About a decade ago, the US label Rvng Intl. gave a contemporary push to Anthony Moore in its FRKWYS series, where he proposed collaborations between musicians of different generations who were not necessarily in sync aesthetically. Unlike other names in the series, Moore was not necessarily a forgotten name, but one of those who always worked on the margins and always sought to exponentiate theory into practice, with often surprising results since he began editing in the early 1970s. His solo career oscillates between unique psychedelic pop records and proactive experimentalism. He was one of the founding members of Slapp Happy, collaborated with Henry Cow, and has an important academic career: between 2000 and 2004 he was the director of the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne.
In recent years, his music has been the subject of rediscoveries and new releases. “Out” and “Flying Doesn’t Help”, two solo albums, from 1976 and 1979, recently reissued by Drag City have made known to many Anthony Moore’s side of songwriting at the extremes of pop to delight in psychedelism/experimentalism. Or albums like “Arithmetic In The Dark” (Touch, 2019), have served to reassess Anthony Moore’s qualities as a contemporary songwriter and one of the boldest and least recognized experimentalist theorists of recent decades. It will be more in this vein that we will see him in his debut in Portugal, at Zé dos Bois, where he will present two sets, one in the company of Bruno Aires (electronics) and Richard Moore (violin), and the other will be a guitar solo. From the samples we know of his recent work – and from the performances we’ve heard – the experience is physical, endearing and enriching. BS