherford and clarinetist Peter Whyman.


Other collaborations

The ex-Henry Cow members have always maintained close contact with each other and Cutler still collaborates with many of them. Cutler and Fred Frith have been touring Europe, Asia and the Americas since 1978 and have given over 100 duo performances. Four albums from some of these concerts have been released. In December 2006, Cutler, Frith and Tim Hodgkinson performed together at The Stone in New York City, only their second concert performance since Henry Cow's demise in 1978. Cutler,
John Greaves John Greaves (1602 – 8 October 1652) was an English mathematician, astronomer and antiquarian. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, he was elected a Fellow of Merton College in 1624. He studied Persian and Arabic, acquired a number of old b ...
and Geoff Leigh formed The Artaud Beats with Yumi Hara. Cutler and Hara also work together in Half the Sky, a band formed in 2015 to play the music of former Henry Cow member Lindsay Cooper, principally pieces she wrote for News from Babel and Henry Cow. The band have performed in Japan, France, the UK and Germany. On 4 November 2006 Cutler,
Jon Rose Jonathan Anthony Rose (born 19 February 1951) is an Australian violinist, cellist, composer, and multimedia artist. Rose's work is centered in the experimental music known as free improvisation, where he has created large environmental multimedi ...
(violin) and Zeena Parkins (harp) performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov, at the Glasgow City Halls in Glasgow, Scotland. The concert was recorded and later broadcast by
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...
on 24 March 2007. Other musicians and bands Cutler has performed and recorded with over the years include Tim Hodgkinson, Lindsay Cooper, Peter Blegvad,
John Greaves John Greaves (1602 – 8 October 1652) was an English mathematician, astronomer and antiquarian. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, he was elected a Fellow of Merton College in 1624. He studied Persian and Arabic, acquired a number of old b ...
,
René Lussier René Lussier (born April 15, 1957) is a jazz guitarist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist, and singer. Lussier has collaborated with Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Der ...
,
Jean Derome Jean Derome (born June 29, 1955) is a French Canadian avant-garde saxophonist, flautist, and composer. A prominent figure in the Montreal ''musique actuelle'' (new music) scene, Derome has been a member of experimental, jazz, and rock groups, an ...
, Tom Cora, Aksak Maboul,
The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...
, The Work, Duck and Cover, Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar, Kalahari Surfers,
Hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
, Biota and Brainville 3. In 2009, Cutler toured North America with avant-garde Czech violinist Iva Bittová. In 2015 he collaborated with Alfred Harth founding a group Hope, a commission for the 46th Frankfurt Jazz Festival with Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Mitsuru Nasuno.


Solo performances

Since the late 1990s, Cutler began giving solo electrified percussion performances to audiences across the world. His first was in Tokyo in June 1998, which was recorded in a documentary film, ''At the Edge of Chaos'' (also known as ''12 June 1998''), by award-winning film director Shinji Aoyama. The first part of the film is equipment set-up and sound-checks, plus interviews with Cutler, while the second part is the improvised concert itself. In 2001 Cutler released ''Solo: A Descent Into the Maelstrom'', an album of solos on his electrified drum kit taken from live performances in Europe and the United States between August 2000 and May 2001. In 2005 he released ''Twice Around the World'', an album of real-time recordings made from all over the world between 23.30 and midnight GMT. The material was taken from a daily half-hour radio programme Cutler ran for Resonance FM: Out of the Blue Radio between July 2001 and July 2002. A companion album, ''There and Back Again'', comprising 44 environmental recordings, was released by Cutler in 2006.


