Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: moderator at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: moderator at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk #1032 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 1032 Monday, 16 September 2002 Today's Topics: BigBand KC math rock Vincent Gallo's "TCoL" review Re: songs you hate Thanks for the Egg info "Happy..." Re: Songs You Hate! Re: REQUIEM Gallo's ConstruKCtion of Light review File sharing and research... Improv / Golden Wlanut Re: Proper pronunciation File Sharing is an element of Nature? vinyl/DGM orders Re: USA REMASTER 21st Century Prisoner USA Accidental KC fan GIG REVIEW: Schizoid Band at Milton Keynes GIG REVIEW: 21st Century Schizoid Band @ The Stables, Wavendon - 15/09/02 ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ To ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ET Web: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ Read the ET FAQ before you post a question at http://www.elephant-talk.com/faq.htm Current TOUR DATES info can always be found at http://www.elephant-talk.com/gigs/tourdates.shtml You can read the most recent ten editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/newsletter.htm THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmaster) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest system v3.7b (relph at sgi dot com). ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 15:14:44 EDT From: JasJohns22 at aol dot com Subject: BigBand KC Last evening I attended a performance of the Ed Palermo Big Band dedicated to orchestrations of the music of Frank Zappa. Pretty good stuff. At one point the band broke into a rousing but abbreviated version of 21st Century Schiziod man, which was well received by the audience. Following the great one's demise, Mr Palermo decided to arrange charts of FZ's output and has been performing monthly at the Bottom Line in NYC. He noted that 2CSM had nothing to do with FZ, but he just 'liked the music' Perhaps he could be encouraged to attempt the same with other KC classic numbers, Lizard for example. Perhaps we could bombard his website with requests? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 00:02:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom Lord Subject: math rock The math rock discussion has yielded some neat band pointers for me, so thanks! I wondered if my circle of friends had invented the term (not the practice), way back when. After some off list chat, I think what most likely happened is that we picked it up via some recording professional friends before the term became popular. I wanted to add a musical note: Most respondents are focusing on polyrhythms. Those are neat -- especially when there's a drummer able to trance well enough to play multiple rhythms at once -- but there's another aspect I like: You can also have a simple rhythm combined with a harmonic structure and/or melodic structure such that the number of chords in the harmony, the number of notes in the melody, and the number of beats in the rhythm are all relatively prime. If you do that, then you get an automatic song structure: the three elements, if started at the same time, progress through various relative phases before ultimately arriving at a synchronizing point (the product of the three relative primes) which is identical to the start of the song. For example, a different note of the melody will hit the stressed beats in each measure, which can give a very simple melody a very complex connotation in context. I find it fun to play such music, and ethereal to listen to. It's not just the rhythms -- it's the harmonic relations implied by the rhythms. (I'm sure there are countless examples of this kind of song structure, many of which are very well known to readers of this list.) I guess I have a "relative primality" bias in my math rock. -t ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 14:58:01 +0100 From: "D. Chinn" Subject: Vincent Gallo's "TCoL" review Hello again, Brad Cook wrote: > I came across a review of CoL written by, what appears to be, a very > uninformed Vincent Gallo. I'm not saying that he's uninformed because he > doesn't like the album, I don't like SOME of the songs on it either. I'm > saying that because he accuses KC of being a bunch of crusty old men who > are "out of touch" and are completely ignorant of what's going on in > modern music. I think we all know that's not true (as evidenced by their > decision to tour with Tool). At the very least I don't think that anyone > that knows anything would accuse Mastellotto and Gunn of being "disabled > veterans" and I know that Belew frequently works with young artists > (including Nine Inch Nails etc...). I