Invisible Means

Rolling Stone - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "..deliciously twisted sensibility...Recorded live in the studio during four days of intensive sessions, this record sounds like the guys had a great time making it." Down Beat - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "The music world has rarely seen a supergroup as talented as this foursome." New York Times - "...Another album as rich as the first two, and people will start calling French Frith Kaiser Thompson a supergroup." Record Collector - 4 stars out of 5 -- Kaiser and Frith's instrumental track are used to alter or break moods....Any music fan seeking new paths will find something of interest here..."

The second meeting from this left-of-the-dial supergroup -- Fairport Convention founder and all-around guitar genius Richard Thompson, avant-garde guitar visionary Henry Kaiser, Henry Cow founder and avant/progressive noise advocate Fred Frith, and former Captain Beefheart percussionist John French -- is longer, calmer, and a bit easier to digest than their first collaboration, Live, Love, Larf & Loaf, but it lacks a bit of the playful wit and high spirits that made the previous set so much fun. While there are a handful of obvious jokes on board -- most notably Thompson's mock operatic "March of the Cosmetic Surgeons" and French's "Now That I Am Dead" (in which a deceased musician discovers death has been a boon for his career) -- there are also a surprising number of John French's intelligent but unexpectedly conventional-sounding pop tunes (most notably "To the Rain" and "The Evening News"), and the contributions from Kaiser and Frith stand out more dramatically as their own work on this album, rather than melding into a collective whole (if Live, Love, Larf & Loaf didn't always achieve a stylistic unity, it was a good bit more cohesive than this session). But Thompson does contribute a stunning tune to close out the set, the chilling "Killing Jar," and the ensemble playing is never less than inspired; even in its lesser moments, Invisible Means is worth a spin just to hear these supremely gifted musicians bring out the best in each other. By the way, despite the fact this album was originally released by Windam Hill, there is nothing remotely new age about Invisible Means. ~ Mark Deming|