The Country of Blinds 2420365 224298128 2008-07-08T06:04:47Z Bruce1ee 211905 All Music Guide -> Allmusic {{For|the H. G. Wells short story|The Country of the Blind}} {{For|the Christopher Brookmyre novel|Country of the Blind}} {{For|the Michael Flynn novel|Michael Flynn|In the Country of the Blind}} {{Infobox Album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums --> Name = The Country of Blinds | Type = [[Studio album]] | Artist = [[Skeleton Crew (80s band)|Skeleton Crew]] | Cover = SkeletonCrew AlbumCover CountryBlinds.jpg | Released = 1986 | Recorded = Sunrise Studio, [[Kirchberg, St. Gallen|Kirchberg]],<br />[[Switzerland]], December 1985<br />to January 1986 | Genre = [[Avant-progressive rock]] | Length = 39:25 | Label = [[Rift Records|Rift]] (USA) | Producer = [[Tim Hodgkinson]] | Reviews = *''[[Allmusic]]'' {{rating-5|3}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5hnsa9tgu238 link] *[[Piero Scaruffi]] (5.5/10) [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol3/frith.html link] | Last album = ''[[Learn to Talk]]''<br />(1984) | This album = '''''The Country of Blinds'''''<br />(1986) | Next album = ''[[Learn to Talk / The Country of Blinds]]''<br />(2005) | }} '''''The Country of Blinds''''' is a studio album by [[United States]] [[experimental rock]] and [[jazz]] band [[Skeleton Crew (80s band)|Skeleton Crew]], recorded at Sunrise Studio, [[Kirchberg, St. Gallen|Kirchberg]], [[Switzerland]], December 1985 and January 1986. It was their second and final album and was released in 1986. Skeleton Crew had become the trio of [[Fred Frith]], [[Tom Cora]] and [[Zeena Parkins]] when this album was made. The music here is richer, more rhythmical and the songs more developed than on their first album, and this ultimately led to the band's break-up. Frith explained that "we actually started to sound like a normal rock and roll band so it seemed kind of pointless to go on at that point." [http://home.earthlink.net/~srwolff/Fred_Frith_Story.html] ==Track listing== Side A #"The Country of Blinds" (Cora) – 4:10 #"Money Crack" (Skeleton Crew) – 0:58 #"The Border" ([[Anne Hemenway|Hemenway]]) – 3:28 #"The Hand that Bites" (Frith) – 5:32 #"Dead Sheep" (Cora/Frith) – 3:22 #"Bingo" (Frith) – 3:34 Side B #"Man or Monkey" ([[Chris Cutler|Cutler]]) – 2:27 #"Foot in Hole" (Skeleton Crew) – 3:08 #"Hot Field" (Skeleton Crew) – 2:36 #"The Birds of Japan" (Frith) – 4:00 #"You May Find a Bed" (Frith/[[Rebby Sharpe|Sharpe]]) – 6:10 ===Track notes=== *"Money Crack", "Hot Field" and the last section of "You May Find a Bed" were recorded live in [[Reykjavík]], [[Iceland]], [[4 November]] [[1985]]. ==Personnel== *[[Tom Cora]] – Cello, bass, accordion, drums, contraptions, singing *[[Fred Frith]] – Guitar, 6-string bass, violin, home-mades, drums, singing *[[Zeena Parkins]] – Organ, electric harp, accordion, drums, singing ===Sound and art work=== *[[Tim Hodgkinson]] – Engineer, Producer *[[Katrina Brändli]] – Assistant Engineer *[[Fred Frith]] – Cover art work ==CD reissues== In 1990 [[RecRec Music]] re-issued ''The Country of Blinds'' together with Skeleton Crew's previous album ''[[Learn to Talk]]'' on a single compilation CD, ''[[Learn to Talk / The Country of Blinds]]'', omitting "Money Crack" from ''The Country of Blinds'', and "Los Colitos" and "Life At The Top" from ''Learn to Talk''. In 2005 [[Fred Records]] re-issued ''Learn to Talk'' and ''The Country of Blinds'' on a double compilation CD, ''[[Learn to Talk / The Country of Blinds]]'', omitting "Money Crack" from ''The Country of Blinds'', plus ten extra tracks. ==External links== *[http://home.arcor.de/nyds-exp-discogs/frith.htm Fred Frith discography] {{DEFAULTSORT:Country of Blinds, The}} [[Category:1986 albums]] [[Category:Avant-progressive rock albums]] [[Category:RecRec Music albums]] [[Category:Albums produced by Tim Hodgkinson]]