Fred Frith discography

Fred Frith appears on over 400 recordings. This is a selection from bands he was/is a member of, collaborations with other bands and musicians, and his solo recordings. The year indicates when the album was first released. For a comprehensive discography, see the Discography of Fred Frith by Michel Ramond, Patrice Roussel and Stephane Vuilleumier.^[1]

Fred Frith at a piano recording session at New, Improved Recording in Oakland, California, September 2006.

Studio albums

• Guitar Solos (1974, LP, Caroline, UK)
• Gravity (1980, LP, Ralph, US)
• Speechless (1981, LP, Ralph, US)
• Cheap at Half the Price (1983, LP, Ralph, US)
• Quartets (1994, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)
• Clearing (2001, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Prints: Snapshots, Postcards, Messages and Miniatures, 1987–2001 (2002, CD, Fred, UK)
• Eleventh Hour (2005, 2xCD, Winter & Winter, Germany)
• To Sail, to Sail (2008, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Clearing Customs (2011, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
• Guitar Solos / Fifty (2024, 2xLP, Week-End Records, Germany)

Music for Dance

• The Technology of Tears (And Other Music for Dance and Theatre) (1988, 2xLP, RecRec, Switzerland)
• Allies (Music for Dance Volume 2) (1996, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)
• The Previous Evening (Music for Dance Volume 4) (1997, CD, Recommended, UK)^[a]
• Accidental (Music for Dance Volume 3) (2002, CD, Fred, UK)
• The Happy End Problem (Music for Dance Volume 5) (2006, CD, Fred, UK)
• Nowhere, Sideshow, Thin Air (Music for Dance Volume 6) (2009, CD, Fred, UK)
• Field Days (The Amanda Loops) (2015, CD, Fred, UK)
• Propaganda (2015, CD, Fred, UK)

Music for Film

• The Top of His Head (1989, LP, Crammed, Belgium) – original soundtrack to the film The Top of His Head by Peter Mettler
• Step Across the Border (1990, 2xLP, RecRec, Switzerland) – original soundtrack to the film Step Across the Border by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel
• Middle of the Moment (1995, CD, RecRec, Switzerland) – original soundtrack to the film Middle of the Moment by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel
• Eye to Ear (1997, CD, Tzadik, US) – collection of film and theatre music
• Rivers and Tides (2003, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany) – original soundtrack to the film Rivers and Tides by Thomas Riedelsheimer
• Eye to Ear II (2004, CD, Tzadik, US) – music from Gambling, Gods and LSD by Peter Mettler, Returning Home by Andy Abrahams Wilson, Hirschen Mit Goldenen Hufen by Petra Mäussnest, and Sideshow by Kristin Varner
• Eye to Ear III (2010, CD, Tzadik, US) – music from Drei Gegen Troja by Hussi Kutulcan, and Thirst by Deborah Kauffman and Alan Snitow

Composer only

• Pacifica (1998, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Freedom in Fragments (2002, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Back to Life (2008, CD, Tzadik, US)

Live albums

• Live in Japan (1982, 2xLP, Recommended, Japan)
• Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire (Graphic Scores 1986–1996) (1999, CD, I Dischi di Angelica, Italy)
• Impur II (2009, CD, Fred, UK)
• Storytelling (2017, CD, Intuition, Germany)
• All Is Always Now – Live at The Stone (2019, 3xCD, Intakt, Switzerland)
• Woodwork (2019, CD, Klanggalerie, Austria)

Composer only

• Impur (2006, CD, Fred, UK)

Singles

• "Dancing in the Street" / "What a Dilemma" (1980, 7", Ralph, US) – from Gravity

