The Squid's Ear Magazine


Frith, Fred / Shelley Burgon: The Life and Behavior (Relative Pitch)

A compelling collaboration between guitarist Fred Frith and innovative harpist Shelley Burgon — known for her work with Anthony Braxton, Trevor Dunn, and Okkyung Lee — in a series of concise and precise improvisations recorded in Oakland, CA, in 2002 and 2005, as Burgon blends seamlessly with Frith's acoustic guitar to create seemingly telepathic synchronicity and an expansive sonic palette.
 

Price: $13.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units


EU & UK Customers:
Discogs.com can handle your VAT payments
So please order through Discogs

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Fred Frith-acoustic guitar

Shelley Burgon-harp


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 5904224873356

Label: Relative Pitch
Catalog ID: RPR1202
Squidco Product Code: 35795

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Guerrilla Recording, in Oakland, California, on May 5th, 2002, and March 28th, 2005.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Compiled from two archival sessions in 2002 and 2005, Fred and Shelley achieve telepathic synchronicity in these concise and precise pieces."-Relative Pitch



The Life and Behavior brings together two avant improvisors and contemporary players: guitarist Fred Frith and harpist Shelley Burgon. Recorded during sessions in 2002 and 2005 at Oakland's Guerrilla Recording studio, this album captures the duo's exploration of sonic textures and improvisational dialogues. Frith, renowned for his innovative guitar techniques and contributions to experimental music, finds a complementary partner in Burgon, whose harp performances blend classical training with contemporary experimentation. Burgon's collaborations span a diverse range of artists, including Anthony Braxton, Trevor Dunn, and Okkyung Lee, highlighting her versatility and commitment to pushing musical boundaries. The Life and Behavior offers listeners a journey through intricate soundscapes, where the confluence of strings and the artists' inventiveness create a compelling and immersive experience.


Artist Biographies

"Though the point of reference for many remains the iconic band Henry Cow, which he co-founded in 1968 and which broke up more than 30 years ago, Fred Frith has never really stood still for an instant.

In bands such as Art Bears, Massacre, Skeleton Crew, Keep the Dog, Tense Serenity, the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, Eye to Ear, and most recently Cosa Brava, he has always held true to his roots in rock and folk music, while exploring influences that range from the literary works of Eduardo Galeano to the art installations of Cornelia Parker.

The release of the seminal Guitar Solos in 1974 enabled him to simultaneously carve out a place for himself in the international improvised music scene, not only as an acclaimed solo performer but in the company of artists as diverse as Han Bennink, Chris Cutler, Jean-Pierre Drouet, Evelyn Glennie, Ikue Mori, Louis Sclavis, Stevie Wishart, Wu Fei, Camel Zekri, John Zorn, and scores of others.

He has also developed a personal compositional language in works written for Arditti Quartet, Asko Ensemble, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ensemble Modern, Concerto Köln, and ROVA Sax Quartet, for example. Fred has been active as a composer for dance since the early 1980s, working with choreographers Bebe Miller, François Verret, and especially long-time collaborator and friend Amanda Miller, with whom he has created a compelling body of work over the last twenty years.

His film soundtracks (for award-winning films like Thomas Riedelsheimer's Rivers and Tides and Touch the Sound, Peter Mettler's Gambling, Gods, and LSD, and Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow's Thirst, to name a few) won him a lifetime achievement award from Prague's "Music on Film, Film on Music" Festival (MOFFOM) in 2007. The following year he received Italy's Demetrio Stratos Prize (previously given to Diamanda Galas and Meredith Monk) for his life's work in experimental music, and in 2010 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Huddersfield in his home county of Yorkshire.

Fred currently teaches in the Music Department at Mills College in Oakland, California (renowned for over fifty years as the epicenter of the American experimental tradition), and in the Musik Akademie in Basel, Switzerland."

-Fred Frith Website (http://www.fredfrith.com/biography.html)
2/19/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Shelley Burgon is a harpist, composer and sound installation artist who creates ambient and abstract music using graphic notation, indeterminacy, electronics and sound sculptures.

Shelley's chamber music has been recorded by the Ne(x)tworks ensemble featuring the vocalist Joan LaBarbara. [...] Shelley's music has been commissioned for film and choreographers, most notably by The Merce Cunningham Dance Company for their Hudson Valley Project at the Dia Beacon.

As an ensemble member Shelley is sought after for her vast experience as an interpreter of new-music and the classical avant-garde performing the works of Pauline Oliveros, John Cage, Butch Morris, Anthony Braxton, Morton Subotnick, Cornelius Cardew among others. She has performed at institutions such as the Whitney Museum, MoMA, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Dia Beacon and Lincoln Center and has recorded harp for various artists ranging from Bjork to Anthony Braxton.

