Material was a prolific band in the early '80s, and if you had to pick just one of the many EPs and LPs that came out around this time, this is the one to take. First of all, just check out the personnel -- it's a who's who of the downtown avant-party set:
Bill Laswell and
Michael Beinhorn, of course, aided and abetted by the likes of
Fred Frith,
Sonny Sharrock,
Henry Kaiser (and those are just the guitarists), violinist
Billy Bang, drummer
Anton Fier, and too many more to mention. The sound is consistently challenging yet just as consistently rewarding;
Laswell's bass is front-and-center most of the time, churning out funky and angular lines that provide a solid foundation for more outre sounds like
Frith's prepared guitar and
George Lewis's splayed trombone on "Memory Serves" and the scratchy violin and edgy seven-beat melody of "Metal Test." "Conform to the Rhythm" indulges
Beinhorn's singing at its tuneless, Orwellian worst, but there's far more to recommend than to criticize on this album. Strongly recommended.