Electrified drum kit

Chris Cutler never studied music and taught himself drumming on makeshift drum kits assembled with whatever was on hand. He slowly developed a technique using a "top-down" approach as opposed to the traditional "bottom-up" approach used by schooled drummers. Drummers are first taught basic patterns which are later combined into more complex patterns. Cutler learned the opposite way, hearing or imagining a sound and then disciplining his hands and feet to reproduce it. This "top-down" approach resulted in a unique style of drumming that pervades all of Cutler's performances and recordings. By the time Cutler was drumming for Henry Cow in 1971, he had become a perfectly competent, albeit unconventional, drummer. The nature of Henry Cow was to experiment and explore and it was here that Cutler developed and refined his drumming techniques. It was also here that he started to electrify his drum kit. He began by attaching old telephone mouthpieces to drums and cymbals, and connecting them to an
amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost t ...
and a
reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...
unit. He later added a small
mixer Mixer may refer to: Electronics * DJ mixer, a type of audio mixing console used by disc jockeys * Electronic mixer, electrical circuit for adding signal voltages * Frequency mixer, electrical circuit that creates new frequencies from two signals ...
for four independent inputs. The effect was very basic: a few low-grade inputs with only equalisation and reverberation to manipulate. By 1982, Cutler had added another small mixer, a pitch shifter and a delay unit. He had also begun using cheap guitar
transducer A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. Transducers are often employed at the boundaries of automation, measurement, and con ...
s and a table full of additional wired objects (pans, metal trays, small tambours and egg-slicers). Cutler experimented briefly with drum pads triggered to play sampled or synthesized sounds, but quickly dismissed this option because he found them unresponsive and inflexible. They reduced a drum to nothing more than a switch: hit it and a pre-programmed sound is emitted, irrespective of how hard or in what manner the drum is struck. Cutler preferred
real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
processing: amplifying and modifying actual sounds produced by the drum, making it a kind of an electroacoustic instrument, immediate and responsive, and retaining all the qualities of an acoustic drum kit. Cutler went on to wire his entire drum kit, using a 16 channel mixer with multi-effect processors, a "Space pedal", a "Whammy pedal", a PDS 8000 and an old Boss pitch shifter/delay unit. In addition to transducers, he also attached miniature microphones to some of the drums and sticks. Cutler introduced feedback into the mix by placing a monitor speaker near the kit. The electrified drum kit continues to evolve and to Cutler it is "satisfyingly unpredictable", responsive to all his old techniques while continuing to generate new ones. It has a unique "voice" that Cutler still has not plumbed the depths of. This is what prompted him to start giving solo performances because it tested his skill at playing an instrument he had to treat as an equal and evolve with.


Writings and talks


Talks

In the early 1980s, Chris Cutler became active in the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) and started giving talks and participating in symposia throughout the world. Some of the talks he has given are: *"Composing with Other People's Music – Creativity or Theft?", British Council,
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...
. *"Electrification and Experimentation, the Development of New Musical Resources in the Popular Field", Union of Composers, Moscow. *"Improvisation: Motives and Methods", IASPM,
University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...
. *"Rock in Opposition, a case study". Academy of Science, Berlin. *"Studio Composition and Visualisation" – a case study IASPM, University, Montreal *"Sonic and Structural Convergence at the fringes of Musical Genres". The Royal College of Art, London. *"On The Impact of Recording Technology on Popular music." Pomeriggi Musicali do Milano. *"Plunderphonics and Postmodernism", Dissonanten,
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
. *"Sampling and Plunderphonics", Museum School,
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. *"The Recording Studio as a Compositional Instrument", The Royal College of Art, London.


Essays

Cutler has written and published a number of essays on music, including: *"Necessity and Choice in Musical Forms: Concerning Musical and Technical Means and Political Needs" (1990) – an essay on the evolution of recorded music, published in ''The Cassette Mythos''. *"Plunderphonia" (1994) – an essay on plunderphonics, published in ''Musicworks 60''. *"Scale" (1997) – an essay on the scale of sounds in music, published in ''The Gramophone Special Edition "Perspectives on Contemporary Music"''. *"Thoughts on Music and the Avant Garde" (2005) – an essay commissioned for a book dedicated to Professor Gunther Mayer, published in ''Perfect Sound Forever''. *"Locality" (2006) – published in ''Resonance Magazine''. *"The Road to Plunderphonia" (2011) – published by Quaderns d'àudio/ Ràdio Web MACBA.