Shelley received her MFA in Electronic Music from Mills College where she studied with pioneering electronics musicians and composers such as Pauline Oliveros, Maggi Payne, Fred Frith, Alvin Curran and Maryanne Amacher."

-Long Beach Opera (https://www.longbeachopera.org/shelley-burgon)
2/19/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Memory Lane 3:45

2. Every Word I Say 3:58

3. Who The Fuck You Are 2:28

4. Skipped A Beat 4:20

5. The Life And Behavior 6:00

6. Personal Effects 2:24

7. Your Sweet Time 3:02

8. Resolution 2:48

9. Maps Of The Insect Kingdom 6:21

10. Adventures In Red 3:22

11. Shaking Trees 5:57

12. Right Behind You 0:40

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
West Coast/Pacific US Jazz
Frith, Fred
Duo Recordings
Stringed Instruments
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

Search for other titles on the label:
Relative Pitch.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Cosa Brava (Frith / Parkins / Kihlstedt / Bossi / Ismaily)
Z Sides
(Klanggalerie)
Guitarist & vocalist Fred Frith leads the highly creative quintet of Zeena Parkins on keys & voice, Carla Kihlstedt on violin & voice, Mathias Bossi on drums and Shahzad Ismaily on bass, merging free improv, rock and experimental forms; drawn from live performances recorded by The Normal Conquest, this set of compositions captures the group's dynamic interplay and remarkable inventiveness.
Surplus 1980
Illusion of Consistency [CD]
(Surplus Industries)
Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.
Surplus 1980
Illusion of Consistency [VINYL + CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Surplus Industries)
Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.
Frith, Fred
Guitar Solos/Fifty [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Week-End Records)
While still a member of Henry Cow, guitarist Fred Frith released his first solo album simply titled Guitar Solos in 1974, a remarkable album of expression through preparations, treatments and effects; 50 years later Frith expands on that album with new compositions using a similar setup as the original, paired in this 2-LP release with the remastered original album.
Frith, Fred / Sudhu Tewari / Cenk Ergn
Lock Me Up, Lock Me Down
(Carrier Records)
Recorded thirteen years before this release and rediscovered during pandemic lockdowns, the improvising and extremely open-minded trio of Fred Frith on electric guitar, Sudhu Tewari on percussion (or as credited, "recuperated junk") and Cenk Ergun on electronics recorded these seven superb improvisations in the studio at Expression College for Digital Arts, in Emeryville, CA.
Cutler, Chris
Compositions And Collaborations 1972-2022: In A Box [10 CD / DVD / BOOKLET BOX SET]
(Recommended Records)
An amazing collection and reflection on the work of percussionist, composer and connector Chris Cutler of Henry Cow fame and founder of the highly influential Recommended Records label and distribution service, through 10 CDs, 1 DVD and two books of documentation, artwork, photographs, published and unpublished texts in a sturdy box, with over five hours of unreleased materials.
Frith, Fred And Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles
Something About This Landscape For Ensemble
(Sub Rosa)
Commissioned by and recorded during the 2018 Ars Musical Festival, Fred Frith composed this work while under the inspiration of his residency at Lou Harrison's straw-bale house in the desert at Joshua Tree, CA, then performed with the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, along with two very unique improvisations, one recorded during the dress rehearsal and then again in concert.
Frith, Fred / Nuria Andorra
Dancing Like Dust
(Klanggalerie )
Interdisciplinary Spanish percussionist Núria Andorrà whose background includes contemporary music and improvisation with performers including Agustín Fernández, Joëlle Léandre, Mats Gustafsson, Nate Wooley, and Joe Morris joins Fred Frith in Santa Maria de Palautordera for studio and concert recordings of eleven far-ranging dialogs of unusual and imaginative technique and concept.
Frith, Fred / Susana Santos Silva
Laying Demons To Rest
(RogueArt)
An evocative album of sublime improvisation between guitarist Fred Frith and trumpeter Susana Santo Silva, recorded live for France Musique/Radio France at Motoco, Mulhouse as part of Festival Météo in 2021, the two inspiring remarkable force and assertive direction in a darkly spirited conversation of deep introspection and cathartic exorcism; magnificent!
Frith, Fred / Annie Lewandowski
Long As In Short, Walk As In Run
(Klanggalerie)
Extended and captivating improvisations using complex and extended techniques from the duo of prepared pianist Annie Lewandowski (London Improvisers Orchestra, Powerdove, Xiu Xiu) and guitarist Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Skeleton Crew, &c &c) in a thoroughly modern improvised conversation, here reissued with 11 minutes of previously unreleased material.
