# Z Sides

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***Z Sides*** is a 2024 [studio album](/source/Studio_album) by [Fred Frith](/source/Fred_Frith)'s United States [experimental rock](/source/Experimental_rock) group [Cosa Brava](/source/Cosa_Brava). It comprises a [sound collage](/source/Sound_collage) of extracts from live mixes of the band's [musical improvisations](/source/Musical_improvisation) performed on tour between March 2008 and May 2012.[1][2]

## Background

*Z Sides* was conceived by The Norman Conquest (aka Norman Teale[3]), [Cosa Brava](/source/Cosa_Brava)'s sound manipulator who created [soundscapes](/source/Soundscape#In_music) for the group's music, and live mixes during their concerts.[3] Cosa Brava's live songs often contained segments of [improvised music](/source/Improvised_music), and The Norman Conquest assembled a collection of extracts from these improvisations performed in concerts between March 2008 and their last European tour in May 2012. Using these extracts, [Fred Frith](/source/Fred_Frith) and The Norman Conquest built a [sound collage](/source/Sound_collage) to create "an imaginary stand-alone performance"[1] that they called *Z Sides*.[2]

## Reception

Cosa Brava's two previous albums were generally well received by critics,[4][5] with [All About Jazz](/source/All_About_Jazz) describing their music as "somewhere between folk, Celtic, modern chamber, Latin, funk, Eastern, and prog-rock".[4] Eyal Hareuveni at *salt peanuts** noted that *Z Sides* is very different from Cosa Brava's two studio albums and their "genre-defying" songs. She wrote, "*Z Sides* distills and reimagines the infinite musical imagination of Cosa Brava and proves that beauty is indeed an elusive and strange thing."[2] A reviewer at *Squidear* wrote *Z Sides* "captures the group's dynamic interplay and remarkable inventiveness".[6]

## Track listing

Source[1]

## Personnel

- [Fred Frith](/source/Fred_Frith) – guitar, bass guitar (2008), voice
- Matthias Bossi – drums, voice
- [Carla Kihlstedt](/source/Carla_Kihlstedt) – violin, voice
- [Zeena Parkins](/source/Zeena_Parkins) – keyboards, voice
- [Shahzad Ismaily](/source/Shahzad_Ismaily) – bass guitar (2012)
- The Norman Conquest – creative live sound

Source[1]

### Recording and production

- The Norman Conquest – concept, editing
- [Fred Frith](/source/Fred_Frith) – editing, production, photography
- Lisa Robotka – layout

Source[1]

## Recording locations

[Improvisations](/source/Musical_improvisation) used on this album were extracted from the following [Cosa Brava](/source/Cosa_Brava) concerts:[1]

- March 20, 2008 – 21 Grand, [Oakland, California](/source/Oakland,_California)
- April 7, 2008 – Porgy and Bess, [Vienna](/source/Vienna), Austria
- April 8, 2008 – Cankarjev Dom, [Ljubljana](/source/Ljubljana), Slovenia
- April 9, 2008 – Teatro Fondamenta Nuove, [Venice](/source/Venice), Italy
- April 17, 2008 – Rote Fabrik, [Zurich](/source/Zurich), Switzerland
- April 19, 2008 – AMR Jazz Club, [Geneva](/source/Geneva), Switzerland
- May 16, 2008 – [Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville](/source/Festival_International_de_Musique_Actuelle_de_Victoriaville) (FIMAV), [Victoriaville](/source/Victoriaville), [Quebec](/source/Quebec)
- May 11, 2012 – Hall Toll, [Stavanger](/source/Stavanger), Norway
- May 12, 2012 – Norrlandsopernmusicbox Black Box, [Umeå](/source/Ume%C3%A5), Sweden
- May 13, 2012 – Stadtgarten, [Cologne](/source/Cologne), Germany
- May 14, 2012 – Tafelhalle, [Nuremberg](/source/Nuremberg), Germany
- May 15, 2012 – Generalmusikdirektion, [Graz](/source/Graz), Austria
- May 16, 2012 – Progr, Turnhalle, [Bern](/source/Bern), Switzerland
- May 18, 2012 – Treibhaus, [Innsbruck](/source/Innsbruck), Austria
- May 18, 2012 – The Moods, Zürich, Switzerland
- May 19, 2012 – Teatro San Leonardo, [Bologna](/source/Bologna), Italy

## References

1. Klanggalerie (September 23, 2024). *Z Sides* (CD liner notes)

1. Hareuveni, Eyal (October 10, 2024). ["Cosa Brava: *Z Sides*"](https://salt-peanuts.eu/record/cosa-brava/). *salt peanuts**. Retrieved February 26, 2024.

1. Gilbert, Andrew (December 12, 2008). "Every which way Experimentalist Fred Frith's Cosa Brava mixes multiple musical worlds". *[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)*. p. G.28. [ISSN 0743-1791](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0743-1791)

1. Corroto, Mark (May 1, 2010). ["Ragged Atlas"](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ragged-atlas-fred-frith-intakt-records-review-by-mark-corroto.php). *[All About Jazz](/source/All_About_Jazz)*. Retrieved March 7, 2025.

1. "The Letter". *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved March 7, 2025.

1. ["Z Sides"](http://www.squidsear.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=35265). *Squidear*. Retrieved March 7, 2024.

## External links

- [*Z Sides*](http://klanggalerie.com/gg486) at Klanggalerie
- [*Z Sides*](https://klanggalerie.bandcamp.com/album/z-sides) at Klanggalerie on [Bandcamp](/source/Bandcamp)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Z Sides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Sides) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Sides?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.