CURLEW-S/T, LP, 1984, USA

Curlew were (are?) definitive purveyors of that distinctive bippity boopity mutant-funk-into-R.I.O. sound that burned brightly for a few years in the Downtown N.Y. culture of the mid to late 80's (think: Jules Baptiste, No Safety, Massacre, B-Shops For The Poor, Skeleton Crew, Orthotonics), though this debut of theirs has a rather different cast of characters to those that'd feature on their better known follow-ups. Curlew was principally the brainchild of saxophonist George Cartwright and cellist Tom Cora (R.I.P.), the rest of the cast of characters remaining fluid. Bill Laswell, Nicky Skopelitis and Bill Bacon would all depart after this first volley (in their place, Fred Frith or Davey Williams or Mark Howell on guitar, Pippin Barnett and/or Rick Brown on drums and Wayne Horvitz on keyboards), though despite the large line-up shifts, this album surprisingly hews relatively close in tone to their latter day works, Cartwright and Cora's sharp compositional instincts already firmly established right out of the gate. That said, Skopelitis' wailing attack sits at a fair remove from the rotating cast of avant string slingers that'd shortly fill his chair and his hard burning presence in particular gives this era of Curlew it's specific bite.
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Note: It was just announced that this album is due for reissue shortly, so the link has been pulled and replaced with one for George Cartwright's site, where you can learn more about it. Go Here