Box sets

• Fred and Ralph (1991, 3xCD, RecRec, Switzerland) – Fred Frith releases by Ralph Records
  • Gravity (1980, CD, Ralph)
  • Speechless (1981, CD, Ralph)
  • Cheap at Half the Price (1983, CD, Ralph)
• The Fred Records Story 2001–2020 Volume 1: Rocking the Boat (2021, 9xCD, Fred, UK)
  • Guitar Solos (2002, CD, Fred)
  • Gravity (2002, CD, Fred)
  • Cheap at Half the Price (2004, CD, Fred)
  • Killing Time (2005, CD, Fred)
  • Impur (2006, CD, Fred)
  • Middle of the Moment (2004, CD, Fred)
  • That House We Lived In (2003, 2xCD, Fred)
  • Dropera (1991, CD, RecRec) – bonus CD
• The Fred Records Story 2001–2020 Volume 2: Crossing Borders (2021, 9xCD, Fred, UK)
  • Live in Japan (2010, CD, Fred)
  • Speechless (2003, CD, Fred)
  • Prints (2002, CD, Fred)
  • Step Across the Border (2003, CD, Fred)
  • Impur II (2009, CD, Fred)
  • The Art of Memory II (2008, CD, Fred)
  • Learn to Talk / Country of Blinds (2005, 2xCD, Fred)
  • Helter Skelter (1992, CD, RecRec) – bonus CD (remastered)
• The Fred Records Story 2001–2020 Volume 3: Stepping Out (2021, 10xCD, Fred, UK)
  • The Technology of Tears (2008, CD, Fred)
  • Propaganda (2015, CD, Fred)
  • Allies (2004, CD, Fred)
  • Accidental (2002, CD, Fred)
  • The Previous Evening (1997, CD, Recommended)
  • The Happy End Problem (2006, CD, Fred)
  • Nowhere, Sideshow, Thin Air (2009, CD, Fred)
  • Field Days (The Amanda Loops) (2015, CD, Fred)
  • Inimitable – Debates for Ganden [with Amanda Miller] (2020, CD, Fred) – bonus CD (previously unreleased)
  • Live in Tel Aviv and Aubervilliers [with Tom Cora and Chris Cutler] (2020, CD, Fred) – bonus CD (previously unreleased)

Collaborations

With Bruce Ackley, Henry Kaiser and Aram Shelton

• Unexpected Twins (2019, CD, Relative Pitch Records, US)

With Noël Akchoté

• Réel (1996, 10" LP, Rectangle, France)

With Núria Andorrà

• Dancing Like Dust (2023, CD, Klanggalerie, Austria)

With Lotte Anker

• Edge of the Light (2014, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With ARTE Quartett

• Still Urban (2009, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
• The Big Picture (2009, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With Derek Bailey and Antoine Berthiaume

• Soshin (2003, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)

With Derek Bailey, Sonny Sharrock, John Zorn, Bill Laswell and Charles K. Noyes

• Improvised Music 1981 (1992, CD, MuWorks, US)

With Anne Bourne and John Oswald

• Dearness (2002, CD, Spool, Canada)

With Anthony Braxton

• Duo (Victoriaville) 2005 (2006, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)

With Chris Brown

• Cutter Heads (2007, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With John Butcher

• The Natural Order (2014, CD, Northern Spy, US)

With John Butcher and Theresa Wong

• Quintillions Green (2016, FLAC, Otoroku, UK)

With Lindsay Cooper, Lars Hollmer and Gianni Gebbia

• Angels on the Edge of Time (2015, CD, I Dischi di Angelica, Italy)

With Lol Coxhill

• French Gigs (1983, LP, AAA, France)

With Chris Cutler

• Live in Prague and Washington (1983, LP, Recommended, UK) – 1990 CD release retitled Live in Moscow, Prague & Washington
• Live in Trondheim, Berlin & Limoges, Vol. 2 (1994, CD, Recommended, UK)
• 2 Gentlemen in Verona (2000, CD, Recommended, UK)
• The Stone: Issue Two (2007, CD, Tzadik, US)

With Chris Cutler and Tom Cora

• Live in Tel Aviv and Aubervilliers (2021, CD, Fred, UK)^[b]

With Chris Cutler and Thomas Dimuzio

• Golden State (2010, LP, Recommended, UK)^[c]

With Lesli Dalaba, Eric Glick Rieman and Carla Kihlstedt

• Dalaba Frith Glick Rieman Kihlstedt (2003, CD, Accretions, US)

With Totsuzen Danball

• Live at Loft Shinjuku Tokyo Japan 23.July'81 (1982, CT, Floor, Japan)

With Jean Derome, Pierre Tanguay and Myles Boisen

• All is Bright, But it is Not Day (2002, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)

With Michel Doneda

• Fred Frith Michel Doneda (2014, CD, Vand'OEuvre, France)

With Mark Dresser and Ikue Mori

• Later... (2000, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)

With Jean-Pierre Drouet

• En Public aux Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers (1997, CD, Transes Europeennes, France)

With Jean-Pierre Drouet and Louis Sclavis

• I Dream of You Jumping (2001, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)
• Contretemps etc... (2011, CD, In Situ, France)

With Ensemble Modern

• Traffic Continues (2000, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany)

With Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles

• Something About This Landscape for Ensemble (2023, LP, Sub Rosa, Belgium)

With Anil Eraslan, Tom Malmendier and Clara Weil

• There or Here and That (2020, CD, Eux Sæm, France)

With Janet Feder

• Ironic Universe (2006, CD+DVD, Recommended, US)

With Hardy Fox

• A Day Hanging Dead Between Heaven and Earth (2018, CD, Klanggalerie, Austria)

With Evelyn Glennie

• The Sugar Factory (2007, CD, Tzadik, US)