Radio broadcasts

From 2012, Cutler has been producing a series of
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
s/lectures entitled "Probes" that examine the history of music from the invention of sound recording to the present day. The series was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art,
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, and published and broadcast by Quaderns d'àudio/ Ràdio Web MACBA. Podcast transcripts:
"Probes 1"
(20 August 2012)
"Probes 1.2 Auxiliaries"
(18 October 2012)
"Probes 2"
(3 December 2012)
"Probes 2.2 Auxiliaries"
(23 January 2013)
"Probes 3"
(25 February 2013)
"Probes 3.2 Auxiliaries"
(9 May 2013)
"Probes 4"
(25 June 2013)
"Probes 4.2 Auxiliaries"
(22 July 2013)
"Probes 5"
(27 August 2013)
"Probes 5.2 Auxiliaries"
(30 September 2013)
"Probes 6"
(21 November 2013)
"Probes 6.2 Auxiliaries"
(19 December 2013)
"Probes 7"
(30 January 2014)
"Probes 7.2 Auxiliaries"
(24 April 2014)
"Probes 8"
(14 July 2014)
"Probes 8.2 Auxiliaries"
(8 August 2014)
"Probes 9"
(30 September 2014)
"Probes 9.2 Auxiliaries"
(6 November 2014)
"Probes 10"
(15 December 2014)
"Probes 10.2 Auxiliaries"
(27 January 2015)
"Probes 11"
(11 March 2015)
"Probes 12"
(30 April 2015)
"Probes 12.2 Auxiliaries"
(25 May 2015)
"Probes 13"
(9 June 2015)
"Probes 13.2 Auxiliaries"
(10 August 2015)
"Probes 14"
(15 September 2015)
"Probes 15"
(19 October 2015)
"Probes 15.2 Auxiliaries"
(3 December 2015)
"Probes 16"
(14 January 2016)
"Probes 16.2 Auxiliaries"
(1 February 2016)
"Probes 17"
(26 February 2016)
"Probes 17.2 Auxiliaries"
(8 March 2016)
"Probes 18"
(29 April 2016)
"Probes 18.2 Auxiliaries"
(5 August 2016)
"Probes 19"
(3 September 2016)
"Probes 19.2 Auxiliaries"
(23 November 2016)
"Probes 20"
(2 January 2017)
"Probes 20.2 Auxiliaries"
(18 April 2017)
"Probes 21"
(4 September 2017)
"Probes 21.2 Auxiliaries"
(21 November 2017)
"Probes 22"
(22 January 2018)
"Probes 22.2 Auxiliaries"
(20 February 2018)
"Probes 23"
(29 March 2018)
"Probes 23.2 Auxiliaries"
(9 May 2018)
"Probes 24.2 Auxiliaries"
(30 January 2019)
"Probes 25"
(23 April 2019)
"Probes 26"
(1 July 2019)
"Probes 26.2 Auxiliaries"
(11 February 2020)


Books

Cutler has also published three books: *''The Henry Cow Book'' (co-authored with Tim Hodgkinson) (1981) – a collection of documents and information about the band. *'' File Under Popular'' (1984) – a collection of theoretical and critical writings on music, also published in Polish, German and Japanese. *''Not as We Choose'' (2020) – a further collection of theoretical and critical writings on music, illustrated by Peter Blegvad.


Discography

Here is a selection of albums Chris Cutler has performed on, showing the year they were first released:


