Ragged Atlas

John Kelman, Nic Jones and Mark Corroto wrote favorable reviews of Ragged Atlas at All About Jazz,^[2][5][6] whereas Beppe Colli at Clouds and Clocks had mixed feeling about the album.^[4]

Kelman described Cosa Brava as "the perfect nexus between [Frith's] more accessible yet still left-leaning music for dance, [...] and the more challenging structures of his 1970s work with Henry Cow".^[2] He said that Ragged Atlas "transcends time and genre" and has "[b]road dynamics, a blend of acoustic and electric instrumentation, fine compositional detail, and surprisingly memorable melodies".^[2] Kelman said that it "stands as one of 2010's most auspicious debuts".^[2]

Corroto called the album a "classic 1970s rock opera", and described the music as a mixture of "folk, Celtic, modern chamber, Latin, funk, Eastern, and prog-rock".^[6] He said that Frith "never stray[ed] far from joyous music making".^[6] Jones wrote that there is an "impishness about the music, a sense of fun that [...] stems from the joy of discovery".^[5] As an example he said that the "arguably banal lyric" in the track "Falling Up (for Amanda)" is elevated to another level by the supple music of Carla Kihlstedt's violin".^[5] Jones said that "Tall Story" works because of the musicianship of the group, and that in lesser hands it "might come off as so much fluff".^[5]

Colli was critical of the album, saying that the volume is "deafening", and that the music is "often tacky, bombastic, as if looking for an applause".^[4] He did like some of the tracks, for example "Lucky Thirteen", which he said has a "meditative mood, fine unison from vocals and violin", and "Tall Story", with its "light, fine theme".^[4] Overall, however, Colli described the album as "kitsch".^[4]

Source: CD liner notes written by Frith; all quotes by Frith.

• "Pour Albert" (Albert Marcoeur) – Frith called Marcoeur one of his "favorite" songwriters and musicians, and a "warm and generous friend and teacher".
• "R. D. Burman" (Rahul Dev Burman) – Burman was an Indian film score composer who "fearlessly mixed genres, styles, cultures, and instruments" to create a "unique body of work" spanning a 30-year career.
• "Falling Up (for Amanda)" (Amanda Miller) – Frith described Miller as an "extraordinary dancer, inspiring choreographer, and uncompromising philosopher"; Miller and Frith once led a workshop at the Edinburgh Festival where Miller taught dancers how to "fall up".
• "Out on the Town with Rusty, 1967" – Frith met Rusty ("the epitome of cool") while performing at the York Folk Club in mid-1967; they became friends that summer, played at local Working Men's Clubs, and attended a Jimi Hendrix concert in Woburn, Bedfordshire; a few months later, after Frith had returned to university, Rusty was killed in a motorbike accident.
• "Blimey, Einstein" (Albert Einstein) – "[H]ey, it ain't rocket science."
• "For Tom Zé" (Tom Zé) – Zé inspired Frith with his technique of mixing popular Brazilian song with "wacky" modern composition.

• Fred Frith – guitar, bass guitar, vocals
• Carla Kihlstedt – violin, nyckelharpa, bass harmonica, vocals
• Zeena Parkins – accordion, keyboards, foley objects, vocals
• Matthias Bossi – drums, percussion, sruti box, vocals
• The Norman Conquest – sound manipulation

• Anantha Krishnan – mridangam and tabla on "R. D. Burman"

• Recorded on 24-track analog at Tiny Telephone Studios, San Francisco between December 17 and 21, 2008
  • Scott Solter – engineer
  • Laura Dean – assistant engineer
  • The Norman Conquest – digital transfers, track rationalization, additional recording
• Mixed at Jankowski Soundfabrik, Esslingen, Germany in July, August and December 2009
  • Peter Hardt – engineer
• Mastered at Headless Buddha, Oakland, California on January 11, 2010
  • Myles Boisen – engineer
• Artwork
  • Heike Liss – cover image
  • Jonas Schoder – graphic design
• Production
  • Fred Frith – producer
  • Intakt Records – producer

• Ragged Atlas at Intakt Records
• Ragged Atlas at Intakt Records on Bandcamp
• Ragged Atlas reviews at Intakt Records
• Ragged Atlas at Discogs