With Barry Guy

• Backscatter Bright Blue (2014, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With Tim Hodgkinson

• Live Improvisations (1992, CD, Woof, UK)

Cut Up the Border by Fred Frith, Nicolas Humbert and Marc Parisotto

With Percy Howard, Charles Hayward and Bill Laswell

• Meridiem (1998, CD, Materiali Sonori, Italy)

With Nicolas Humbert and Marc Parisotto

• Cut Up the Border (2020, CD, RogueArt, France)

With Darren Johnston

• Everybody's Somebody's Nobody (2016, CD, Clean Feed, Portugal)

With Darren Johnston Devin Hoff, Larry Ochs and Ches Smith

• Reasons for Moving (2007, CD, Not Two, US)

With Henry Kaiser

• With Friends Like These (1979, LP, Metalanguage, US)
• Who Needs Enemies? (1983, LP, Metalanguage, US)
• With Enemies Like These, Who Needs Friends? (1987, CD, SST, US)
• Friends & Enemies (1999, 2xCD, Cuneiform, US)

With Carla Kihlstedt and Stevie Wishart

• The Compass, Log and Lead (2006, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With Hans Koch

• You are Here (2017, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With Joëlle Léandre and Jonathan Segel

• Tempted to Smile (2003, CD, Spool, Canada)

With Annie Lewandowski

• Long as in Short, Walk as in Run (2011, CD, Ninth World)

With René Lussier

• Nous Autres (1987, LP, Les Disques Victo, Canada)

With Amanda Miller

• Inimitable – Debates for Ganden (2021, CD, Fred, UK)^[b]

With Helen Mirra

• Kwangsi Quail (2015, LP, Shhpuma, Portugal)

With Macio Moretti

• Works for Me Should Be the Title (2023, LP, Don't Sit On My Vinyl! / Muzyka z Mózgu, Poland)

With Ikue Mori

• A Mountain Doesn't Know It's Tall (2021, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With Mózg Injectors

• Sylvan Trail (2019, 12" LP and CD, Mózg, Poland)

With Bob Ostertag and Phil Minton

• Voice of America (1982, LP, Rift, US)

With Bob Ostertag and John Zorn

• Attention Span (1990, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)

With Evan Parker

• Hello, I Must Be Going (2015, CD, Les Disques Victo, Canada)

With Francois-Michel Pesenti

• Helter Skelter (1992, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)

With Marc Ribot

• Subsonic 1. Sounds of a Distant Episode (1994, CD, Sub Rosa/Subsonic, Belgium)

With Ferdinand Richard (as Fred & Ferd)

• Dropera (1991, LP, RecRec, Switzerland)

With Danielle Roger

• Pas de Deux (2008, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)

Laying Demons to Rest by Fred Frith and Susana Santos Silva

With Rusconi

• Live In Europe (2016, CD, Qilin, Germany)

With Susana Santos Silva

• Laying Demons to Rest (2023, CD, RogueArt, France)

With Katrin Scholl, Daniel Erismann, Lucas N. Niggli, Hans Koch and Peter Kowald

• Nil (1995, CD, Unit Records, Switzerland)

With Sonargemeinschaft (Sonar Community)

• Drift (2008, CD, Poise, Germany)

With Studio Dan

• Rocket Science #1 #5 #8 (2021, CD, ROS, Germany)

With Sudhu Tewari and Cenk Ergün

• Lock Me Up, Lock Me Down (2020, Digital, Carrier Records, US)

With Sudhu Tewari (as Normal)

• Moving Parts (2023, CD, Fo'c'sle Records, US)

With Toychestra

• What Leave Behind (2004, CD, S.K., France)

With Benjamin Vergara

• Fanfarrisimo (2019, LP, Tour De Bras, Canada)

With Katharina Weber and Fredy Studer

• It Rolls (2015, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

With Michel Wintsch, Franziska Baumann and Bernard Trontin

• Whisperings (2002, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)

With John Zorn

• The Art of Memory (1994, CD, Incus, UK)
• 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 5 (2004, CD, Tzadik, US)
• The Art of Memory II (2008, CD, Fred, UK)
• Late Works (2010, CD, Tzadik, US)

With John Zorn, Onnyk and Toyozumi Yoshisaburo

• Ars Longa Dens Brevis (2000, CD, Allelopathy, Japan)

Bands

Henry Cow

• Legend (1973, LP, Virgin, UK)
• Unrest (1974, LP, Virgin, UK)
• Concerts (1976, 2xLP, Caroline, UK)
• Western Culture (1979, LP, Broadcast, UK)
• The Virgin Years – Souvenir Box (1991, 3xCD, East Side Digital, US)
• Henry Cow Box (2006, 7xCD, Recommended, UK)
• Stockholm & Göteborg (2008, CD, Recommended, UK)
• The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009, 9xCD+DVD, Recommended, UK)
• The Henry Cow Box Redux: The Complete Henry Cow (2019, 17xCD+DVD, Recommended, UK)