Bands and projects

;With Henry Cow * ''
Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
'' (1973, LP,
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...
, UK) * '' Unrest'' (1974, LP, Virgin, UK) * ''
Concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide vari ...
'' (1976, 2xLP, Caroline Records, UK) * ''
Western Culture Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
'' (1979, LP, Broadcast, UK) * '' The Virgin Years – Souvenir Box'' (1991, 3xCD, East Side Digital Records, US) * ''
Henry Cow Box ''Henry Cow Box'' is a seven-Compact Disc, CD limited edition box set by England, English avant-rock Musical ensemble, group Henry Cow. It was released in December 2006 by Recommended Records and comprises the six original albums Henry Cow relea ...
'' (2006, 7xCD,
Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected mus ...
, UK) * '' Stockholm & Göteborg'' (2008, CD, Recommended Records, UK) * '' The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set'' (2009, 9xCD+DVD, Recommended Records, UK) * '' The Henry Cow Box Redux: The Complete Henry Cow'' (2019, 17xCD+DVD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Henry Cow/ Slapp Happy *''
Desperate Straights ''Desperate Straights'' is a collaborative studio album by British avant-rock groups Slapp Happy and Henry Cow. It was recorded at Virgin Records' Manor Studio and Nova Sound Studios in November 1974, and released in February 1975. It was Slapp ...
'' (1975, LP, Virgin Records, UK) *''
In Praise of Learning ''In Praise of Learning'' is a studio album by British avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1975, and released in May 1975. On this album, Henry Cow had expanded to include members of Slapp ...
'' (1975, LP, Virgin Records, UK) ;With Art Bears *'' Hopes and Fears'' (1978, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *'' Winter Songs'' (1979, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *'' The World as It Is Today'' (1981, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *''
The Art Box ''The Art Box'' is a six- CD box set by English avant-rock group Art Bears. It contains all Art Bears album and single releases, plus new material, including live and unreleased Art Bears tracks, and unreleased remixes and reworkings of Art Bear ...
'' (2004, 6xCD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With
The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...
*''
Eskimo Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik (or Yuit) of eastern Siberia and Alaska. A related ...
'' (1979, LP, Ralph Records, USA) *''
Commercial Album ''Commercial Album'' is an album released by art rock group the Residents in 1980. It is commonly considered a follow-up to ''Duck Stab/Buster & Glen'', in that it retains the former album's pop-oriented song structures. The album contains 40 son ...
'' (1980, LP, Ralph Records, USA) ;With Aksak Maboul *'' Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits'' (1980, LP, Crammed Discs, Belgium) ;With Cassiber *''Man or Monkey?'' (1982, 2xLP, Riskant, Germany) *''Beauty and the Beast'' (1984, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *''Perfect Worlds'' (1986, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *''A Face We All Know'' (1990, CD, Recommended Records, UK) *''Live in Tokyo'' (1998, 2xCD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With The Work *''Live in Japan'' (1982, LP, Recommended Records, Japan) ;With
Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...
*'' Live in Prague and Washington'', (1983, LP, Recommended Records, UK) – 1990 CD release retitled ''Live in Moscow, Prague & Washington'' *'' Live in Trondheim, Berlin & Limoges, Vol. 2'' (1994, CD, Recommended Records, UK) *'' 2 Gentlemen in Verona'' (2000, CD, Recommended Records, UK) *'' The Stone: Issue Two'' (2007, CD,
Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...
, US) ;With Lindsay Cooper,
Bill Gilonis Bill Gilonis (born 1958) is an English guitarist and composer. He co-founded the gritty experimental rock group The Work in 1980 with Tim Hodgkinson. The group was active intermittently until 1993, recording four albums and touring extensively ...
, Tim Hodgkinson and
Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming pa ...
*'' The Last Nightingale'' (1984, LP, Recommended Records, UK) ;With News from Babel *'' Work Resumed on the Tower'' (1984, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *'' Letters Home'' (1986, LP, Recommended Records, UK) ;With David Thomas and the Pedestrians *''
Winter Comes Home ''Winter Comes Home'' is a 1982 live album credited to both David Thomas and his Legs and to 'David Thomas, Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler', on which Thomas was supported by Chris Cutler and Lindsay Cooper. '' Trouser Press'' reports that the alb ...
'' (1983, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *'' Variations on a Theme'' (1983, LP,
Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pu ...
, UK) *''
More Places Forever ''More Places Forever'' is the third studio album by experimental rock, experimental singer-songwriter David Thomas (musician), David Thomas, released in May 1985 by Rough Trade Records. In 1997, the album was remastered by Paul Hamann and Davi ...
'' (1985, LP, Rough Trade Records, UK) ;With Duck and Cover *'' Re Records Quarterly Vol.1 No.2'' (1985, LP, Recommended Records UK) ; Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar *''Tournée Mondiale/Été '89'' (1987, LP,
Ambiances Magnétiques Ambiances Magnétiques is a Canadian record company and label started by Jean Derome, René Lussier, and others, and the artists' collective that preceded it. History In 1982, "guitarist René Lussier and saxophonist/flutist Jean Derome present ...
, Canada) *''Fin de Siècle'' (1989, LP, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada) ;With Peter Blegvad *''Downtime'' (1988, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *''Just Woke Up'' (1995, LP, Recommended Records, UK) *''Hangman's Hill'' (1998, LP, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Pere Ubu *'' The Tenement Year'' (1988, LP,
Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a sub ...
) *''
Cloudland The Cloudland Dance Hall, originally called Luna Park, was a famous entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was demolished in 1982 and the site was subsequently developed into an apartment complex. On it ...
'' (1989, LP, Fontana Records) * ''
Worlds in Collision ''Worlds in Collision'' is a book by Immanuel Velikovsky published in 1950. The book postulates that around the 15th century BC, the planet Venus was ejected from Jupiter as a comet or comet-like object and passed near Earth (an actual colli ...
(1991, Fontanta; does not perform but credited as co-writer on three songs) ;With
Hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
*''Kirk'' (1992, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Lutz Glandien *''Domestic Stories'' (1993, CD, Recommended Records, UK) *''Scenes From No Marriage'' (1994, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With The (ec) Nudes *''Vanishing Point'' (1994, LP, Recommended Records, UK) ;With p53 *'' p53'' (1996, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Biota *''Object Holder'' (1995, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With
Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard har ...
*''Shark!'' (1996, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With
René Lussier René Lussier (born April 15, 1957) is a jazz guitarist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist, and singer. Lussier has collaborated with Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Der ...
and
Jean Derome Jean Derome (born June 29, 1955) is a French Canadian avant-garde saxophonist, flautist, and composer. A prominent figure in the Montreal ''musique actuelle'' (new music) scene, Derome has been a member of experimental, jazz, and rock groups, an ...
*'' Three Suite Piece'' (1996, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With John Wolf Brennan *HeXtet: ''Through the Ear of a Raindrop'' (1998, CD, Leo Records, UK) ;With Thomas Dimuzio *''Quake'' (1999, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With The Science Group *''A Mere Coincidence'' (1999, CD, Recommended Records, UK) *''Spoors'' (2003, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With
Roberto Musci The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, ho ...
,
Jon Rose Jonathan Anthony Rose (born 19 February 1951) is an Australian violinist, cellist, composer, and multimedia artist. Rose's work is centered in the experimental music known as free improvisation, where he has created large environmental multimedi ...
and
Claudio Gabbiani Claudio is an Italian language, Italian and Spanish first name. In Portuguese it is accented Cláudio. In Catalan language, Catalan and Occitan language, Occitan it is Claudi, while in Romanian it is Claudiu. Origin and history Claudia (gens), ...
*''Steel Water Light'' (2001, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Vril *''Effigies in Cork'' (2003, CD, Recommended Records, UK) *''The Fatal Duckpond'' (2009, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With
The Orckestra The Orckestra were a 12-piece English avant-garde jazz and avant-rock ensemble formed in March 1977 with the merger of avant-rock group Henry Cow, the Mike Westbrook Brass Band and folk singer Frankie Armstrong. They gave two performances in ...
*"Unreleased Orckestra Extract" (3" CD single, 2006, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Brainville 3 *''Trial by Headline'' (2008, CD, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Thomas Dimuzio and Fred Frith *''Golden State'' (2010, LP, Recommended Records, UK) ;With Fred Frith and Tom Cora *''Live in Tel Aviv and Aubervilliers'' (2021, CD, Fred Records, UK)


