''What Leave Behind'' is a 2004

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

-based

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

group Toychestra and English experimental guitarist

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 a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

. It was recorded in May 2003 and January 2004, and was released in 2004 on the French label, S.K. Records. It is a

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

for electric guitar and toy orchestra composed by Dan Plonsey for Toychestra and Frith to perform.

Background

Composer and saxophonist Dan Plonsey from the San Francisco Bay Area Improv Scene first got to know Toychestra in 1998 when he booked them at his Beanbender's music venue in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. He was intrigued by their performance, and decided to team them up with fellow Bay Area Improv Scene member and experimental guitarist,

. Plonsey wrote a

for electric guitar and toy orchestra for Toychestra and Frith to perform. The concerto turned out to be a challenge for Plonsey because most of the members of Toychestra could not read

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

. He said that he "started out writing some simple, repeating bits to play. I wanted to see what would happen, because they'd never worked with written music before. It was all totally aural." Plonsey was impressed with the result.

Reception

Casey Rae-Hunter of ''Dusted Magazine'' said that the collaboration of Toychestra and

on ''What Leave Behind'' is "hilarious, stunning, intense, and highly listenable", and described the music as "polyphonic bedtime music for the half-forgotten child within". Joshua Glazer of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

had reservations about this Frith / Toychestra liaison, but was surprised at the result, saying that it was "far more palatable than one would initially expect." Glazer described the concerto as "an experimental piece that never gazes too intently at its own weirdness or technique."

Track listing

Personnel

– electric guitar * Toychestra **Michelle Adams – sterling beat, finger chimes, concertmate 500, melodica, recorder, vocals **Angela Coon – melodica, toy bugle, genie diary "girlz rock", vocals **Petra Podlahová – accordion people, concertmate 500, slat drum, sterling beat **Shari Robertson – zither, violin, melodica, vocals **Lexa Walsh – accordion people, xylo-piano, silly sentences, vocals **Corey Weinstein – melodica, pink zoo train, tube xylophone, train whistle, vocals

Production and artwork

*Recorded at Guerrilla Recording in May 2003 and January 2004 *Mixed by Dan Plonsey,

, Myles Boisen, Lexa Walsh *Produced by Dan Plonsey, Toychestra, Fred Frith and Myles Boisen *Mastered by Myles Boisen *Photography by Gary Nakamoto *Graphic design by Lexa Walsh

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:What Leave Behind 2004 debut albums 2004 collaborative albums Experimental music albums Fred Frith albums Albums produced by Fred Frith Guitar concertos