Still Urban

This is one of two albums that avant-garde guitarist and composer Fred Frith recorded with Arte Quartett, a Swiss saxophone quartet (pianist Katharina Weber and drummer Lucas Niggli make guest appearances as well). The music is composed rather than improvised, though Frith’s noisy guitar and tape interventions seem more extemporaneous than the saxophone parts. As is the case with much of his composed chamber music, there’s real lyricism here among the spiky atonality, and the playing is excellent throughout.