say Gallo needs to pull his head > out of his...well anyway...here's the link for the (somewhat pretentious) > review: http://www.drowninginbrown.com/dib_kingcrim.htm I had a read. A lot of paragraphs about Vincent Gallo and how real he is compared to his contemporaries then and now, and one paragraph (possibly two) dismissing "TCoL" and Fripp as being utterly out of touch. I enjoyed reading Gallo's declarations of prog-fandom, his stories of his struggles and grand gestures to assert his identity and individuality, and about his installation art jokes. And it was cute the way he calls himself "Vinnie" in the byline. He truly is the Julie Burchill of the American art scene. Gallo has, in effect , reviewed himself - bringing to mind RF's comment about reviews revealing more about the writer's character (or lack of it) than they do about the subject. Whether Gallo is at all aware of this is questionable. I think he's too busy polishing his ego with Social Darwinist Emollient, and spitting at Harmony Korine and other people who still get more magazine spreads than he does. Ironically, I'm writing this just after writing ET a list of Crimson songs I dislike, plus comments (including a few broadsides at "TCoL"), so I'm risking being hoisted by my own barbed petard here. Still I don't use public forums to describe my own works as masterpieces (as Gallo does in his "TCoL" review) so I should be safe for a while yet. Any more celebrity reviews to come? Elijah Wood analyses "Starless And Bible Black", perchance? Pamela Anderson on the extended lyrical metaphors of the Sinfield years? Dann ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 14:41:50 +0100 From: "D. Chinn" Subject: Re: songs you hate > Greetings, Is anyone willing to admit what song(s) you absolutely hate by > Crim? Do you play all of their CD's from start to finish, or is there > always certain songs you skip over? I think just because you're a big fan > of the band doesn't mean you blindly love everything they put out. Let's > hear what YOU think! Cheers, Phil DiMaso OK, I'll bite. I defend and praise this band all the time in the prog-unfriendly UK. So for balance, here's my Crim shitlist and why... "Happy Family" - Poor old Gordy sounds intensely miserable throughout, even through the avant-garde shufflestorm of FX and bizarre mixing. An unhappy marriage of free jazz, lounge jazz, bumbling prog and studio trickery, plus Sinfield overdosing on the fairytale psychedelic metaphors. I like "Lizard", but this is the point on the album where I always grit my teeth. To add insult to injury, it comes directly after one of my all-time favourite Crimson moments - Gordon's hiccuping whoops of laughter being batted around in the slapback. "The Letters" - In the middle of a gorgeously dreamy album, suddenly a fifteen-year-old Edgar Allen Poe gatecrashes with an insufferably Jacobean lyric and some three-year-old Crim-cliche riffs. Full marks to Boz for filling this with life - in fact good work from all the band as far as playing goes - but even without the lyric problems it's the wrong song in the wrong place. They should have kept the original "Drop In" lyrics and stuck this on "Lizard" with jaggedy-man electric piano all over it instead. Now THAT would have fitted. "Ladies Of The Road" - I think I could live with this one, actually. Despite its partial disruption of the "Islands" mood, it sits there more comfortably than does "The Letters". I like the chorus, I like the ballsiness of the sax and Robert's NAS-tay-y-y-y-y-y guitar, but it's those bloody lyrics that turn this one sour for me. Crimson eroticism ought to be more subtle and interesting than this parade of "easy skirt" schoolboy rhymes. Or at least as sly as Zappa's take on it. I suppose that this was written and performed by guys from an older, more sexually uptight England than the one I know now, but even that perspective doesn't make me warm too much to the song. It just reminds me more of naughty seaside postcards than of sex, I guess. As far as Crimson raunch goes, gimme the "Drive Towards 1972's Orgasm" music of "LTiA2" anyday. "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" - Good music! I can't dismiss that cyber-blues riff or the thrilling way in which it all goes WHAKKETA-WHAKKETTA about two-thirds of the way in... but, yes, it's lyrics again. Embarrassing. Not surrealist or dadaist, just ludicrous - and not even possessing the saving grace of being funny. Oddly enough (and I'm honestly not joking here), had Ade simply abandoned any ideas about lyrics or a song melody and just grunted and slobbered into the mike like Tom Waits after twenty blows to the head, this would have been a far more effective tune. Alternatively, they