Solo

*''Solo: A Descent Into the Maelstrom'' (2001, CD, Recommended Records) *''Twice Around the World'' (2005, CD, Recommended Records) *''There and Back Again'' (2006, CD, Recommended Records)


Bibliography

* * *Cutler, Chris, ed. (2009). ''The Road: Volumes 1–5'' (book from '' The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set'').
Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected mus ...
. *Cutler, Chris, ed. (2009). ''The Road: Volumes 6–10'' (book from ''The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set''). Recommended Records. *Cutler, Chris (2011). ''The Road to Plunderphonia''. Quaderns d'àudio/Ràdio Web MACBA. . *Cutler, Chris (2020). ''Not as We Choose: Music, Memory and Technology''.


Films

*''At the Edge of Chaos'' (2001, DVD) – 65 minute documentary (also known as ''12 June 1998'') by Shinji Aoyama on a Chris Cutler solo percussion concert in Tokyo, June 1998. *''Roulette TV Volume 8'' (2003, DVD, Roulette) – live TV recording back-to-back with Shelley Hirsch, March 2001.


See also

* Romantic Warriors II: A Progressive Music Saga About Rock in Opposition * Romantic Warriors II: Special Features DVD


Footnotes


References


Works cited

* *


Further reading


Chris Cutler biography
''Calyx: The Canterbury Website''. *
"Resist Me, Make Me Strong – On Chris Cutler"
Article by Patrick Wright published in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', November 1995 *
Radio series PROBES for Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA)
(archived at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)


External links


Chris Cutler homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Chris 1947 births Living people British male drummers English rock drummers English songwriters English experimental musicians Free improvisation Canterbury scene English music theorists British music industry executives Henry Cow members Pere Ubu members Gong (band) members Art Bears members News from Babel members The Orckestra members