THE WORLD AS IT IS TODAY

Third and last stage of the Art Bears space rocket, this World As It Is Today is definitely the apex of RIO music, flirting with Faust and "musique concrete", which is likely top have many progheads flee, even though they (AB) use a mellotron here and there. Coming with an enticing landscape artwork (later modified in reissues), this album more than picks up where the previous Winter Songs had left it off, it atomizes whatever had been done before. It took apparently two years to make and that would sound logical since there seems to be an intermediate step between WS and TWAIIT, but it's nowhere to be found, hence the two year interval.

If the preceding (and aptly titled) Winter Songs was mostly based on real "songs", while not respecting the usual format, World is definitely more complex than it or even most HC albums. Not only does the album returns to certain form of brutal anti-capitalism (in this case some song titles makes IPOL's tracks look like lullabies), but the very dissonant nature of the music make it one of the most difficult album of the closing decade (let's consider this to be with the rest of AB as 70's). Ultimately this might be the toughest AB album to understand, but it might be the most rewarding you you've mastered it, although I still have a preference for H&F

This album is more than likely THE album that influenced 5UU or Thinking Plague, so it is extremely influential and essential, but it's not an album to put between everyone's ears either, especially the stuck in their neo-comfort zone prog. Other more adventurous progheads should give it a try, because even if I don't give another star, it's definitely worth hearing but hardly certain you will like it.

Art Bears' third and final album was recorded much like the preceding Winter Songs - Chris Cutler arrived at the studio with the lyrics already written, Frith set them to music more or less on the spot and the album was completed in just a couple of weeks. Where the previous album drew heavily on Cutler's fascination with the Middle Ages, The World... goes back to the Brechtian influences heard on Hopes and Fears and the lyrics are a savage critique of global capitalism. Frith's music complements this perfectly, while Dagmar Krause gave a bravura performance as RIO's answer to Lotte Lenya.

Right from the outset the listener is left in no doubt as to the direction of this material; 'The Song Of Investment Capital Overseas' comes straight out of Bertold Brechts Big Book Of Catchy Song Titles, while Frith's piano driven setting, underpinned by Cutler's restless drumming, suggests a militant left wing cabaret band. Imagine Slapp Happy after an intensive course in Marxism and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect. This sets the tone for what is to follow - the folk influences discernible on the first two albums are largely absent, while the use of the studio is now an integral part of the compositional process. The influence of pioneers like Faust and The Residents is more overt than ever, and on Civilisation the lengthy coda sounds like a nod to Not Waving/Water from This Heat's first album. While there is no out and out rocker here, Democracy features some thunderous drumming in contrast to Cutler's more characteristic featherlight playing. The sonic palette has changed, with piano and keyboards more to the fore and less emphasis on violin and guitar than previously. Fred Frith's piano contributions are his best since Robert Wyatt's Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard, while his knack with catchy but unpredictable melodies has rarely been deployed to better effect. The songs are also very much to the point, with six of the ten titles lasting less than three minutes, and the superb Law clocks in at 0.51 - short, sharp and bitterly sarcastic. As ever, it is Dagmar who brings these songs to life, and on Freedom she improvises a truly blood curdling wail which builds slowly into a scream of anguish and despair, while Fred Frith plays a perfectly judged guitar solo that Robert Fripp would be proud of as a counterpoint. Etienne Conod is at the controls as engineer once again, and really deserves to be thought of as the fourth Art Bear - this is a beautifully recorded album which is only dated in places by Cutler's use of electric drums.

If The World As It Is Today doesn't quite have the clarity and beauty of Winter Songs, it's still an excellent album which shows RIO at its best. The lyrics are, if anything, more relevant today than they were in 1980, and the album would work well as a soundtrack to the anti-capitalist demonstrations at recent G8 summits. It's also been massively influential on RIO/Avant prog. Art Bears continue to cast a long shadow over this genre, and like their other albums The World As It Is Today repays careful and repeated listening. Recommended.

While I strongly disagree with the lyrics here I find this a very interesting album, and certainly this particular record influenced many Rio / Avant bands that would follow. I have the remastered version which was done by Bob Drake. So we have Dagmar Krause on vocals, Fred Frith on keyboards, guitars and violin. He also composed all the music. Chris Cutler on drums and percussion and he wrote all the lyrics. I prefer "Winter Songs" to this one but there's something about this that fascinates me. It's melancholic and depressing anti-pop that's filled with intrigue. It's like looking at the world through someone else's eyes and while the view is not the same as mine I want to look. To be honest i'm glad I don't see things this way.

"The Song Of Investment Capital Overseas" is a downer with vocals, piano, bass and drums standing out. "Truth" has this cool rhythm with vocals.The vocals stop but the rhythm continues with keyboards. "Freedom" has double tracked vocals with piano and drums. She screams after a minute and it goes on and on. Insane but good. "(Armed) Peace" is a reserved but chaotic track. "Civilisation" sounds so good with the powerful atmosphere and floating organ. Vocals after 1 1/2 minutes. Eerie stuff.

"Democracy" is bombastic with vocals."The Song Of Martyrs" features vocals,floating organ and piano early on.The tempo picks up after a minute then settles back without vocals. It picks back up after 3 minutes with vocal expresssions."Law" puts the focus on the vocals and piano. "The Song Of Monopolists" is a good one as she sings "That's the way of the world alright" over and over. "The Song Of The Dignity Of Labour Under Capital" is brighter with piano and vocals. Discordant piano late. "Albion Awake !" is pretty much the opposite of melodic and it's also somewhat haunting.

Barely 4 stars but because of it's influence I feel it deserves the four stars.

The trick of presenting hyper-challenging music which eschews all conventional format but still successfully conveys a message, which had somewhat eluded Henry Cow on In Praise of Learning, is perfect by Art Bears on The World As It Is Today. This would be the final release from the Bears before another personnel reconfiguration would yield the mighty, magnificent News From Babel - and like all good Final Fantasy bosses, the final form of Henry Cow would prove to be unstoppable. However, despite the strong heritage of the Art Bears (both their previous albums and Henry Cow) and the excellent work that would follow, The World As It Is Today more than stands its own as a piece of the puzzle.