could've used tapes of odd vocal interjections instead as Robert did on "Exposure" and Ade did on "I Am What I Am". One of Crimson's finest ever songs appears on "THRAK" and "VROOOM". But this isn't it. "Inner Garden" - Sweet but dull. Sounds like a very early Marillion demo. And, even on the mightily uneven "THRAK", uncomfortably placed. "Radio I" and "Radio II" - Two more uncomfortably placed pieces, though fine in themselves (and those giant wheeling pterodactyl screeches would've sounded great over the top of the double Rhythm Buddies). Yes, I get the idea that the Double Trio is made up of all sort of elements and possibilities, but why not concentrate on integrating them (as on the wonderful "B'Boom" or "When I Say Stop, Continue") than jumbling them together in close but ununified proximity like this? "Into The Frying Pan" - A lot of good ideas, yes, but an insufferable song nonetheless. All of Crimson's powers of abrasion with none of their sense of beauty or strangeness. Unrelenting, plodding math-metal in big ugly boots, and full of ponderous equations to make up for it's lack of emotional substance. I really don't like Ade's Lennon fixation either, even if it is more "Revolver" than "Free As A Bird", thank God. "The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum" - Blue ruin! Look, just go buy Ade's "Mr Music Head" and listen to the terrific "Bird In A Box" if you want to hear his pun-chains at their wittiest and best. Or perhaps "Adidas In Heat" off "The Lone Rhino". In comparison, the lyrics here are just weary, wannabe clever-dick stuff which trip over their own feet. But I can't blame Ade, really. I think he was just responding to whichever Crim person or process came up with this unwieldy, cold mutation of art-metal/math-rock riffs and posturing. It's sort of worrying that the best actual song on "TCoL" is the joke number at the start. "FraKCtured" - Well, let's see. Robert makes a big point of not revisiting the past by playing anything older than "Red" or "LTiA2". And then he goes and rewrites "Fracture". Pur-lease! Yes, I've heard the arguments about him writing material for the members of Crimson who will actually play it, as opposed to making them play material originally written for other players. But no, I'm not impressed by it. Ever heard of something called "interpretation"? Ever heard Ade and TLev transform "Red" without abasing themselves before the memory of Wetton and Cross? I think we all have. I think Robert has, too. Furthermore, for all the extra busyness and applied technique, "FraKCtured" is a far less satisfying piece and performance than "Fracture" is. Move on? Please do. "I Have A Dream" - this is Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire" rewritten to fit a descending Crim dirge, and has even less political sharpness. Reeling off lists of accepted disasters (plus the odd subjectively-judged evil) does not constitute effective social commentary. Adrian's a good bloke and I'm sure he's sincere: but if he's going to take on state-of-the-world songs I wish he'd come up with something with more vision. Not just that, but "I Have A Dream" has almost nothing in common with the "Larks" series in terms of emotion or feel. They are intensely emotional spiritual metaphors in music (or at least Robert seems to hint that they are). By comparison, "I Have A Dream" is mere Midwestern American handwringing. Dodgy Lyric warning cards also go to "Moonchild", "One More Red Nightmare", "Cage", "People" and "The ConstruKCtion Of Light". Hmm, indeed... And for more balance, here are some of today's potentially vulnerable Crim songs (as opposed to instrumentals) which I would defend to the death against a sneering mixed crowd of unfriendly Sonic Youth, Fall and Ramone fans: "Epitaph", "Cat Food" "Indoor Games", "Islands", "Easy Money", "Waiting Man", "Two Hands", and "One Time". If Robert instructs that I'm to be sent to the basement, I have a little spade to dig my way out with, thanks. Dann PS - For all that, I rarely (if ever) press the skip button while playing a Crimson CD. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 09:06:30 -0600 From: "MSc. Christian Hess Araya" Subject: Thanks for the Egg info Many thanks to all E.T.'ers who gave such helpful info on Egg. In summary, it seems that the band isn't really as related to the mid-period KC as I had been told (but they still seem quite worthwhile anyhow). People here have suggested to try Anekdoten and "High Tide" instead. I was also privately emailed to check out Japan's "Happy Family", which apparently have closer KC ties, though more in the TCOL than the Red vein. So thanks again! :-) Christian Hess San Jose, Costa Rica ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 11:40:27 -0400 From: "DENNIS DONEGAN" Subject: "Happy..." So what's the word on the new K.C. "ep"? Any one heard any of it? (I'm not into downloading.) Have ordered it from 'dgm' .