(Avantgarde / Vocal / Guitar) The Roches (+Fripp +Levin) — The Roches / 1979, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The Roche sisters — Maggie, Suzzy and Terre — weave barbershop harmonies, traditional Irish melodies, doo-wop, bee bop and a dozen other styles on their acclaimed 1979 release, The Roches. Featuring ten original songs written by the trio singly or in various combinations, The Roches spotlights the wry humor, subtle arrangements and consummate musical craftsmanship that has brought the group both critical and popular acclaim.

Maggie and Terre Roche first began singing together professionally in the late '60s, when both left school to pursue a musical career. In 1973, they were recruited by Paul Simon to sing backup on his best-selling LP There Goes Rhymin' Simon. Shortly thereafter, the duo released their own LP, Seductive Reasoning (1975). After relocating briefly to Louisiana, the pair appeared as a duo for the last time at the Women's Music Festival in the summer of 1976.

Suzzy Roche, who had been attending college in upstate New York, joined her sisters that same year. Now a trio, The Roches immediately earned a loyal following on the Greenwich Village club scene, where their wide ranging musical tastes and penchant for lyric wordplay garnered critical raves. Signed to Warner Bros. Records in late 1978, they began work immediately on their debut album with Robert Fripp.

The result is The Roches, produced in "Audio Verite" and featuring such cuts as the introductory "We," "The Married Men" (subsequently covered by Phoebe Snow), the moody "Hammond Song" and "Pretty And High."