When first listening to Let's Het the overwhelming impression is one
of high-intensity off-the-wall chaos.
It's probably accurate to describe this album as progressively aggressively avant garde, but it really defies categorization. It is a kaleidoscope of
sounds and tribal chants mixed with occasional snippets of melody. There's
a long section with just drums and cowbells, there are choruses and complex
intertwining vocal lines, and most of it is flavored by a youthful, experimental
humor that was probably never meant to be taken seriously. In fact with song
titles like "Music For The Hanging Of A Minister", "Penis" and "Ha Stop", you
get the impression the artists recorded it as an expression of pure fun.
It sounds childishly simple yet there's a complexity in here that will keep
your interest. It is dense, meticulously orchestrated, playful, and
completely off the wall. You can easily imagine this as the backdrop for an
experimental piece of theatrical performance art.
"Ha Stop" starts with a bass guitar, and soon introduces wild male screaming
that loosely recalls the tribal chants of an African mine workers dance or a
Maori haka, and over its 9 minutes it introduces whacky male vocal effects that
could have come off Zappa's Billy The Mountain and a repetitive militaristic
drumbeat that defines most of this piece. It is all drums, bass,
and male vocals yelling in unmusical, unintelligible staccato chants. All
tracks on this album are heavily dominated by percussion in various forms. There aren't many soft legato passages here! "Rain" features a chorus of
high-pitched female vocals singing an eerie yet musical line over odd effects
and that omnipresent yet highly varied percussion.
This CD is a reissued and partly remastered version of the 1983 album that
has been out of print for years. The band was originally formed by
Dominique Weeks and Cass Davies of Furious Pig, and were joined by Tim Hodgkinson of Henry Cow, and Belgian singer / performance artist Catherine
Jauniaux. Given that cast of artists and their respective backgrounds it's
safe to stack this album in the your section RIO of your progressive music collection. Tim Hodgkinson was
responsible for this digital reissue.
You'll love this - or you'll hate it. Period. There are no
in-betweens with this type of music. Either way, like Zeuhl and other unusual
styles of art rock, you cannot possibly ignore it, nor can you form an opinion
without listening to it several times and giving it a fair chance.
Let's Het was pretty unique and intense for its time. And it's pretty unique
and intense for our time too!
Track Listing:
1. Throw Out That Rag
2. Music For The Hanging Of A Minister
3. Rain
4. Penis
5. Poisons
6. Unmoved Mover
7. Ha Stop
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