No Birds is the last track on Fred Friths album Guitar Solos:
This is a record of unaccompanied guitar solos. It was made in four days at Kaleidophon Studios, London. All the pieces were improvised, some completely and some to a roughly preconceived idea. No overdubs were used, the music is heard at is was played except for No Birds, which was made in two parts, and Not Forgotten, from which we removed two notes. The only sounds not produced ‘naturally’ by guitar or prepared guitar area those of the fuzz-box used on track A4, B3 and B4, and echo delay used on track B4. The extraneous noises on Heat c/w Moment are those made by my breath and feet while I was playing. The middle part of No Birds was played on two guitars simultaneously. [source]
Fred Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rockgroup Henry Cow.
After Henry Cow’s first album, Frith released Guitar Solos in 1974, his first solo album and a glimpse at what he had been doing with his guitar. When it was released, Guitar Solos was considered a landmark album because of its innovative and experimental approach to guitar playing. The January 1983 edition of Down Beat magazine remarked that Guitar Solos “… must have stunned listeners of the day. Even today that album stands up as uniquely innovative and undeniably daring.” It also attracted the attention of some “famous” musicians, including Brian Eno, resulting in Frith playing guitar on two of Eno’s albums, Before and After Science (1977) and Music for Films (1978). [source]
Fred Frith – Guitar, Prepared Guitar
[inspired by Ronnie Rocket. Thanks a lot]