Prints (album)

Compilation tracks

"Trains & Boats & Planes" and "The Ballad of Melody Nelson" are two cover songs Frith recorded for the Tzadik tribute CDs, Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach (1997) and Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg (1997) respectively. "The Ballad of Melody Nelson (La Ballade de Melody Nelson)" is about Gainsbourg's fictional character, Melody Nelson, and is sung by Frith in the original French. "Life of a Detective" was recorded with the 5uu's in 1990 and appeared on Place of General Happiness (1993). "True Love" was recorded in 1987 and was released on a Shimmy Disc compilation, The 20th Anniversary of the Summer of Love (1987).

Improvisations

The tracks "Stones", "Fingerprints", "Trocosi", "Levity", "I Want it to be Over" and "In the Winter of '64" were recorded for a WDR radio production by Alexander Schuhmacher in January 1997. Frith explained how the pieces were created:

"Reduce Me" was recorded four years later using the same approach described above. "Spot" was a live guitar improvisation by Frith recorded in July 2001 where he used a live sampler to dynamically capture and loop guitar sounds (see Frith's equipment).

Track listing

1. "Trains & Boats & Planes" (Bacharach, David) – 5:07
2. "Stones" (Frith) – 2:02
3. "Fingerprints" (Frith) – 3:50
4. "Life of a Detective" (Frith, Brookings) – 3:13
5. "The Ballad of Melody Nelson" (Gainsbourg) – 2:01
6. "Trocosi" (Frith) – 4:36
7. "Reduce Me" (Frith) – 5:48
8. "Levity" (Frith) – 2:36
9. "True Love" (Frith) – 2:56
10. "I Want it to be Over" (Frith) – 3:01
11. "Spot" (Frith) – 4:38
12. "In the Winter of '64" (Frith) – 1:48

Track notes

1. From Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach (1997, Tzadik)
2. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, 1996
3. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, January 1997
4. Text: International Herald Tribune, 27/01/97, "Palestinian independence celebrations in Hebron"
5. Sample: "Ligueyou Ndeye" by Doudou N'Diaye Rose
6. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, January 1997
7. From Place of General Happiness (1993, Modern Variety Music)
8. Recorded at Triple Helix, Denver, Colorado, 1990 (engineer: Bob Drake)
9. From Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg (1997, Tzadik)
10. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, 1997
11. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, January 1997
12. Text: International Herald Tribune, 28/01/97, "Enslavement of women in Ghana"
13. Sample: "Where Do You Want to Go" by Kahil El'Zabar
14. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, 2001
15. Text: The Guardian, July 2001, "Afghan woman returns home after ten years of exile"
16. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, January 1997
17. Sample: "Kattajait" from Inuit Games and Songs (UNESCO Collection)
18. Sample: applause for Helmut Kohl speech, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
19. From The 20th Anniversary of the Summer of Love (1987, Shimmy Disc)
20. Recorded at Noise, New York City, 1987 (engineer: Mark Kramer)
21. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, January 1997
22. Text: International Herald Tribune, 27/01/97, "Bill Clinton interviewed about Monica Lewinsky"
23. Samples: Escher-loop, broken glass
24. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, July 2001
25. Recorded at Jankowski Studio, Esslingen, Germany, January 1997

Personnel

Sound and artwork