Fred Frith

After over two decades of being in print only intermittently thanks to Ralph Records' ever-changing distribution systems, Fred Frith's 1983 masterpiece Cheap at Half the Price was finally reissued in 2005 by Chris Cutler's Recommended Records as part of an overall overhaul of Frith's sometimes confusing solo catalog. The charmingly homemade-sounding Cheap at Half the Price, Frith's first experiment with home recording on a four-track recorder, sounds like it was about equally inspired by the Residents and New Jersey-based cult hero R. Stevie Moore: the aggressively childlike "Cap the Knife" in particular has the Residents' peculiarly antic quality, and Frith's strained, oddly high-pitched vocals -- which were heard for the first time on this album -- occasionally recall Moore's signature falsetto. An odd combination of sunny-sounding pop songs with disquietingly cynical lyrics (a mix best heard on the Robert Wyatt-like "Too Much Too Little"), Cheap at Half the Price is a perfect introduction to Frith for those who might find his more staid instrumental records a harder row to hoe. This Recommended reissue features different cover art and drops two inessential tracks, "True Love" and "Person to Person," that were added to the original East Side Digital CD release. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide