French Frith Kaiser Thompson - Invisible Means (1990)

The second meeting from this left-of-the-dial supergroup -- Fairport Convention founder and all-around guitar genius Richard Thompson, avant-garde guitar visionary Henry Kaiser, Henry Cow founder and avant/progressive noise advocate Fred Frith, and former Captain Beefheart percussionist John French -- is longer, calmer, and a bit easier to digest than their first collaboration, Live, Love, Larf & Loaf, but it lacks a bit of the playful wit and high spirits that made the previous set so much fun. While there are a handful of obvious jokes on board -- most notably Thompson's mock operatic "March of the Cosmetic Surgeons" and French's "Now That I Am Dead" (in which a deceased musician discovers death has been a boon for his career) -- there are also a surprising number of John French's intelligent but unexpectedly conventional-sounding pop tunes (most notably "To the Rain" and "The Evening News"), and the contributions from Kaiser and Frith stand out more dramatically as their own work on this album, rather than melding into a collective whole (if Live, Love, Larf & Loaf didn't always achieve a stylistic unity, it was a good bit more cohesive than this session). But Thompson does contribute a stunning tune to close out the set, the chilling "Killing Jar," and the ensemble playing is never less than inspired; even in its lesser moments, Invisible Means is worth a spin just to hear these supremely gifted musicians bring out the best in each other. By the way, despite the fact this album was originally released by Windam Hill, there is nothing remotely new age about Invisible Means.