As we all know, “important” albums aren’t necessarily any fun to listen to. This one is both. Massacre was (and still is, technically) a downtown power trio consisting of guitarist Fred Frith, bassist Bill Laswell, and drummer Fred Maher (replaced in later incarnations of the group by Charles Hayward). The band name and album title might lead you to expect hellacious noise, and while there is of course a bit of that, the album features lots of arranged music: herky-jerk and abrasive music, to be sure, but also humorous, upbeat and approachable music. Chalk it up mostly to Frith, who has always taken a joyful and inviting approach to avant grade guitar playing… and to the creation of hellacious noise. Chalk the grooves up to Laswell (always a monster groove maker) and Maher. (If you’re going to pick this one up, make sure you go for the Tzadik reissue, which corrects tape speed problems on the Celluloid original.)