Henry Cow / Slapp Happy

• Desperate Straights (1975, LP, Virgin, UK)
• In Praise of Learning (1975, LP, Virgin, UK)

Art Bears

• Hopes and Fears (1978, LP, Recommended, UK)
• Winter Songs (1979, LP, Recommended, UK)
• The World as It Is Today (1981, LP, Recommended, UK)
• The Art Box (2004, 6xCD, Recommended, UK)

Aksak Maboul

• Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits (1980, LP, Crammed, Belgium)

Material

• Memory Serves (1981, LP, Celluloid, France)
• One Down (1982, LP, Celluloid, France)
• Live from Soundscape (1994, CD, DIW, Japan)

Massacre

• Killing Time (1981, LP, Celluloid, France)
• Funny Valentine (1998, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Meltdown (2001, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Lonely Heart (2007, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Love Me Tender (2013, CD, Tzadik, US)

Skeleton Crew

• Learn to Talk (1984, LP, Rift, US / Recommended, Europe)
• The Country of Blinds (1986, LP, Rift, US / Recommended, Europe)
• Learn to Talk / Country of Blinds (1990, CD, RecRec, Switzerland)
• Etymology (1997, CD-ROM, Rarefaction, US)
• Free Dirt (Live) (2021, 2xCD, Klanggalerie, Austria)

Duck and Cover

• Rē Records Quarterly, Vol. 1 No. 2 (1985, LP, Recommended, UK)

French Frith Kaiser Thompson

• Live, Love, Larf & Loaf (1987, LP, Rhino, US)
• Invisible Means (1990, LP, Demon, UK, Windham Hill, US)

Naked City

• Naked City (1990, LP, Elektra/Nonesuch, US)
• Torture Garden (1990, LP, Elektra/Nonesuch, US)
• Heretic, Jeux des Dames Cruelles (1992, CD, Avant, Japan)
• Grand Guignol (1992, CD, Avant, Japan)
• Leng Tch'e (1992, CD, Toy's Factory, Japan)
• Radio (1993, CD, Avant, Japan)
• Absinthe (1993, CD, Avant, Japan)
• Naked City Live, Vol. 1: The Knitting Factory 1989 (2002, CD, Tzadik, US)

Death Ambient

• Death Ambient (1995, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Synaesthesia (1999, CD, Tzadik, US)
• Drunken Forest (2007, CD, Tzadik, US)

Fred Frith Guitar Quartet

• Ayaya Moses (1997, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
• Upbeat (1999, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)

Maybe Monday

• Saturn's Finger (1999, CD, Buzz, Netherlands)
• Digital Wildlife (2002, CD, Winter & Winter, Germany)
• Unsquare (2008, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

Keep the Dog

• That House We Lived In (2003, 2xCD, Fred, UK)

The Orckestra

• "Unreleased Orckestra Extract" (3" CD single, 2006, Recommended, UK)

Oakland/Lisboa by MMM Quartet

Cosa Brava

• Ragged Atlas (2010, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
• The Letter (2012, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)

MMM Quartet^[d]

• Live at the Metz' Arsenal (2012, CD, Leo, UK)
• Oakland/Lisboa (2015, CD, RogueArt, France)

Fred Frith Trio

• Another Day in Fucking Paradise (2016, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
• Closer to the Ground (2018, CD, Intakt, Switzerland)
• Road (2021, 2xCD, Intakt Records, Switzerland)

Lantskap Logic

• Lantskap Logic (2018, CD, Clean Feed, Portugal)
• Hidden Danger Lets Me In (2023, CD, Clean Feed, Portugal)

Footnotes

1. The Previous Evening was designated "Music for Dance Volume 4" after Accidental was released.
2. A limited edition bonus CD included in the Fred Records Story box set.
3. Golden State is an LP-only release; "a CD just wouldn't be the same, sonically, visually or ontologically." – Chris Cutler.^[2]
4. MMM stands for "MillsMusicMafia", with reference to Mills College where Leandre, Frith and Curran teach music.^[3]

References

1. Ramond, Michel; Roussel, Patrice; Vuilleumier, Stephane. "Discography of Fred Frith". New York Downtown Scene and other miscellaneous discographies. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
2. Cutler, Chris. "CUTLER, CHRIS, THOMAS DIMUZIO, FRED FRITH: Golden State (LP)". ReR Megacorp. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
3. "Joelle Leandre/Fred Frith/Alvin Curran/Urs Leimgruber: MMM". Leo Records. Retrieved 17 April 2012.

External links

• Fred Frith at Discogs