( Release date in October.) No rumours? No pre-release word of mouth? Anything? Inquiring mind want to know! --- DENNIS DONEGAN --- dennispca at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 10:43:34 -0500 From: "Phillip Ciskowski" Subject: Re: Songs You Hate! I'll leave out the entire Islands album, because with the exception of The Sailors Tale and Ladies of the Road I think it all reeks. In fact, I like to pretend it never happened. So for all other studio albums, my least favorite song is The Devil's Triangle, with the second half of LTIA III running a close second (I really like the first half, however). ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 11:34:01 -0500 From: Craig Subject: Re: REQUIEM > Requiem: This song is almost just plain noise. Neurotica makes more >musical sense (that's saying alot). Superb! Powerful stuff. Excellent! Easily the best piece on "Beat" (my *least* fave KC album.... next to some of the more recent offerings) ~C ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 18:11:54 -0700 From: Luis c Subject: Gallo's ConstruKCtion of Light review >From: "brad cook" Subject: Vincent Gallo's ConstruKCtion >of Light review Anyway I came across a review of CoL written by, what >appears to be, a very uninformed Vincent Gallo. I'm not saying that he's >uninformed because he doesn't like the album, I don't like SOME of the >songs on it either." Let's look at the true "ConstruKCtion of Light"is the 1st poor King Crimson album ,i like the others very much,the sound is to much digital ,drums are to much digital too and very poor. I would prefer the 81-84 band at this one. best luis ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 20:18:47 +0100 From: "Paul Parkinson" Subject: File sharing and research... Just like to add my halfpennyworth to the "conversation" going on about file sharing and research... Tom Lord said "There is an argument in the opposite direction, and I think it is a very sound argument. It is a property of Nature that digital information may be cheaply and freely copied. It is only through the intervention of social institutions that it can not be freely copied, and often, those interventions operate via an ultimate and unlimited threat of violence." Okay-y-y-y. How does Nature decide what the properties of digital information are? I didn't know Nature was digital. Analogue fan. Nature plays LP's on a Linn Sondek thru valves and horn speakers. Musically minded folks at the low-fi end of the market use MP3 players and streetphones. At the hi-end they're using Electrocompaniet, Krell and B&W! Nature don't do digits! There that should set the Kat amongst Pigeons on a number of fronts. Best wishes. Parkylondon Diplomacy is saying good doggy while you find a rock ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 17:05:16 -0400 From: "Brian Preston" Subject: Improv / Golden Wlanut Improv: The spice of life. NP: Golden Walnut from Great Deceiver. Nuff said. *** *** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 22:07:19 -0700 From: "Mike Powers" Subject: Re: Proper pronunciation Hi Dave (and anyone else who's been wondering), I'm sure the pronunciation would vary even among English speakers, but below is how this Californian pronounces the names you asked about. @ = schwa (that funny little upside-down 'e') Ade /eid/ Like the word "eight,' but with a "d" sound at the end instead of a "t" sound. Belew /b@ 'lu:/ Like the word "balloon," without the final "n" sound. Bruford /'bru: frd/ Jamie /'dzei mi/ Muir /myr/ or, more carefully /myu:r/ Try saying the words "me your" as one syllable. Giles /gailz/ (one syllable) The British might say /dzailz/ or /'dzai lz/. Sinfield /'sin fild/ Just like the words "sin" and "field." Peart Not sure about this one! I'm guessing it's /prt/. Howe /hau/ As in the word "how." McLaughlin /m@ 'glaw flin/ or /mik 'law flin/ (if I was being careful) For more, write me privately. Hope this helps. Mike Powers a former linguist ****** Not being a native speaker of English I come across some problems with a proper pronunciation of names. ... Is there anybody as patient as to deal with that problem and maybe provide some more stuff like that? Ta! Dave ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 08:18:49 +0000 From: "David Reilly" Subject: File Sharing is an element of Nature? Re Tom Lord's assertion "It is a property of Nature that digital information may be cheaply and freely copied. It is only through the intervention of social institutions that it can not be freely copied, and often, those interventions operate via an ultimate and unlimited threat of violence." Oh dear. Hug a tree, man. Everything everyone does should be given to everyone else for nothing? Brilliant concept. If Bobby and the boys hadn't been paid for ITCOTKC, do you think we'd even be discussing KC today? Get real. ...and file sharing may well be "the new radio" but "the old radio" pays artists for playing their works. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 10:24:50 +0200 From: "Stephen Gadd" Subject: vinyl/DGM orders Vinyl vs. CDs In a recent posting, Mike Dickson was somewhat dismissive of vinyl, considering it something from the dark ages and sonically inferior to CD technology. Hazarding a guess from his posting, I must be equally long in the tooth, but would argue that a well-kept, original pressing of an LP can sound every bit as good - if not better - than a CD. In fairness, this does presuppose a reasonably decent hi-fi system. I have LPs that are knocking on 50 years old, and the sheer presence and body that some of them display has yet to be bettered. In my opinion, it is only quite recently that CDs have been able to compete in the sound stakes. This is perhaps because they have been engineered to sound more like vinyl LPs, so that the inaudible but essential ambient frequencies are also included. Obviously CDs score heavily in being able to accommodate more material and avoiding the irritation of having to split or edit a tune to allow for the 25 minute side. Then again, you also loose out heavily on the art-work side, so it is a trade-off. Most CD booklets leave old codgers such as myself reaching for our reading glasses. In the concrete discussion of "USA", I would also very much have liked to have seen it released on CD, with the edited numbers restored to full length plus the bonus tracks. After all, a CD can accommodate ca. 75 minutes of music, so this should be utilised to the full. DGM orders for European customers Finally, on another matter entirely recently aired on these pages, there are certainly pros and cons regarding mail-order from DGM, especially if you live in Europe. As DGM is now based outside the European Union, Countries such as Denmark (where I live) charge 25% VAT on the cost of the item plus postage, plus a circa. USD 6.00 fixed charge for levying the duty. This pushes the cost up pretty significantly. This did not apply under the old rules when I could order from DGM in the U.K. A single CD will often get through unnoticed, but a boxed set is a different matter. Best regards, Stephen Gadd ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 12:57:34 +0200 From: Jacek Czajka Subject: Re: USA REMASTER >From: "Benfield, Jon" >Subject: USA REMASTER >The burning question for me is "IS EDDIE JOBSON ON THE NEW USE REMASTER >RELEASE?????" or is it Cross? On Back cover is: "Remix assistance: Eddie Jobson, Violin on "Larks` Tongues", "Schizoid Man" and piano on "Lament" Regards Jacek czajka ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 09:59:00 -0400 From: "Louis Sormany" Subject: 21st Century Prisoner In ET 1030, Max wrote: `A question I've had for some time, probably since first hearing 21st Century SM... Has anyone ever suggested any connection between an episode of The Prisoner (starring Patrick McGoohan, of course), airing in 1967, entitled "The Schizoid Man" and a certain song of which I'm certain you'll all know? I'd always assumed that it was the inspiration for the lyrics, but have never seen any corroboration in any of the books / liner notes that I've read. Certainly, thematically, it would fit, and its the sort of show Sinfield would probably have watched, but, could be a complete coincidence.' I'm a great fan of King Crimson and also of "The Prisoner". I think in fact that there is no connexion, even if I would have wanted it! In the episode entitled "The Schizoid Man", the Prisoner enters in conflict with his double. The aim of the authorities of the Village is that the Prisoner loses his (strong) personality. The theme of the episode has nothing in common with the lyrics of "21st Century Schizoid Man": it's a psychological game. In French, the title of the episode has been translated as "Double personalite" ("Double Personality") and probably shows better the psychological aspect of the story. Be seeing You! Louis ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 10:32:41 -0500 From: Albert Oller Subject: USA Jordan writes: >>Well I understand that it was probably because of vinyl time constraints... I think the appropriate question is: "Why are you complaining?" You know what was on USA the lp. You buy USA the cd. You get USA the cd, which is the same as USA the lp. Now you are complaining because the USA cd is not what you want? Imperfect analogy: If you buy vanilla ice-cream that is labelled as vanilla ice-cream, do you have a right to complain that it doesn't have butterscotch stripes in it? Regards, ago ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 11:44:09 -0400 From: Dan Cooper Subject: Accidental KC fan I have an amusing (?) anecdote that some of you might find familiar. For about 2 years I have had a good friend, with whom I normally agree when it comes to musical taste, who absolutely despises King Crimson, and teases me mercilessly for my affection for the band. I tried to push the 80s work on her - first with Discipline, then Heartbeat (accessible to traditional pop sensibilities, but with a KC edge) and finally Absent Lovers, since she's a big fan of live music. In each case she was quite unimpressed, especially with the "weird noises that guy made with his guitar". (Sorry Adrian, but I dig you!) Anyway, she was visiting friends in NYC recently and the friends were playing background music while they hung out, talked, and drank wine. She really liked the music in the background, and was stunned to learn that she was listening to and enjoying ... Red! I gave her the Central Park disc and it hasn't left her CD player since. She still can't get with the 80s stuff (my favorite era) but at least we can agree on "some" of KC's discography. Any suggestions as to what I loan her next, given her KC preferences? Dan ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 10:31:15 +0100 From: "Backham, Clive" Subject: GIG REVIEW: Schizoid Band at Milton Keynes Just a quick note to say I went to see Schizoid Band last night (15th Sept) at The Stables in Milton Keynes. Don't want to deliver a great long rambling gig report, but have the following observations: 1. The band played well. Very tight, only a couple of missed cues or bum notes. 2. Mel and Ian's "double sax" lineup worked well; made for a really beefy sound where appropriate. 3. As usual at rock gigs, the drums and bass were mixed too loud. 4. Mike Giles seemed to hit his drums much more than he does on record (this is the first time I've seen him live). I always thought the major thing that made him such a wonderful drummer was what he didn't play as much as what he did. At this gig he was in danger of being "just" a great rock drummer. 5. My wife (who I dragged along even though the only Crimson songs she really likes are "Epitaph" and "In The Court") FELL ASLEEP at one point! And the really funny thing is that is was during "In The Court", her favourite number!!! Go see them if you get the chance. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 15:25:57 +0100 From: "Baker, Paul" Subject: GIG REVIEW: 21st Century Schizoid Band @ The Stables, Wavendon - 15/09/02 The opening night of the Schizoid Band tour saw the group play to a near full house at The Stables. The band consists of :- Michael Giles - Drums / Vocals Ian McDonald - Keyboard / Saxophone / Flute / Piano / Vocals Peter Giles - Bass Guitar / Vocals Mel Collins - Saxophone / Flute / Keyboard / Vocals Jakko Jaksyzk - Lead Guitar / Flute / Lead Vocals The set was :- Pictures Of A City Cat Food Let There Be Light Progress In The Court Of The Crimson King Formentera Lady Tomorrows People If I Was Ladies Of The Road I Talk To The Wind Epitaph Encore Birdman - The Reflection 21st Century Schizoid Man The band mainly played songs from the first 4 King Crimson albums, but also played 2 songs from Ian McDonald's solo album 'Drivers Eyes', 2 songs from the recently re-released 'McDonald and Giles' album, and one song from the forthcoming Michael Giles album ' Progress'. They performed excellent versions of the Crimson material, with Peter and Michael laying down a solid foundation, while Ian and Mel filled the sound with constant interchanging between sax, flute and keyboard. Jakko's vocals were strong without trying to replicate the original sounds of Greg Lake and Boz. His guitar playing was excellent throughout and certainly stood comparison with the original lines of Robert Fripp. In short, it's an excellent show and they performed fantastic versions of POAC, ITCOTCK, ITTTW Epitaph and 21st Century Schizoid Man, though my personal highlight was a sensational Formentera Lady. I would imagine that a large percentage of ET readers can never have seen any of these musicians play in a version of King Crimson. If you don't take the opportunity to see them on the rest of this tour, then I don't know why you read Elephant Talk in the first place. Check out www.21stcenturyschizoidband.com for tour details. Paul Baker ------------------------------ End of Elephant Talk Digest #1032 *********************************