Vergara, Benjamin / Fred Frith
Fanfarrisimo [VINYL]
(Tour de Bras)
Recording in Chile at the University Austral in 2018, trumpeter Benjamin Vergara and guitarist Fred Frith take us on two extended journeys through free electroacoustic improvisation, Frith's providing diverse and intense sonic environments over which Vergara's virtuosic and intuitive approach to the trumpet soars; impressive, creative, cathartic.
Ackley, Bruce / Fred Frith / Henry Kaiser / Aram Shelton
Unexpected Twins
(Relative Pitch)
Born out of Eugene Chadbourne's Twins band concepts from the 70s, which included over time saxophonist Bruce Ackley, and guitarists Henry Kaiser, and Fred Frith; fast forward to 2018 as Ackley & Frith return to the concept with Henry Kaiser and saxophonist Aram Shelton to revisit the original approach through pieces by those artists plus Steve Lacy, Eugene Chadbourne, and John Zorn.
Frith, Fred
All Is Always Now (Live at the Stone) [3 CDs]
(Intakt)
Guitarist Fred Frith performed 80 concerts at NY's The Stone between 2006-2016, in diverse configurations of duos, trios, quartets and large ensembles with some of the planet's finest improvisers, of which 23 recordings, titled from NY Times headlines of each concert's day, are presented in this essential 3-CD package, which includes a 24 page booklet detailing the collection.
Drone Trio (Davis / Frith / Greenlief)
Lantskap Logic
(Clean Feed)
Recording in the Bay Area at the Mills College Chapel in Oakland, the Drone Trio of Fred Frith on electric guitar, Phillip Greenlief using extended techniques on alto & tenor saxophones, and Evelyn Davis on the Chapel's pipe organ, use the natural resonance of the chapel and their masterful skills as improvisers to evolve fervid and powerfully sonorous environments.
Leandre, Joelle
A Woman's Work [8 CD BOX SET]
(Not Two)
A thorough overview of bassist and vocalist Joelle Leandre's recent work in a boxed set of 8 CDs and a 16 page booklet of essays, photos and credits, each CD bringing a unique grouping from Les Diaboliques to duos with Mat Maneri, Fred Frith, Lauren Newton, & Jean-Luc Cappozzo, plus one solo disc and a quartet with Zlatko Kaucic, Evan Parker and Augusti Fernandez; magnificent.
Frith, Fred / Hardy Fox
A Day Hanging Dead Between Heaven And Earth
(Klanggalerie)
Fred Frith's solo career started on the West Coast Ralph Records label, home of The Residents; Frith met Residents front man Hardy Fox in passing in 1991, making recordings on a Pacific beach using Fox's Walkman, which they brought to a multi-track studio to record the basis for an ultimately unreleased album, now revived decades later as Fox rediscovered this fascinating material.
Frith, Fred / Hans Koch
You Are Here
(Intakt)
Two commanding players from the UK & European improv scene who have consistently pushed the envelope in free improvisation--electric & prepared guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist/bass clarinetist Hans Koch--present an album of assertive interactions, merging alien environments with amazing technical playing and inexplicable approaches to sound - superb!
Frith, Fred / Darren Johnston
Everybody's Somebody's Nobody
(Clean Feed)
Bay Area trumpeter Darren Johnston meets improvising guitar legend Fred Frith for an incredibly well-paced series of duos, remarkable improv that uses space, skill, extended techniques and unexpected approaches to both instruments in vivid and beautiful discourse.
Frith, Fred / Evan Parker
Hello, I Must Be Going
(Les Disques Victo)
Two masters who rarely play together--guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist Evan Parker--performing together as a duo at the 30th Musique Actuelle Festival in Victoriaville, Canada for an amazing exchange of ideas and intensely subtle dialog.
Frith, Fred And Helen Mirra
Kwangsi - quail [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)
Helen Mirra uses the index of a W.G. Sebald's novel to create a mysterious, intriguing and fascinating audio world, performed by Mirra on printing press and acoustic guitar, and Fred Frith on rainsticks, mbira, charango, music box, voice, shoes and other objects.
Art Bears
Hopes and Fears
(Recommended Records)
Art Bears
Revisited
(Recommended Records)
Art Bears
Winter Songs
(Recommended Records)
Frith, Derome, Tanguay, Boisen
All is bright, but it is not day
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Explosive, psychedelic music from the trio of Jean Derome, Fred Frith, and Pierre Tanguay recorded and mixed by Myles Boisen.
Frith, Fred / Rene Lussier
Nous Autres
(Les Disques Victo)
Frith, Fred Guitar Quartet
Ayaya Moses
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Fred Frith's leads a quartet of electric guitars (Rene Lussier, Nick Didkovsky, Mark Stewart) through 10 different journeys that explores the dynamic potential of this unique group composition.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC