Reply-To: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Sender: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Precedence: bulk From: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk To: toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Subject: Elephant Talk #205 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 205, Saturday, 8 July 1995 Today's Topics: Rolling Stone review of NYC gig A Bit more... King in South..thanks Tony Highest Evolution of Modern Music!!! THRAK Review - Knight/Ridder Newspapers Re: How Does belew Play? Re: SF Examiner Gig Review MTV and KC???? Creaking in the mix THRAK killed my gopher Fripp, kc south, etc.. The SF show on 6/26 was videotaped. Re: Crimson on Video: *WHERE?!?!?!?!?* MISC: Asbury Park acoustic Belew CD... (re:ET #200) CDs in Boston, etc. Re: Tour booklet notes Crimson and improv: 74 and 95 DISCOG: Miniatures Collaborations THRAK RANT Pamela Fripp Fripp's demeanor why does RF perform in the dark? The Pretense of a Contribution Fripp's demeanor, and advice from a friend about the KC on line Questions and a thought Re: Robert Fripp's birthday Re: KC in Portland, Oregon USA--article Open letter to KC: volume and hazard Crimsonchatr Crimson Boots Beatlesque sounds ET Post: New Psychodots CD is out! This ain't no disco, ain't no country club either... this is... God? In LA? Re: FBF concert dates Psychodots/Bears WWW page USA Lack of DGM releases in the USA? King Crimson at Wimbeldon MISC: sylvian/fripp: redemption Fripp runout-groove reference to Derek Bailey? Crimson and women? New psychodots CD Re: Adrian doing "Me and my Arrow" The Noise Tablature another (prob'ly) reply to Molmud crim tour First Day, Crimson photo, Alice Gabriel list Hot Date Seeing is not hearing Elephant Talk Numbers GIG REVIEW: KC in SF 6/25 GIG REVIEW: KC in LA! GIG REVIEW: KC in LA 6/29/95 GIG REVIEW: KC GIG REVIEW, Seattle GIG REVIEW: KC, Seattle, 6/22 GIG REVIEW: Rolling Stone review of NYC gig [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] POSTS: Please send all posts to toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk ARCHIVES: The ET archives are: WWW: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/elephant-talk.html FTP: The Americas: ftp.qualcomm.com, in /pub/et FTP: Rest of world: ftp.cs.man.ac.uk, in /pub/toby/elephant-talk EMAIL: Send "index elephant-talk" to listserv at arastar dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 09:24:12 EDT From: CTYM80A at prodigy dot com (MR BRIAN K PRESTON) Subject: A Bit more... King in South..thanks Tony BKP here again. I have heard from two seperate sources in the music industry that Crimson will play the South and will be coming to Walnut Creek amphiteatre in Raleigh, NC!!! I hope this is true, I dont know that that is the best venue for the King around here. Especially after having just seen them 3 nites in the intimate Warfield where the sound was superb and you could literally get 15 feet from the band! I hate to spread this around only to have my Crim friends be doubly disappointed (1-they didnt go to SF with me!) And, Mr. Levin, if you read this...thank you very much for stopping to chat and sign autographs Sunday nite. I wanted to mention a few things. Your bass sounds were awsome. The fretless stand-up work really shined. The bowed orchestral part in the middle of Dinasour was beautiful and I wish it was on the CD (it isnt is it?) Your comps during Red were great. You had some really cool riffs evolved there! I know Bill can go so far off the rhythm sometimeskeeping the down beat is a real challenge!! I know about those whacky jazz drummers! (But you gotta love it) I guess the Trace Elliots are a good system, eh? The overall sound there was FANTASTIC!!. The best I've ever heard probably. I truly do enjoy World Diary a lot and all who read this should write Papa Bear Records ASAP to get your copy. Please do come to Wanut Creek guys. Many drueling fans await. I'll be back too! Also, would be glad to show you around North Carolina Triangle area. Bye now...have fun the rest of the tour! BTW: Cal Gtr Trio was excellent and nice guys too. Thanks for chatting and signing (I bought your latest CD) BTW2: For anyone still wondering, The Great Deceiver box set is Fantastic!! Get it! See yall next time. B K P [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 08:57:39 EDT From: CTYM80A at prodigy dot com (MR BRIAN K PRESTON) Subject: Highest Evolution of Modern Music!!! That is what my impression is of Crimson's new line up. This is based on many years (about 16) of loving Crimson and having just seen them all three shows at the Warfield in San Francisico! I'm the one who flew from North Carolina and was hooked up through a Bay Area band manager (a friend from Carolina who's made good...REAL good). I had table passes and sat with the guys in Primus (Les and Ler on Monday, Herb on Sat). I also got to meet Bill, Tony and Pat on Sunday night and got their autographs! I will not extensively review the shows as I am sure many of you have already posted your impressions. I will mention several things which might be of particular intereset. * Same basic set structure each night with different opening tune: Sat: Vroom Vroom Coda (anyone dispute this?) Sun: Vroom and Marine Coda 475 Mon: I dont remember, didnt take a note You know they start with duel drums, Levin on standup bass Fripp, Gunn and finally Belew who turns to the band and cues the stop before beginning the song. Awsome. * Red is awsome...Tony does really cool new parts on bass inbetween main riffs... he has obviously evolved these as the tour progressed! *On Sun Tony lost it just a little bit during Red when Bill went off on a particularly twisted vamp...they glanced at each other and made smiling faces at each other. * Fripp's sounds were unbelievable! Unearthly, but his volume pedal shifts were occasionally a bit abrubt. Did anyone notice during Walking on Air (last encore each night) Fripp setting the auto pan function on his effects so that when the band walks off the soundscapes are panning from L to R continuosly. * Belew was very impressive and his voice was precise! Unfortunately he would not give autographs or speak with anyone afterwards (If he did, let me know...he just got right in the car) * Trey Gunn was very impressive. His stick solo (what is the new stick called? I know someone posted it but I cant remember, I was speaking to Les Claypool about it) anyway, his solo was incredible, very clean, great sounds!!! * Bruford really had fun with audience on Indiscipline wth his Brufordizing comps at the beginning. Esp. Sat. night when he responded to the audiences' urgings with smiles and unbelievable twisted off meterness. * When I got Bruford's autograph Sun night, he was friendly and sincere. I told him I had flown from N.Carolina for the shows and he said (in a British accent) "North Carolina? I hope it was worth the trip!" I said it was more that worth it, thanking him. Then I leaned over and told him that I had used frequent flier ticket. Bruford: "Oh well in that case it doesnt count, does it" laughing with the other 6 or so people getting autographs. Nice guy. Very appreciative. * Tony stopped to give autographs and chat briefly too. I asked him if he would post on ET soon. Tony: "I dont post on ET often, but I do enjoy reading it." Me: I got your disc World Diary and really enjoy it. Tony: "Thanks, you are one of the few who has gotten it!" (You guys should order it, it is a nice piece of work) He handed out his Papa Bear cards. He was warm and genuine. I wanted to talk bass with him but he cruised on, left seperately. (As did Bruford) * Pat Mastelleto stopped to sign and was cordial but not enthusiastic about chatting. We never saw Trey Gunn appear. * Fripp, Belew did not stop to sign or chat, waited while Tony signed. Sitting in the back of a beige Ford (Warfield's car I believe) Fripp waved furiously to us smiling largely. 1 last thing, Mon nite I sat with Les of Primus and watched his reaction (jaw hanging).His reaction:"Mighty Fine!" BKP:) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 10:07:20 -0700 From: Tolin.A/Apple at eworld dot com Subject: THRAK Review - Knight/Ridder Newspapers Copied without permission from eWorld.... Ciao Andrea ====================================================== King Crimson-``THRAK'' (Virgin) Copyright 1995 Philadelphia Inquirer From Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services Selected and Prepared by Tribune Media Services By A.D. Amorosi Knight/Ridder Newspapers Robert Fripp, King Crimson creator, is more than just a crafty guitarist; he is archivist and alchemist supreme. Taking its cues from free jazzer Ornette Coleman's double quartet of years ago, as well as from earlier incarnations of Crimson the grinding heavy metal of 1973-74 and the polyrhythmic spiritual pop of the 80s King Crimson finally has fused together a work of improvisational, menacing sounds while maintaining a tuneful edge. The core of this oddball supergroup Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford have presented a technicolor palette that would make Sonic Youth sound bland. Although the roar stops occasionally to allow Belew a chance to sing sweetly over the ironic ``Dinosaur'' and the lovely ``Walking on Air,'' the rest of ``THRAK'' is violently splashy. It's a brightly produced effort full of clattering percussion under lushly orchestrated mellotron and terrorizing guitar soundscapes, notably on ``Marine 475'' and versions of ``VROOMS'' heard throughout this disc. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 95 14:18:18 EDT From: david at porsche dot visix dot com (David Charlap) Subject: Re: How Does belew Play? eclark at mail dot utexas dot edu (Industry) writes: > >I've recently began learning how to play the guitar. I've been listening >to KC for a while now and always have known that Fripp and Belew were great >guitar players. Now, with a little better knowledge of the guitar, I have >a new appriciation of them both. But theres one thing that puzzles me, how >does Belew play a fretless guitar. I mentioned this to a freind of mine >who knows more about guitars that I do. He thought maybe Belew uses a bow. >I've never seen KC perform, only heard them, so I thought I'd ask those who >know. Thanx in advance No, Belew uses (apparantly, anyway) normal guitars. 6- and 12-strings. He DOES use a lot of effects boxes and MISI synthesizer stuff, so it often sounds very un-guitar-like. As for using a bow, Tony Levin used a bow many times during the concert. I've often found that a bowed bass, played over guitar (and synth strings) changes the color of all the strings you hear. Perhaps this is what you're noticing. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 95 14:28:36 EDT From: david at porsche dot visix dot com (David Charlap) Subject: Re: SF Examiner Gig Review >KING CRIMSON is one of the few progressive rock groups that actually >deserves the term. Its musical direction has nearly always moved forward and >its sound is grounded in the darkness and heaviness of rock. As a result, >the group led by master guitarist Robert Fripp has never achieved the >mainstream popularity of such lesser talents as Yes, Emerson, Lake and >Palmer, and Jethro Tull, bands that took themselves so seriously and now >sound like pretentious hippie kitsch. This really ticks me off. Why is it that every time someone reviews a band, (especially one that got started in the late 60's/early 70's) they feel a need to slam Yes, ELP and Tull? I happen to like these bands. There is no comparison between them and KC, (or for that matter, between anyone and KC) and the reviewers should stop trying. Why can't they stick to the subject and review KC and leave the rest of the world out of it? [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 29 Jun 1995 13:58:53 -0500 From: "Greg Leistikow" Subject: MTV and KC???? 1:38 PM = 6/29/95 MTV and KC???? Just curious if anyone else happened to see the report on MTV Music News with the venerable Kurt Loder talking about the end of the K.C.tour in the wee hours of June 28? I was shocked right out of my late night state of mind. They even showed a very brief onstage live shot and mentioned CGT and TL's solo album, (with ordering info)!!. Now if they would take that unimaginable step of actually playing some of the music in the midst of the usual Michael Jackson and Madonna marathon. Maybe it was just a dream..... Greg [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 15:30:42 -0500 (EST) From: "M. S. AtKisson" Subject: Creaking in the mix Someone posted recently that they thought there was a creaking in some of the tracks on Thrak. I have one _possible_ explanation. The Stick (tm, and all that) has a hook on the back that slides over the belt to take most of the weight, and a shoulder strap to keep it in place. It also has very sensitive pickups. One of my musical partners is a sometime Stick player. The first time we plugged him directly into our PA, we thought we were getting some intermittant line noise--an odd creaking. The Stick was picking up the creak of his leather belt everytime he shifted his weight. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * M. S. (Peg) AtKisson * (matkisso at opal dot tufts dot edu) * "...his frontal lobe Department of Neuroscience * a retread..." Tufts University School of Medicine * Boston, Massachusetts * Adrian Belew [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Randy Long -- Personal Account Subject: THRAK killed my gopher Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 16:50:05 -0400 (EDT) Here's some quick, non attention span threatening things, do get your finger off of the "d" key for a second: 1) Of all the legions of loquacious concert goers to have seen the King live, has anyone seen them play Discipline, the song? We arrived early in Buffalo and tested the security at the venue, hanging outside the theatrea and listening to the sound check- sure enough, they played it for a minute, until they flubbed it so bad they stopped. Has anyone seen them do it live, on this tour? 2) I was supposed to see them in DC, and e-mailed Paul Richards a few days before to request that they play Kan-Non Power, my fav CGT song. They didn't play it in Buffalo OR Toronto, and when we asked about it after the show in Toronto, they said they didn't usually play it anymore. But since I asked, I assume, they played it in DC- then fate crawled into my endocrine system and went to work with a blowtorch and I couldn't go! So everyone who was at the DC show and saw it, please send me $20 each. 3) In Toronto, something funny happened. For the first encore, Levin's lackey came on stage before Levin and took his bass for some reason. then Levin came on stage a few minutes later to play, went for his bass, and it was gone. He looked shocked. There was this short moment where he looked around desperately. 4) More funny tour notes: after the show in Toronto, Trey came out the back door (of course, after we'd been standing there for 2 hours), and was immediately mobbed- one guy says- "Do you give lessons?" Trey said yes, the guy said "Great, how do I get in touch with you to set something up?" As Trey is writing down some number along with his autograph, he asks the guy "You play stick, right?" And the guy says "No" Then there was this surreal moment as they were staring at each other, just speechless, and the guy says "I play bass", and Trey says, "I don't teach bass". They parted silently. 5) Someone at Virgin must have FEDX'd MTV a beach pail full of cash because there was a whole MTV News segment on the new Crimson tour, replete with a surfeit of concert footage from NYC, and interviews. They even talked about the CGT and showed their album! Of course, they played up the whole "Kurt Cobain - Red" connection, proving that MTV's head is so far up their butt that they can taste food twice. Am I the only one on the planet who doesn't give the stuff that shoots out of my zits for Cobain? I have 90% of that MTV News thing on vidtape, in case anyone wants a copy. 6) I also have 2 bootlegs (sorry, Robert- it's not like I don't buy every single thing you officially put out) of the Fripp/Sylvian tour WITHOUT Mast****to or Brook, the first one with just Gunn and the CGT. In them, there is a very early (pre-album) version of 20th Century Dreaming, and it sounds almost identical to the song THRAK. Really. It also shows a lot of the works in process, for example, the lyrics to the last part of 20th Century Dreaming were originaly part of another song they do. It is very interesting to see the origins of THRAK. Also, on one of those, they begin to play Jean the Birdman. but it's so terrible they have to stop and start it again. By the way- Robert Fripp and I share the same wedding aniversary, May 16; and that inconsiderate weasel owes me 3 years of cards and gifts. cleverly zen like non clever .sig file, Ben Tropy. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 95 16:09 CDT From: trex at skypoint dot com (Ryan Sutter) Subject: Fripp, kc south, etc.. Nick K, Best Crimson in Order of Personal opinion (studio albums only)... 1. Red - Whole album is fantastic 2. Discipline - Whole album is great as well 3. Starless and Bible Black - Whole album is great 4. Thrak - All except People is great, People is pretty good 5. Court of the Crimson King - Great, but don't care for Moonchild 6. Beat - Really good, but not as effective as COTCK 7. Larks Tongues in Aspic - Awe inspiring at points, not at others 8. VROOM - Excellent, but too short to compete with 1-7 9. Wake of Posiedon - A copy of COTCK, good listen, love Cat Food 10. Three of a Perfect Pair - Again, good, but not quite on 11. Lizard - Love side A, hate side B (Jon Anderson, blecch! Sorry!) 12. Islands - I have fallen asleep during Islands every time I've listened to it. Zzzzzzzzzzzz. The Young Persons Guide to KC is an excellent compilation. The Great Deceiver boxed set is really cool. USA is fantastic. Heartbeat is really fun. Frame by Frame is quite comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable. If you can find The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp get it. It's a kick! There is my two cents worth. I know everybody has their own opinions. Hope I didn't miss any in the list! Ryan Sutter trex at skypoint dot com Nuclear Gopher Cheese Factory - http://www.skypoint.com/members/trex/ng1.html "I am what I am." - Popeye "You are what you is." - Frank Zappa "I'm a dinosaur." - Adrian Belew [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 95 14:13:01 PST From: "Paul Sherrill" Subject: The SF show on 6/26 was videotaped. I went to see the 6/25 and 6/26 shows in SF. I don't know about the 25th due to seat location but the show on 6/26 was being videotaped from the balcony. Both CGT and KC were taped. I guess we can hope. Has anyone else noticed video at any concerts? paul pauls at ngc dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: "Bill Moxim" Organization: Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 16:46:08 -600 Subject: Re: Crimson on Video: *WHERE?!?!?!?!?* > 1) I keep seeing references to a TOAPP live vid. Where do I find it?! > Is there an outlet from which it can be ordered? Yes it is (or at least was) available on laserdisc. I don't know about VHS. Back in '84 it was released and by '88 or so I guess, it was out of print. In 1993 (maybe '92?) I started spotting it around as a Japanese import on laserdisc. You should be able to find it at any place that sells imported laserdiscs. It cost about US$42. PACK-IN label, program (c)1984, PVLM-11 > 2) In the _Yesyears_ video, there's a brief section wherein Bruford > describes his leaving Yes to play with Crimson, and there are a few > second's worth of footage of the Wetton-Cross-Bruford lineup playing "Easy > Money." Is this footage available in any even remotely commercial form? Yes it is (or at least was) available on laserdisc (again). There's a Japanese laserdisc series called "Careful With That Axe", and Volume 2 features Robert Fripp. It's a 60 minute disc featuring a great interview with Robert Fripp, many many segments of a session in one of his crafties classes and a brief, yet lovable overview of King Crimson. Sadly, the ONLY "archive footage" included is the 1973 -clip- of "Easy Money". The other segments shown in that section are from the Frejus video (The Noise, 1982) and the Japan video (3oaPP, 1984). MR. FRIPP -> P L E A S E RE-RELEASE THE FREJUS VIDEO!!!!!!!! Label info for "Careful With That Axe, Vol.2" VAP label, (c)1991, VPLR-70171 It includes a fabulous insert chock full of liner notes that you can't read unless you know japanese!! This disc unfortunately is pricey. I think somewhere around US$54, maybe US$62, I forget. Bill __ __ _ ___ ....................................... || || // \\ || \\ : Bill Moxim - Dept. of Epidemiology : || || ||===|| ||==<< : Programmer/SOPH-BEV Administrator : \__// || || ||__// : ----- bmoxim at epi dot soph dot uab dot edu ----- : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 29 Jun 95 21:05:58 EDT From: Josh Emery <73174 dot 3300 at compuserve dot com> Subject: MISC:Asbury Park >>>Isn't "Asbury Park" on Disc 4 of the Frame By Frame box set?<<< Amazingly enough yes. There has been a lot of talk about wanting USA on cd to get Asbury Park. It is on Frame by Frame. A high price to pay for one track, although the entire live disk is good. It is still a lot to pay for one disk. Josh [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 29 Jun 95 21:50:35 EDT From: Brian Berry <70003 dot 6460 at compuserve dot com> Subject: acoustic Belew CD... (re:ET #200) From ET #200: > From: "BARRIE SILLARS" The Acoustic Adrian Belew" has just been released on CD in Britain. It > is on Discipline Global Mobile (DGM 9504) and I believe is only available > in Europe and Japan. This may be due to contractual reasons in the USA or > has it been released previously as the copyright is dated 1993? Adrian recorded the album in two days of August of 1993. It's only been available through AB's fan club in Cinncinnati, OH; That is, until now. I think he wanted to keep unreleased in the USA, as a nod to his fans. He sold them during the gigs on his Here tour, and that's how I got my copy. I don't know if they're still available in the States through the AB Fan Club, but here's the address if anyone would like to inquire: Adrian Belew Fan Club PO Box #8385 Cincinnati OH 45208 At the show it was $15. Money well spent. P.S. The Club also takes mail from Adrian's bandmates The Bears, now Psychodots; Another band worth checking out. Cheers, Brian [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: sbienkow at acs dot bu dot edu Subject: CDs in Boston, etc. Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 23:45:39 -0400 (EDT) To my fellow Bostonian Crimheads: I was checking out some of the record shops on Newbury (besides Tower) and found a few things of interest, none of which I had the cashola to purchase, so they are still there for the taking. Newbury Comics had the ever-elusive Derek Bailey/Jamie Muir album on CD for around twenty bucks. They also had the Darshan single-CD, with remixes of Darshan by FSOL and the Grid, as well as the Grid's two CDs, 4-5-6 and Evolver. And CD Spins down the block had the 'official' Sylvian-Fripp tour bootleg for $40. It's a double CD. They also had a live CD from what appeared to be the Red-era Crimson. As far as Fripp or other Crimson members on NPR's Fresh Air (which I, too, think is a great show)--it doesn't seem to likely. When I think about it, all I can remember is Fripp saying to that French interviewer something like, 'Well, if I wasn't doing this interview Crimson would be making some more music.' Fresh Air isn't _that_ intellectual. Fripp sometimes speaks like Kierkegaard writes. I'm listening to and loving THRAK, especially the first three tracks and the last two. I think the moment of the album is when Levin and Gunn finally (after most of the album is already over) get things together and do that harmonized weaving bass line towards the end of VROOOM VROOOM--too bad it's only for a measure or two! That was one of the highlights of the concert: hearing the further development of that cooperation. One other great aspect of the live show which hasn't been discussed as much is Gunn's playing of Wetton's riffs during Larks II. And, IMO, Larks II was beautiful in a way I never expected it could be. Sorry for the length... Thanks Toby and Ken for this fabulous forum. --- Justin Weinberg sbienkow at bu dot edu P.S.-- I am in no way affiliated with any of the music stores I mentioned above. Just thought some folks might be interested in the music, and where to find it. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: lebiger at informatik dot uni-frankfurt dot de Subject: Re: Tour booklet notes Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 09:53:59 +0200 (MESZ") In ET#203 John complained about the KC-Booklet that was sold at the shows, and I see his point. Even though I had no problems reading the text, I give credit to the lesser age of my eyes, since I dare to say that I'm a _bit_ younger than John. ;-) (No insult) I must say that they went a little overboard on the background, but that's what makes the booklet spaced out, and I mean SPACED OUT ! When things get slower in my curicular activities, I will get around and try to transscribe it, but that may take some time. I'll mail it to John & anybody with the same problems........ (if you try to save money by getting the transcript, DON'T, since the booklet is well worth the money and you'll miss a lot of visual extravaganza). Well, that's it, and you just lost another minute of your life reading a post, which you didn't need ............ ;-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ lebiger at informatik dot uni-frankfurt dot de ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ALL HAIL ERIS ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~23 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: "Caron, Antoine" Subject: Crimson and improv: 74 and 95 Date: Fri, 30 Jun 95 11:56:00 EDT Recently, some ETers have lamented the lack of improvised material on the current Thrak tour. Comparisons to the 72-74 line-up are inevitably made, and some people bitterly regret the years of wild, unpredictible impro...even if they never actually saw that band live! Well, I did see "that" band, in Montreal, on the last leg of the "USA" tour. I can testify that Fripp/Wetton/Cross/Bruford were nothing short of stunning. Robin Trower was opening (what an opening act! BTW ditto for the CGT that I unfortunately forgot to praise for their great Montreal appearance, in my gig review). Anyways, the 74 Crimson concert changed me forever. I'll never forget hearing Starless for the first time, and the Schizoid encore!...My friend and I were exchanging incredulous looks..."is this really real?, really happening? I had never heard music that powerful, making direct physical and emotional contact. When it was all over, as they were leaving the stage, Robert Fripp raised his open hand to salute the frantic crowd. Later, when I purchased "USA" and looked at the back of the album, I saw that same hand... HOWEVER, my point is: how much free improvisation happened during that memorable concert? To the best of my memories, only one number was a "blow". The song interpretations were very close in form to the recorded material, with of course all kinds of small variations keeping it fresh. One only needs to listen to The Great Deceiver to realize that. The RF liner notes mention that only one (or two?) complete "blows" were played at each concert. The GD box has a collection of a lot of those improvs ,from different concerts, as well as fairly regular versions of the written pieces. The bottom line for me is the sheer intensity and commitment that were displayed in both that 74 concert and the Thrak show I recently saw. You can play the same chords in the same song two nights in a row: one will be stale, mechanical; the other one can explode with feeling: that's the magic (or lack of it) of the performance. The band I saw in Montreal on May 28, 1995, was still a magic band. Antoine W. Caron [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 11:06:11 -0500 From: gabriel dot a dot radvansky dot 1 at nd dot edu (G.A. Radvansky) Subject: DISCOG: Miniatures Fot those completists out there, Morgan Fisher's Miniatures album has been released on CD. (I got mine through CDNow!, looking under the Various Artists category). This is an album of 1 minute or less songs. It contains a track by Mr. Fripp, entitled "Miniature". Even if you feel that 1 minute of Fripp is not worth paying the price for, I would still encourage you to obtain a copy. This is a wonderful CD that belongs in everyone's collection. It shows just how much can be accomlished in a minute. Besides the Frippster, it also includes tracks by Fred Frith, Gavin Byars, Andy Partidge, Hector Zazou, Robert Wyatt, The Residents, and many more. Miniatures: Voiceprint #VP159CD --enjoy!! [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 09:31:07 GMT From: mike at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk (Mike Dickson) Subject: Collaborations rpeck at pure dot com (Ray Peck) wrote... > >Anyone else get a good laugh outta this? I'm still pondering which of > >the 6 folks they mentioned actually collaborated with Foreigner or Bad > >Company. > Foreigner: Ian McDonald > Bad Co.: Boz Burrel Well...almost sort of collaborations. They both left KC to join these respective bands. There's one small thing that's always puzzled me, though - did the Fripp-coached Boz play bass with Bad Company? -- Mike Dickson [Team OS/2], Black Cat Software Factory, Musselburgh, Scotland mike at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk - Fax 0131-653-6124 - Columnated Ruins Domino [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 09:41:46 GMT From: mike at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk (Mike Dickson) Subject: THRAK RANT emud at brookscole dot com wrote... > uncomfortably close the bilgepump/regurge of the bloated rockpomps of > yesteryear (I won't mention names, but Yes, Genesis, Moody Blues and Pink > Floyd come to mind pretty darn quick.) I don't think that's a fair comparison, really. 'Thrak' does contain some new-ish ideas, ('B'boom', 'Radio') unlike something like 'The Division Bell'. (to mention one of your comparisions) If KC were really on the bandwagon you describe then they'd be playing material from 1975 and writing material that sounds like it could have been twenty years old. I'd say that they are demonstrably not doing that, or at least not in the same bulk. > There is enough meat to shred, and enough undefined space within the > structure of a piece like this to take off and improvise and expand and > GIVE PEOPLE SOME MUSIC THAT THEY CAN'T HEAR ANYWHERE ELSE. Here is where I absolutely agree with you. At first I was a little disappointed that Crimson weren't coming anywhere near my part of the world. The more gig reviews that I have read here, the less unhappy I have felt. Indeed, a few more gig reviews should make me feel quite delighted about it. A band that made its entire reputation on improvisation (witness the best parts of 'The Great Deceiver') now finds itself playing their 'greatest hits' when on tour. Unlike some others who were at the shows, I don't feel a great disappointment that they didn't play some of their older material, although I would have been dissapointed in this 'safe' approach, catering for a high recognition factor in their repertoire. It's only an opinion of mine, but since I do not doubt the current band's ability to improvise on the spot I can only assume that they are looking to attract an audience who, if the band were to start up an improvisation, are bound to look at each other in a 'what the fuck is this?' gape. Personally, I think Fripp is trading on the King Crimson name these days. -- Mike Dickson [Team OS/2], Black Cat Software Factory, Musselburgh, Scotland mike at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk - Fax 0131-653-6124 - Columnated Ruins Domino [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 10:01:00 GMT From: mike at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk (Mike Dickson) Subject: Pamela Fripp John dot Lukes at Ebay dot Sun dot COM (John Lukes) wrote... > By the way, the latest genetic research indicates that *all* homo sapien > sapiens are more closely related than any two mountain guerrillas or > chimpanzees are related. I don't know about mountain guerrillas but I think I am descended from a long line of Bosnian sharpshooters with a couple of Viet-Kong on my father's side. --- Mike Dickson [Team OS/2], Black Cat Software Factory, Musselburgh, Scotland mike at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk - Fax 0131-653-6124 - Columnated Ruins Domino [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 13:04:38 -0500 (EST) From: "M. S. AtKisson" Subject: Fripp's demeanor Larry Molmud's (sp?) self-admitted rant got me to thinking about what I've read of Fripp's philosophies of Intent, Discipline, and Craft. Many ET'ers have talked about how they found Fripp to be cold and walled off in person, that they think his choice of stage locale and lighting is arrogant and rude to the audience. It puts me in mind of the line from Exposure, which says something to the effect of, "Just because you have an unpleasant personality and do not like people, it is no impediment to Work." (Capitalization mine.) I have always wondered if that isn't one of the most honest statements ever recorded. What I would guess matters to Fripp most is the music, the work. As he said in the guitar player interview, "...if the music is true..." It is not his obligation to schmooze with anyone who happens to recognize him. That said, I don't agree with the premise that the performer owes nothing to the audience. In Fripp's own analogy, such behavior turns the "hot date" into masturbation. What he did by remaining out of the spotlight (but not out of view) could be construed as teasing, leaving enough mystery that you want to ask him out again. His presence is pervasive on stage and in the music, but the band is a coporate (not in the business sense) entity. He is one facet of a complex and intriguing personality. I have had the enjoyment of seeing the League both with and without Fripp. The first time was without him, in Florida. As tight and focussed as the group was, there was also a looseness in demeanor under the Intention. Yes, they waited with their left hands resting on their thighs when they weren't playing. However, there was a movement in their facial expressions and body language that was more constrained when I saw them in Boston with Fripp. It not so much "Teacher's here--gotta behave" than it was, well, maturity, focus, and discipline. The pieces were pretty much the same, but Fripp was obviously the leader, or the lense through which that focus was acheived. In my own primary field of endeavor, similar qualities are required. Many people believe scientist to be intense, humorless people, with no skill or desire for social interaction. The same kind of description has been given of Fripp. To do what we (scientists) do, to do it well enough and rigorously enough that you can trust the results, requires the same sort of self-discipline and self-criticism that I have heard described by Fripp. This does not, of course, dictate personality. There are scientists who are quite personable and gregarious, and some who prefer the company of few people, but the proportions are the same as the general public. Fripp is who and what he is. Unlike Larry Molmud, I have construed his stage demeanor to be a partial product of the intensity and attention he is paying to the whole process. Even very sociable scientists concentrate while they are working. There is a quote from Pavlov which says, "Science require great strain and much passion." The same could be said for music, but there is more. Like a badly designed experimental study or a sloppy garage band, undisciplined effort squanders your energy. That is not to say that playing around in the lab or slouching through "Brown Sugar" can't be fun, but it doesn't approach the true. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * M. S. (Peg) AtKisson * (matkisso at opal dot tufts dot edu) * Department of Neuroscience * Tufts University School of Medicine * Boston, Massachusetts * [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 95 10:57:52 PST From: "Allen Huotari" Subject: why does RF perform in the dark? an ongoing topic in this discussion group is puzzlement and/or outrage over Mr. Fripp's decision to perform without direct illumination in DISCIPLINE 128, DW addresses this matter directly to RF, with regards to a London performance by Sylvian/Fripp: >>...you know perfectly well that people would be disappointed by not >>seeing you. It is a tease and a manipulation. (these are the kindest words DW has to say) to which RF replies: >>Given your intentionally offensive manner, you may understand why I >>shall not enter a discussion with you regarding the issues you >>raised, which are in themselves interesting and HAVE BEEN A MAJOR >>CONCERN OF MINE FOR MANY YEARS (emphasis added by myself) imho, RF was clearly visible, albeit through indirect lighting, for much of the show. I also found the lack of direct lighting intriguing and often used to excellent, sinister effect. Nevertheless, I'm sure there must be more to this choice than mere dramatic effect, especially if these issues are both interesting and a 'major concern' to RF. If anyone in KC (esp. RF) would care to provide the authoritative answer the question posed in the subject, I'm sure it would be appreciated by the group. Otherwise, let's bury this topic. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 12:11:31 -0700 From: SezZ at eworld dot com Subject: The Pretense of a Contribution > Gosh, I'd really rather have saved my $60 and listened to the CD's I own of > the band, for all the unique sounds I heard that evening. Oh well, now, at > least, I can say I've seen the band live, have seem the Great One center > stage, fat and calm and uninvolved, with little or no apparent involvement > with actively making this canned, anacronistic music. > Larry Molmud You may have seen the show, but I don't think you listened very well. I saw Crimso in the 70's Wetton/Cross/Bruford/Fripp incarnation as well as the 80's version of the band you seem so enamored with. And last night I saw the THRAK band. Sorry you didn't have good sound at your show, mine was incredible. This band thunders and roars with the greatest of ease. I can't remember when I've heard so much raw power come off a stage. Strike that, yes I can, it was in '73 when Crimso practically leveled the Long Beach Sports arena. You heard nothing new? You shure this was a Crimson show? The band I saw was daring and bold and in no way afraid to blow. Last night was the opener for three nights in Los Angeles' Wiltern theatre. They had some mix problems up until "Dinosaur" where things got cleaned up quite nicely. There was also some problem with Belew's guitar rig during THRAK, which brought out some particularly interesting Frippery and general improv in the band. In fact I lost track of the number of times the band just actually took off and blew the doors off the place in free form jams. InDicsipline was a riot, and even brought forth a smile from "chuckles" Fripp. BTW, you got the order of the set wrong too. I liked the 80's Crimson too. Saw all three tours. Quite good. Very impressive. Frankly the Crimson King has never dissappointed. But this band is FAR superior. As it should be. You don't like soundscapes either? You know what man? Me thinks you miss the point. Perhaps you just don't like Crimson. Thats ok too you know. But get over it. I've seen many, many bands in my time and I've never seen one that plays like Crimso. This band is no exception. Ahhh, yes, I'll be back Saturday night. Can't wait. - Sez [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: stagda at sys1 dot ic dot ncs dot com (Dave Stagner) Subject: Fripp's demeanor, and advice from a friend Date: Fri, 30 Jun 1995 16:48:44 -0500 (CDT) I have been carrying on a discussion about King Crimson and various other things with Peg Atkisson for some time now. She mentioned to me she was writing an article on Fripp's demeanor for Elephant Talk, and I wrote her back with my own observations. She promptly returned a copy to me and suggested that I send it to the list as well, as a contrast to her own view. I haven't seen her article yet, but apparently she noted some similar things about the scientific mindset. Anyway, I free this to the rest of the world. **** Fripp's demeanor... the only comment I have on this is that I feel some of his difficulties in dealing with his audience, and with other musicians, stem from a shortcoming of his philosophy. I've read Fripp interviews and writings extensively for about 12 years now, and one thing I believe he fails to address is unresolvable conflicts and contradictions. He wants to be able to affect his audience on a deeply spiritual level, yet remain detached from them. He wants to influence the music industry, but not get involved with the problems of media or big business. Charles Fort would say he is making the typical error of scientific thinking, of trying to divide and classify the indivisible wholeness of reality. It isn't possible to completely separate the message from the messenger, and it isn't possible to completely separate the music performed by Robert Fripp from Robert Fripp the performer. On the other hand, this contradiction, and the grief it causes, is necessary to maintain the purity of the music. He is making a good faith effort to keep his ego out of the music he plays. Because of this, he manages to continually renew his musical vision while many of his contemporaries grow old and fat playing endless reruns of the music they played 20 years ago, before their creativity dried up. Fripp could easily rest on his excellent laurels, but he doesn't. The only musical comparison I can think of is John McLaughlin, who uses a different approach to spirituality to keep his performance free of the weight of ego. Hope this gives you some food for thought. -- * David Faron Stagner * National Computer Systems david_stagner at ic dot ncs dot com * 2510 N Dodge St vox 319 354 9200 ext 6884 * Iowa City, IA 52244 fax 319 339 6555 I disclaim my employer and I'm sure they'd disclaim me too. (This .sig has been sanitized for your protection) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sat, 01 Jul 1995 17:56:13 -0100 From: mumu2001 at bart dot nl (christian mogul) Subject: about the KC on line Congratulations! I've just read the Ugliest interview/conversation ever! Probably the fans of Metallica could have done better. I wonder what's the actual difference between KC fans and Al Bano & Romina Powell ones? And if there's any, when does that show? Folks, I'm astonished! Did you ever think what KC thinks about you after such a conversation? Chris [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sat, 1 Jul 1995 13:58:55 -0400 From: ASchulberg at aol dot com Subject: Questions and a thought In the Adrian Belew/CNN interview in ET 200, he refers to the gold record given to him by Paul Simon for "Graceland". That got me to thinking about King Crimson album sales. Not to compare KC to Bon Jovi, but how have their albums sold? We all know that VROOOM and THRAK are successful musically, how about financially? I'd be curious to see sales figures for the KC albums if anyone has them. Which album sold best? Has THRAK sold well? Is there a steady number of "units" that KC can count on selling with each release? Again, I'm not comparing artistic achievement with commercial success, but I think the numbers would be interesting. Also, concerning the intriguing choice of Marine Coda 475 as an opening number, here's a bit of amateur psychobiography: I don't pretend to know well or fully understand Fripp's relationship with EG Management and everything that went bad but apparently the owners of EG lost their shirts as "names" for Lloyds of London and this adversely affected EG and its relationship with its artists. So, Marine Coda 475 is a farewell (or a bit of nose- thumbing) to EG and by opening each show with that number, Fripp and the band are announcing their independence from EG. On the other hand, maybe it's just a good warm- up tune like "Discipline" or ELP's "The Barbarian". ASchulberg at aol dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: filipp at phyast dot pitt dot edu Subject: Re: Robert Fripp's birthday Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 15:33:36 -0400 (EDT) > > Just post me your ET query and I'llpost it to the list. > Here's the query: Hi, everybody! Does anyone know when Fripp's birthday is (including the date)? I would be greatful, if you can answer to my e-mail: filipp at venus dot phyast dot pitt dot edu Thanks, FiL [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 2 Jul 1995 11:26:21 -0700 From: jmcdonal at teleport dot com (Jim McDonald) Subject: Re: KC in Portland, Oregon USA--article In the Court of the Crimson King by Jim McDonald June, 1995 On March 21, 1972, I went to a rock concert in Winterland in San Francisco. It was my first King Crimson concert. Robert Fripp, the K.C. co-creator and lead guitarist, was all of 27 years old. The first acts were REO Speedwagon followed by Fairport Convention. The hall was packed. We sat under the balcony, about 5 rows from the back wall. The very sight of a band member on stage was the reward of constant neck stretching and head bobbing. My friend, Peter, and I never saw the main attraction because of a riff between Bill Graham and the City of San Francisco over ownership of Winterland, a spin-off of which was that the main floor of the concert hall was subjected to a police raid resulting in about 80 arrests. We spent several hours in Fillmore District Jail before being transferred S.F. County Jail for the rest of the weekend. It was cabbage soup and gray mush for meals. But that's another story. Twenty-three years and three K.C. concerts later, I arrived at the old fire trap, Starry Night, renamed the Roseland Theatre, for a hearing of the 1995 version of the same band. The sidewalk was lined with a wide array of ticket holders, mostly male in gender. Earrings, long hair, short hair, facial hair, and no hair adorned the early arrivals. Groupie-types perused the line-up, stealing smiles from on-lookers in search of an esteem-fix. (Sorry, I cannot report one cowboy sighting during the whole event.) It was getting to be circus time. Art, a television producer, was a scruffily-dressed, unshaven, large fellow in a full-length overcoat and a thick, rolled-up newspaper hanging out of one of his pockets. We stood together in line. Art knew several people passing on the sidewalk on a first name basis. He'd had never heard of King Crimson until a few weeks ago, but decided to buy a ticket on the advice of some crazed fan. "I hope there's no opening act", he moaned. Then the doors opened, and the theatre quickly filled. The opening act, in stark contrast to REO Speedwagon of the early '70's, was the California Guitar Trio. As their name suggests, their collective stage persona was unpretentious and calm. But they played music that could simply be called beautiful. First acts usually get a little bit of disrespect as the audience gets impatient for the Big Gulp. But after CGT's first number, the crowd was theirs. They played 35 solid minutes of wide-ranging, precision guitar pieces that had the ticket holders howling with appreciation. Amid the wild applause, Art turned to a friend and admitted, "I'm sold on 'em." Their CDs were selling at a furious pace at the back of the hall. Backstage, Paige Petersen, of Sir Hinkleman's catering service from McMinnville, was playing with bass player Tony Levin's 9 year-old daughter. " I don't know anything about King Crimson at all, but Levin's daughter--she was delightful", recalled Paige, "What was especially nice was watching how Levin paid so much attention to his daughter, and how devoted a father he appeared to be. That's what seemed unusual about Levin and the band in general. They paid special attention to the people around them. With us, they were extremely polite and complimented our work whenever they had the chance. I wish all the performers we cater to showed us the respect they and their whole crew did." When a group of people are pleased with what they're doing, they are pleased with what others are doing as well. When I heard and saw what this band did onstage, it was clear that they were well-seasoned virtuoso players who knew what they wanted to do, and went about the business of accomplishing it with a degree of restrained joy. Through their performance, they said to their audience, "We're here to play music the way we want to play. We're going to stretch the parameters of music to any limit we see fit, we've got the skills and talent to do it, and we'll knock your socks off in the process. Hang on to your brains, ladies and gentlemen, 'cause you're going to hear a real show." King Crimson features all six musicians: two percussionists, two guitarists, and two bassists. "Three of a Perfect Pair", as Mr. Fripp would say. Just when it appears as if one member is the dominant force in the band, another member emerges with a solo or lead that disqualifies your earlier guess, and so the dominant member keeps changing hands. The enigmatic Mr. Fripp sat in semi-darkness on a stool, legs spread apart, behind Adrian Belew, who gave the appearance of the band leader. Fripp behaved more like an orchestra musician rather than a rock icon. He rarely moved his head or body, even if his arms and fingers blurred in seemingly wild flurries of outrageous guitar riffs. During periods when others took the musical spotlight, his left arm would drop straight to his side, and he'd sit like a lonely lampshade, and then again spring to life at precisely the right moment, performing subdued wizardry that fit perfectly in place. While Belew pleased the audience as chief showman, wondrous musician, and superb vocalist, with Fripp in the backdrop behaving like a shadowy director, percussionist Bill Bruford was perhaps the most charismatic of the six members. He floated in the midst of his percussion set like a baby in a bathtub inner tube, bobbing and leaning, slamming and diving, all with the joy of a boy with a sundae. The music was gentle, sensitive, intelligent, complex, sometimes jazzy, other times blow-out loud (I knew when Art was going to plug his ears with his fingers. It was when my shirt began pressing against my skin to the rhythm of Bruford's occasionally VERY loud drumbeats.) The string players all used synthesized effects, so that Belew, for instance, may at any time be playing violin accompaniment or harpsichord solos from his guitar. After about 90 minutes and two encores, the band members left their instruments and lined up at center stage above the footlights. Standing before us and positioned at the center, Fripp looked incredibly, well, English: tight, rounded face, very short hair, small wire-rimmed glasses, shirt buttoned at the neck, slightly paunchy, and unusually short. He could have passed for a veteran MP, or an executive officer in an accounting firm. The wild and grateful audience stood and cheered. In response, the band smiled, waved, and then graciously bowed in unison before they marched off stage. On the sidewalk in front of the Roseland, Art was talking to more friends. I walked by to catch his comment on the concert. "Wow!." "Dinner-time for performers is usually around 11pm or 12 midnight", recalled Paige, who was still on the job after the concert. "We served salmon, bread, and salad, although some of the crew ate their fill at the hospitality table, with all the snacks. I remember one band member who did have dinner. He was a smallish fellow with glasses. Very thick English accent. He was very polite, asked for a glass of wine with dinner, ate slowly and quietly, and told us what a wonderful meal we served when he was finished." "Sam with the showing-scalp flat-top particular about the point it made... SAM WAS A BASKET CASE!!" --Don Van Vliet [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 2 Jul 1995 14:38:57 -0700 From: "Hartnett, Travis" Subject: Open letter to KC: volume and hazard An open letter to King Crimson: As a musician and sufferer of tinnitus, I was very interested to read Tony Levin's comments in a recent issue of Bass Player magazine regarding volume and hearing loss. In recent years, the taboo of discussing the very real damage sustained by musicians and those who work within the industry ("if it's too loud, you're too old") seems to be loosening, and I've been very gratified to see Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Sonny Landreth, Al DiMeola, Bob Mould, Neil Young and Kevin Shields reveal their varying degrees of disability. Given Crimson's apparent disregard for much of the standard rock posturing, I'd be very interested to hear how the other members deal with the hazards of regular exposure to loud music. Specifically: 1) What sort of hearing loss (if any) or tinnitus do any of the members suffer? 2) What monitoring system is being used on the current tour? Are amps on stage and used for monitoring? Do any of the members use in-ear monitoring and/or earplugs? 3) How loud, in dB is the overall on-stage volume level? 4) How loud, in dB is the house mix, measured at the sound desk? Have any specific instructions been given to the front-of-house soundman regarding the volume level? I'd appreciate any answers KC finds time to provide, and look forward to seeing you in Texas later this year. Thank you, Travis Hartnett [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Trent_Ernst%Douglas dot BC dot CA at cs dot man dot ac dot uk Subject: Crimsonchatr Date: Sun, 2 Jul 95 14:16:16 PDT Just read the June 30th issue of ET. Now I know why RF doesn't like meeting people after the shows. There was some real silly stuff happening there. Admitedly, it was coming from both sides. I would have to agree that communication over the internet, no matter what people'll tel ya, is still not an instantanious thing. there was definitly something lacking in the communication. But if I were Fripp, I don't think I would particularly like to expose myself to that mix of sycophantism, ignorism and foolishness. Or am I bitter because I didn't know that this was happening? Probably the latter. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 2 Jul 1995 14:57:55 -0700 From: John Relph Subject: Crimson Boots I wouldn't wear them myself, but does anybody have any of the following? Dead Fucking Bollocks bootleg 1974? Recorded Sheffield 1969. LP: 1974? ? KC 1710 Get Thy Bearings bootleg 1974? BBC recording 1969 and Weeley Festival 1971. LP: 1974 ? ILPS 6977 Cadence & Cascade bootleg 1974? Recorded Sheffield 1971 LP: 1973? ? HELP 21 Texas Hall Arlington bootleg 1974? Recorded Texas Hall, Arlington, 1973 LP: 1974? ? King Kong Shalom 30104240 Un Reve Sans Consequence bootleg 1974? LP: 1974? ? The Last Show bootleg 1975? Recorded live in New York City 1 July 1974. CT: 1975? ? Rosebud bootleg 1976 Recorded live in Hamburg 02.11.1973 and Pittsburgh 29.04.1974. LP: 1976 ? KING Heretic bootleg 1982? Recorded Pennsylvania 1974 LP: 1982? ? TAKRL 1968 Discipline bootleg 1982? Recorded London 1981. LP: 1982? ? UD 65678 Twilight LP bootleg 1982? LP: 1982? ? Hader 81/99 Revised bootleg 1982? Recorded live 1974, 1973 and 1981? LP: 1982? ? The Court of the Schizoid Man bootleg 1989? Recorded live at the Plumpton Festival 1969. CD: 1989? ? WBR CD 890905? Last Live Show bootleg 1991? Recorded live in New York City 1 July 1974. CD: 1991? JP ? 701-2 Return of Crimson King bootleg 1991? Recorded live 1969 CD: 1991? IT? Living Legend? LLR60? 21st Century Schizoid Man bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Amsterdam, 1973. CD: 1991? ? CHCD 1435? Easy Money Amsterdam 1973 bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Amsterdam 1973. Possibly same contents as Un Reve Sans Consequence. CD: 1991? ? RFR1030 Mirrors bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Rome, 1973. CD: 1991? IT Wild Bird WBR CD 9015 Return of the Crimson King bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Frankfurt 1973. CD: 1991 ? CO120 Live in Germany 1973 bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Germany 1973. CD: 1991? ? RFR1110? CD: 1991? ? TKCD 1110 Book of Saturday bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Amsterdam 1974? (possibly 1973). CD: 1991? ? FB111 (02.90.0111?) Exiles bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Pittsburgh 1974. CD: 1991? ? PYCD 055 Atlanta 1973 / Pittburgh 1975 bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Atlanta 1973 and Pittburgh 1975 (1974?). Probably not recorded in Atlanta in 1973. CD: 1991? ? SGRS 020 Doctor Diamond Starless and Bible Black Sleepless in Japan pirate 1991? Soundtrack of the Three of a Perfect Pair Live in Japan video. CD: 1991? ? MICRO6 American's Lament bootleg 1991? CD: 1991? ? Songs for Europe bootleg 1991? Recorded live in Amsterdam '73, includes BBC tracks '69. CD: 1991? JP ? NDAL 1001 Circus 1971 bootleg 1993? Recorded live at the Academy of Music, NYC, 1971. CD: 1993? ? CHCD 1434? Black Bible bootleg 1993? Recorded live in Toronto, 1974. CD: 1993? ? New Standards bootleg 1995? Recorded live in Montreal, 1984. Pirate? CD: 1995? IT American Concert Series ACS 010 Nuclear Fusion bootleg 1995? Recorded live 1972-1974. CD: 1995? JP ? 911003 Strange Tales of the Sailors bootleg 1995? Recorded live Denver 1972. Includes one track by Peter Gabriel featuring Robert Fripp. CD: 1995? JP ? 911802 Talk Sex with a Total Stranger bootleg 1995? Recorded live in Atlanta / Pittsburgh, 1970s. CD: 1995? IT American Concert Series ACS 041 Ultimate Live Rarities, Vol. 1 bootleg 1995? Recorded live in Portsmouth, UK, 1972. CD: 1995? JP ? ABCD 7462 Ultimate Live Rarities, Vol. 2 bootleg 1995? Recorded live in Oxford, UK, 1972. CD: 1995? JP ? ABCD 7463 March for No Reason bootleg 1995? Recorded live in 1969, plus BBC Top Gear and Plumpton Festival. CDx2: 1995? IT Archivio ARC? A Weird Person's Guide to King Crimson Vol. 2 bootleg 1994? Unreleased and live. CD: 1995? EU? Invasion Unlimited IU 9412-2? Formentera Memories bootleg 1995? Live at the Orpheum Theatre, Boston, 3/27/?. CD: 1995? ? CHCD 1432? Solve et Coagula bootleg 1995? Live in Rome, 1973. CD: 1995? ? If so, send in the details! -- John [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 2 Jul 1995 19:00:03 -0600 (MDT) From: bmccurdy at freenet dot edmonton dot ab dot ca Subject: Beatlesque sounds Back on the air after many months of lurking on and off... I've been following popular (esp. progressive) music since 1969, a watershed year which saw the release of, among others, "Abbey Road" and "In the Court of the Crimson King". It seems bizarre that only now, 26 years on (egads), comparisons are being made between the Beatles and KC. > > In the previous Elephant Talk, a similarity was pointed out between > "Walking On Air" ... in the chords, the melody, and the > general "vibe" (if you will) of the verses--with the Beatles' "Don't Let Me > Down." I, for one, keep hearing John Lennon coming in with his "Nobody > ever loved me..." line somewhere in the first repitition of the melodic > line. I heard the ghost of John Lennon right from the start of "close your eyes and look at me..." and several of my friends to whom I played "Walking on Air" all had the immediate same reaction. I don't know if this represents a style change, an affectation, or a maturation on Belew's part but it was unmistakable. "Dinosaur" sounds like a rather unusual merger between the singing styles of Lennon and David Byrne (although the lyrics themselves are pure Belew, as are (I think) the bleating dinosaur guitar squawks in the last instrumental which left me laughing helplessly when I tweaked on to what he was doing. I can't think of another group that even comes close to Crimson for musical humour). > Further, on the topic of Beatlesque sounds in this, the most digitally > streamlined record by a band born in '69 I've ever heard, I'd like to add > that there's /something/ about the VROOOM coda (aka the Marine track on > THRAK) that feels Beatlesque...Maybe it's the way impending chaos contrasted > with repition feels like the ending of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)... It's funny, I heard "I Want You" in there too, but not in "VROOOM Coda" but rather in "People". The repetitive riff in the last half of that song reminded me of about the first 1/4 of the extended riff in "I Want You", with similar notes (albeit more syncopated) and the same sort of metallic guitar sound - a Fender Stratocaster, perchance? It seems strange that KC, historically a cutting edge band who have influenced countless others, would allow their own influences to shine through their new music quite so transparently. Or is it just some of us are jumping to unwarranted conclusions? Cheers, Bruce [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 03 Jul 1995 12:48:43 -0500 (EST) From: steinka at UCBEH dot SAN dot UC dot EDU Subject: ET Post: New Psychodots CD is out! For all the Psychodots fans out there, the new CD has arrived! I have yet to get mine, so no review, but I'm sure its great. Its titled Awkwardsville, and can be ordered from: Umbrella Artists Management/Strugglebaby 513-871-1500 According to Bob Nyswonger, a second edition will be released on CD ROM, but don't know when. If you want to be added to my growing list of Dot fans you can email me at: STEINKA at UCBEH dot san dot uc dot edu Thanks for letting me slip this in amongst the KC tour commotion! Amy [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 4 Jul 1995 00:09:50 -0700 From: edumark at ix dot netcom dot com (chris hoard) Subject: This ain't no disco, ain't no country club either... this is... God? In LA? "Some day it's gonna come around..." --Clive Barker KC played to three sold out shows (or damn close) in LA at the Wiltern. Needless to bore all of you with a snare roll by Frippertronics dissection of the set. Comparing notes with other punters, I gather the set differed very little from night to night, having myself only witnessed the last of the performances (Saturday). I'll proffer a few vague, frippery quips: I share some of the criticisms voiced here earlier, but on the other hand, God payed my city a visit, and it's my observation he tends to leave his bishops, cantors, priests, mullahs, and rabbi's to sort out the notes, debate doctrine, if not lay into eachother with a savage lust to see rivers run crimson... After the recent earthquakes, it was apparent that an admiring and growing contingent of Southern Californians were quite relaxed as the walls shook, and the roof threatenned to cave in. The Wiltern in and of itself is a marvel, an acoustically superior hall with a mostly genuine 30s LA Deco motif (the sound was great, but save for 'Red' and 'Lark's' Fripp and Gunn seemed down in the mix. Having seen all three US tours of the 80's KC, this was indeed a glorious evening, and overall, gape-mouthed Angelinos discovered a more dynamic and varied set than with the past quartet incarnation. I share the view with other post-meisters here that 'Thrak' is a much stronger collection of pieces than 'Beat' or ToaPP. Adding 'Waiting Man' or 'Neal, Jack, and Me,' would have stretched the set to a roundly appetizing length, and clocking it around 85 minutes inclusive of encores, one could mutter 'less is more.' Admittedly, we would all have raptly sat there for a three hour set, but then I suppose the musicians would be carted off-stage in stretchers, and next year's tour would be cancelled. If it's possible, this was perhaps the greatest showcase for BB ever, because of PM. BB had ample opportunity to interact and explore in a percussionist role, and his drumming, dazzling and flawless as ever, in my opinion carried much of the show. BB's performance more breathtaking and memorable than anything I've seen him do or play since the 'Great Deceiver' gigs (I've seen every band he's toured with in LA since--UK, Bruford, Genesis, BB&P. Moraz, Yes)... This was a BB epiphany, if there ever was one. Likewise AB. His singing/songs and inter-dimensional guitar licks are more vital, refined, and focused than with the 80s KC. AB is as good a front man as KC could hope for--and it struck me how much this KC has clearly become his vehicle, more than any other member. If I could be critical at all... well, Now for some darker thoughts. If I were really flippant, I'd say, 'So where was Fripp?' Fripp's presence as a voice among the thunderous onslaught has audibly diminished since the '81 tour. Fripp, in clear view in the shadows between PM and BB, perched seated above his ensemble, struck me as more observer and commentator than participant. Some of that is attributable to the difficulty of seeing him. I'm a little sore, I suppose, because, having seen so many shows from the 80s tours, Fripp delivered many outstanding solos--just as he did with Sylvian/Fripp live. Perhaps RF feels this double trio version of KC doesn't really afford him that kind of space--however, Belew played numerous solos, all wonderful. Granted, one does not go to a KC show these days to see guitar solos, but the set I saw left me with a pang of longing that Fripp was behind the scenes in the music, as much with the expected averting spotlight. I remember the first KC tour at the Roxy and seeing RF play a solo on 'Neil, Jack&me' that nearly scalped my then hairy(er) head. When Fripp does emote, it's usually spectacular or horrifying--I missed that a bit with this show, contrary to comments about other nights. What was (sort of) new for me in terms of the difficult and rare armchair-sport of Fripp-watching (at a KC show anyway), was the immense sonic power unleashed in RF's synthish soundscapes. Vangelis would have been proud. RF, save ENO, is largely without equal as an architect of "ambient" pieces, and one interlude between tunes was stunning and sculpted as a perfect release from the mutant clatter synchronized between BB and PM. Ensemble high points, of course abounded. 'People,' -- simply killer. 'Elephant Talk' as upbeat and quirky as ever. 'Indiscipline,' -- I've never liked a version as much as the one I heard played. One improv session delivered for me, in about a two minute space, all the hazard, mahem, and inpiration of those 'Great Deceiver' era improvs. 'BaBoom' -- a thoroughly satisfying drum duet piece live. Tony and Trey's improv duet offered a singular instrumental dialogue. 'Lark's Tongue' and 'Red' seemed to be real high points for the crowd, along with 'ET.' Perhaps the most satisfying thing about the gig was all the young mouths agape, and eyes a-rolling. I'm 35, and I brought three initiates with me, one barely into college. All were amazed and enthralled. I'd surmize there was a huge contingent of crimsoid virgies in attendance. I can't help thinking that despite mainstream radio's avoidance of this band, they're on the verge of breaking out of the eternal cult status--or that cult is now becomming the biggest and most devoted of the rock variety. A few notable bats were in attendance as well. Now--lastly, the double trio thang. Is it more of a good thing, or two much clutter. If I wore my critic's hat (which fortunately I wasn't, a miserable trade...) I was ambivalent overall. Part of it was that for me, anyway, PM and TG didn't quite come off as well integrated into the music as my unrealistic expectations dictate. For much of the show, if I focused on PM, TG, or I daresay, RF, their sum musical contribution seemed equal to one TL, BB, or AB... (maybe even a half an AB). It was difficult to hear TG in the mix, for sure, unless he was soloing. In the bass register, the volume of his Warr contraption (aside from the duet) was noticeably faint in comparison to Levin's instruments. Which meant, for me, the subtlety of his doubling bass or lead lines, was largely lost. I guess my advice to TG is, to attain balance in this sort of ensemble, one needs to be aggressive (the lion's share of the time), and often shamelessly seeking the throne--being in the company of four progsy-kings. I guess my final shot at the doulbe-trio is, that it's a misnomer. It was the same supreme KC quartet as witnessed in the 80s, as powerful as ever, and not mellowed in the least, augmented in scarce pulses and spurts (and at times liberated) -- by a bullpen rhythm section. To be fair, the pre-Vroom material allows very little space for interpretations given that four (or two) of its original creators still breathe new life into that repetoire with unparalleled mastery. And PM, occasionally only holding down the back beat in half-time, serves as an able foundation for BB to stretch his limits (I was impressed overall when PM seamlessly aced a series of technical runs, leaving BB's legendary toms and snare--to ice drumming's equivalent of a four-layer black forrest cake--with equal doses of flamboyance and finesse). This was drumming not to be tasted--but to be eaten by. To quote a friend who had a chance to chat with BB at length, KC will be the only agenda (AB's and other's vacation plans excepted) for these musicians for the next 18 months (i.e. 2nd studio album & '96 tour). I'm (as only aqueous Californians can be) stoked they're back together--this grand experiment is like no other musical phenomenon, and my criticisms are really nits--or gnats. I'm sure Dr. Stephen Hawkings would clasify them as a singularity, given the gravity of their sound. As for an earlier post--a point of view which declared to paraphrase, that there was far more noise than music in evidence--I concur wholeheartedly in the context of an extremely narrow and comforting definition of music. There are, and always will be (the vast majority) of listeners to don't, can't, and never will... get it. No other ensemble, in the history of 20th century music, can claim to have redefined and expanded music as extensively as King Crimson -- that's STILL my take. Surveying the music scene recently in LA, I know most of those of my generation agree with me that, if you took all the rest of the acts appearing in major LA concert venues this year, and put them in in the Colleseum to play all day and night... Well, you'd have less music overall, and a far lower standard of musicianship than what KC delivered in 90 minutes. According to some legends, only God can appoint a true king. The God of these medieval times apparently was a lot more like you and me than most born-again yuppies would let on -- He was angry, menacing, and sacrificed many a brave, worthy knight to disembowel His enemies. And like the gentle closing ballad so perfectly sang by AB, a worthy God will sometimes remind his creations that he should be remembered as loving and compassionate. So, I suppose I'm less bothered about KC comparisons to God appearing here than I should be--or RF probably is. RF is that rare musician and teacher that leads by example... and discipline. He never fliches at summoning up his darker emotions in music, or shies away from an ever evolving musical technology, which can only be validified or moderated by artistry and craft. If there is a grand creator, I'd like to think of it as a being sharing many characteristics of the Fripp we know--kinda makes sense in a sick way. My advice is to make your own choice about God and let others make theirs without coercion. But when it comes to Kings, I think it's fair to preach here. Less fortunate brothers and sisters from South Central who missed the show, might attest to this profound truth as follows: 'The King was in de HOU'E!" -C.H. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 4 Jul 1995 10:01:24 -0400 From: Keelo at aol dot com Subject: Re: FBF concert dates > Could someone please post the japan dates of the THRAK. If your updating the list, you may also want to correct it. The concert listed at Poplar Creek, IL (Chicago) for the Three tour never happened. It was cancelled DAY OF THE SHOW!!! Very pissed off, my fellow Windy City fans and I were as we cruised the concert parking lot screaming for justice. I couldn't forgive the boys until I saw them in BA last year. The wait was (almost) worth it. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 04 Jul 95 16:45:38 -0700 From: Ashley Morris Subject: psychodots/bears/raisins Hi there, I have a psychodots/bears/raisins web page that your Adrian Belew fans may be interested in. http://sushi.st.usm.edu/~hamorris/pdots.html -- Ashley Morris: hamorris at whale dot st dot usm dot edu http://sushi.st.usm.edu/~hamorris "They say love conquers all, can't start it like a car, can't stop it with a gun." -- Warren Zevon [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 4 Jul 1995 18:24:39 -0400 From: ritch at mail dot htp dot com (Ritch Calvin) Subject: USA Beth Ustas Spellman writes: |Maybe all this has been discussed before, but anyway the point I am trying |to make, in a round about way is that "USA" SHOULD be released on CD, if |only for this improvisation and preferably without the fade-out. Of course |it goes without saying that "USA" has the added bonus of "Asbury Park". I thought USA _was_ released on CD. I had a copy of it in my hand the other day. Now, it _may_ have been a bootleg, but it certainly looked legit--not that I looked all that closely. It had the original line-up plus four additional "bonus" tracks. Now I guess I'll have to go back and take a closer look. Ritch Calvin [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: aprasad at ccs dot carleton dot ca (Anil Prasad) Subject: Lack of DGM releases in the USA? Date: Tue, 4 Jul 95 21:16:03 EDT Does anyone know what's goin' on with this new barrage of DGM releases in North America? As far as I know there's the new double live KC CD, _new_ Bob The Fripper soundscapes disc and a new release from the League of Crafties -- all out in Europe only! I'm eager to give DGM my money for these, however I haven't heard a peep about the North American distribution situation. Can someone enlighten us please? ~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~ Anil Prasad aprasad at ccs dot carleton dot ca ~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._.,-*~ [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: r dot derousse2 at genie dot geis dot com Date: Wed, 5 Jul 95 04:02:00 UTC Subject: King Crimson at Wimbeldon Crimso sighting: NBC started their Wimbeldon tennis highlights on July 4 with a few bars from Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream. Looks like their are other Crimsoid tennis fans out there besides myself! :) --Roy [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 05 Jul 1995 15:27:28 -0600 (CST) From: Z4K42 at ttacs dot ttu dot edu Subject: MISC: sylvian/fripp: redemption I was just watching a video of the sylvian/fripp road to graceland tour, when in an interview part they made mention of a concert that the two of them were doing in the P3 Gallery in tokyo. The theme was going to be redemption. i am assuming that the video I was watching was recorded sometime in 93, and they said that the concert was to be held in the "fall of next year", so i am further assuming that means 94. Does anyone know anything about this. is there video coverage of the event, and is there anyway of getting a hold o it. thanks, scott arnold [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 13:32:34 -0700 From: rpeck at pure dot com (Ray Peck) Subject: Fripp runout-groove reference to Derek Bailey? This just in from a Hidden List Whose Name I Cannot Reveal. For those who don't know, "truth and soul" is Jim O'Rourke, whose music has been well recommended here: >From: truth and soul >Subject: Re: the boogie switch >Date: Tue, 4 Jul 1995 02:05:23 -0500 (CDT) > >o.k so, as fripp said engraved in inner grooves of early 80's records "is >the year of Derek Bailey". well 1995 will be that year. really. anyway, Of course, there is a Fripp/Bailey connection (i.e., Jamie Miur). Did Fripp really write about Bailey in some old vinyl runout grooves? If so, wow. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 22:11:27 -0400 From: KristiP350 at aol dot com Subject: Crimson and women? I know the Crimson/female subject has been explored already but unfortunately I wasn't around for that. Now that the spring/summer tour has ended, maybe it's a good time to go back there... I was first introduced to KC by my older brother when I was fourteen. Discipline and In the Court of... quickly became musical staples. Much to our parents consternation. For the past fourteen years, but for rare exceptions, I have felt alone in my love for all things Crimson, at least where other women are concerned. Most females into it I've known have renounced their love for KC in God and proclaim the music intellectually disturbing. Unfortunately I don't believe they see the connection between God and the music KC produces. Their loss. Personally, that is one of my joys of the music. It knocks my head around and makes me think. The music has always been an intellectual and emotional release-the precision, the beauty of the dissonance, the incredible lyrics over the last 26 years. I saw a ahow during the ToaPP tour and I remember it to be great, but nothing there, and nothing in the eleven years since, prepared me for what I saw in Cincinatti and Denver. I was floored. The intelligence I revered was there-but a new sense of the music's sensuality came through. The music has always had a sensual element to me, especially LTiA, but I've never thought of KC as a sensual band. Maybe you know the feeling, that rush of warmth that tingles throughout your body right as acid kicks in. I felt that and was overwhelmed-without the aid of drugs. The music and the musicians were so powerful. I've seen a lot of bands perform and never felt this way. That I feel so strongly about this now is what perplexes me most. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was the musicians. Maybe it was the mix of seeing the music performed in such an intimate setting with them RIGHT THERE(after all this time of dreaming about it). Maybe it was seeing them perform the music and them being so into it(or so it seemed). Maybe it was the shows both being everything I hoped it would be, and more. I don't know. The whole experience was for me, amazing. -Do other women see the sensual element of the music? (Peripheral question- If men see it is that something that attracts them to the music?) - Are there any "converts" of women who didn't enjoy the music before that do so now that they were dragged to a show? (I know there were a lot of reluctant women out there) - Does anyone understand the *feeling* thing I mean? I'd like to hear what others think about this.... Kristi Pozza KristiP350 at aol dot com PS. My husband and I have discussed this several times since the Denver show. He understands what I mean about the sensuality of the music in Thrak, but doesn't share my view of the others.... [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 01:47:22 -0400 From: Scooobadoo at aol dot com Subject: New psychodots CD This is a news flash for all psychodots (you know, Fetters, Nyswonger & Arduser: the Bears minus Belew) fans... their third independently-released CD is now available! It's called _Awkwardsville_, and features q11 songs: Mattress, Prairie Dog Town, Hell, Bed of Nails, Joy & Madness, Lucky Me, When There's Rain, More to Life, Moaner, Human Bean, Playing Dead. If you're already a 'dots fan, you'll love it. If you are a Bears fan but haven't heard the 'dots, check it out. If you think THRAK represents Belew hijacking Crimson to Beatles-ville to your dismay, stay away from psychodots... they wear their love of pop melody on their sleeves. But you'd be missing some damned inventive and quirky touches that don't sound like anybody else. I believe the CD is available by mail, but I can't quote a price (I bought it directly from the band at a local show for $13). Call (513) 871-1500 or fax (513) 871-1510 for info, or write: Dots Fan Club & Merchandising PO Box 8385 Cincinnati OH 45208 BTW, I have some live 'dots and Bears shows and radio appearances that I'd love to trade for anything comparable, including (gasp) tapes from the current KC tour. E-mail me if interested, or just to blab offline about psychodots. And just to ensure this post contains some actual Crimsoid content: I saw the Cincinnati show from the 2nd row and it knocked my socks off. Anyone who's attended this tour and hasn't been moved at least a little is a dead fish in my book. David Ash (Scooobadoo at aol dot com) [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 6 Jul 95 09:13:42 EDT From: jh at cadre dot com (Joe Hartley) Subject: Re: Adrian doing "Me and my Arrow" In ET# 203, lantz at PrimeNet dot Com wrote >In ET #202 Lee S. Kilpatrick (Mr. Breeze) wrote: >>Adrian Belew does a song, though I can't recall its name or the name >>of the album. > >Well a friend of mine has it but I can't recall the CD name. The song is >"Me and My Arrow" which was recently a part of a Plymouth car commercial >(not AB's version) and also the music to a cartoon from many years ago. The song is "Me and My Arrow", by Harry Nilsson. It's from the GREAT caartoon "The Point", which I have not seen in years. Harry did the soundtrack, which is just great. I've been looking for it on CD for quite a long time, and have never found it. Yes, Plymouth used it to advertise their car "Arrow", but the song far outlived the car! AB is recording it for a Nilsson tribute album, which should be just great. "He's got a point there!" - Joe Hartley jh at brainiac dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: E#KIRKD at ccmail dot ceco dot com Date: Thu, 06 Jul 95 08:11:48 CST Subject: The Noise Hi All, A tidbit of info for those who like to know these types of things: the KC in Frejus video does not include 3 tracks that were played that night (Aug 27, 1982) - Thela Hun Ginjeet and Red (which came after Waiting Man), and Elephant Talk (which came before Indiscipline). My brother made a decent tape recording of the gig (that I believe only he and I have a copy of), and I only recently noticed the difference. It would be great if I could also get hold of a video of the recent KC shows I attended - I can't imagine them not including Red and Elephant Talk *this* time! Cheers, Daniel Kirkdorffer e#kirkd at ccmail dot ceco dot com [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 10:20:28 -0400 From: NLPDHE at aol dot com Subject: Tablature Anyone know where I can find tablature for "Fracture" of "Starless"? I have tab for "Red," "Exiles," "Schizoid Man," "Three of a Perfect Pair" and more that I would be willing to trade. Thrak in advance, -- Sean [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Subject: another (prob'ly) reply to Molmud Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 12:29:39 -0400 (EDT) From: "Albin Michael Rose" Hello, all, and welcome to what I suspect is another reply to Mr. Larry Molmud. Now, hold on, I'm not just going to flame "well, screw you, man! just--just screw you!" or anything incoherent. He may be pissed and feel a bit jilted, but he has some points. I can understand how he feels. When "The Sensual World" by Kate Bush came out, I was /profoundly/ let down by the grande dame of adventurous English pop. When "Out of Time" by R.E.M. was released, I knew my time with these rustic lads was likewise over. I even feel a twinge listening to "Nonsuch" by XTC, knowing their past successes. We've all been there. And, truth be told, THRAK was /not/ everything it could have been. I dug the calling card, VROOOM, and was content in the knowledge that Crimso would still interest me. I told my friends that this is the "percussion" version of Crimso, to just try to figure out the rhythms in the "sex sleep" break or in the center of THRAK. I was intrigued, I was happy. THRAK, though... Inner Garden I & II's guitar lines felt like Bauhaus, and cince there wasn't much else but voc & gtr, the similarity left me unable to think "Crimso." For me, bad Crimso is Crimso to be avoided. One thing I say to a disheartened Mr. Molmud is: Go put on In the Wake of Poseidon, or cue up Ladies of the Road. This isn't the first Crimso to lament. Radio I & II felt like filler--and to hear material like it played before the shows in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo only solidified this opinion. (Other bands have put such stuff "between" cd tracks, during the "-0:03" seconds it takes to cue up the next song. If the material had been presented this way, it would have been a pleasant surprise. As it stands, I expected something more considered, more labored over.) By the by, I'm the same feller that thought "Walking on Air" sounded like "Don't Let Me Down." And then there's the whole VROOOM VROOOM thing. I have to admit, I'm a newcomer to ETalk, so I'll leave this one alone. I suspect others have asked all the pertinent questions. So--Live. My main gripes live were much like Mr. Molmud's--not enough improv, a lot of soundscape. As far as rote readings of songs we've already heard--well. I was born in 1968 and was prob'ly not even in high school when they last toured. /I don't mind hearing this stuff live./ Granted, I was spoiled on The Great Deceiver" live set, but even I can admit this was over 20 years ago. I wish I could've seen Fripp's fingers, but don't we all? I recall in an interview with Belew that he said something to the effect that they want to give the audience 70% set material and 30% improvised. I felt it to be about 80-85% and 20-15% at both shows. The improv was within set pieces--all very interesting and IMHO /quite/ worth the price of admission--but we've all heard other bands do that. With Crimso, it's the drummers doing it too. Which is all very good, but we've heard these folks (at least Fripp & Bruford) do more. Much more. Mr. Molmud--I understand your frustration. It must be depressing to see your former heroes fall so far in your eyes. Geez, if King Crimson fails you in concert, what's left? You've gotta be hurting. But enough of this. To all offended by Molmud, hear him out. Look past his "what the fuck was that" personal jabs at Fripp. That's between Fripp and him. TO ANY MEMBERS OF KING CRIMSON **IF** YOU ARE READING: What is the band stance on total group improvization? When I Say Stop, Continue was good. The THRAK improv on VROOOM requested repeated listening. Is there any possibility of group improv in the future? If you'd be so kind, bring Trey Gunn up a bit in the mix. I could see him but not hear him. Based on Fripp's lighting, this is not to be desired. Mr. Levin: Please bring your CD with you if/when you return in the fall (as AB indicated you might). That's all. I'm off, by three decimal points-- AMR [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 15:07:21 -0400 From: AIMorrison at aol dot com Subject: crim tour i just got back from the gig which i had taken my girlfriend(a new crim head) here are some quotes "why is that guy hidding in the shadows"and "why is he not doing anything" "i didnt know G.gordon liddey played bass" "how many bands has A Belew not played with" and of course "that was the best gig ive been to in years" p.s. if belew,bruford.levin were to start their own band called king crimson would any one notice the difference or care? [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 9:15:08 +0300 (CET-DST) From: "nella primavera fuori del tempo, l'albero secco fiorisce" Subject: First Day, Crimson photo, Alice I wish to open this post thanking all ET writers and Toby especially. I wasn't a King Crimson fan and my first approach with Fripp was through Sylvian's Gone to Earth. On 14 June 1992 I attended in Bari the Sylvian/Fripp/Gunn concert "The first day". Opened by California Guitar Trio, the concert was unforgettable. My attention was captured by the unusual instrument Gunn played, as if he played at the same time guitar, bass and drums, and by Fripp's personality and guitar technique (and by strange gestures he made towards someone in the dark on his left, maybe a sound technician, during the concert). Local press presented the concert as the first performance of "The First Day" and the first time Fripp and Sylvian played live together. Do you know if it is true? After that concert I decided to experience King Crimson music and buyed Discipline: it is one of the best CD I ever heard. And when I found the Toby's King Crimson home page I subscribed Elephant Talk. Only reading the issues (from #185) I knew of Thrak and buyed it. I like Thrak very much, the parts I prefer are all the instrumental pieces (has VROOOM six letters to remind us of the double trio?) and the sequence Radio I, One Time, Radio II. In a CD where all the songs follow each other almost without blank, the 16 seconds of silence at the end of VROOOM VROOOM sound as music. I retrieved the Crimson photo from Toby's WWW page but I recognize only Fripp and Gunn: could someone please tell me who is who in the photo? At the end of this post I wish to review the last work of Alice distributed in Italy in these days. Her CD, named Charade, can be classified as ambient music, close to Sylvian atmospheres. Trey Gunn plays Warr guitar in 6 songs (out of 12), and CGT play in 2 gorgeous pieces in one of which Paul Richards adds an electric bow guitar. In an other piece PR plays bow guitar without the whole trio. A very good work published by Warner Music, WEA. The case and the booklet of CD have a design identical to Thrak's. Stefano pezzuto at le dot infn dot it [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 06 Jul 95 22:00:11 EDT From: "Neil J. Cavanagh" <76111 dot 3636 at compuserve dot com> Subject: Gabriel list Sorry to interrupt our elephant talking but I am trying to find the right address for the Peter Gabriel digest mailing list (if it still exists.) If someone has this info, e-mail is welcome. Thanks to Toby and all, NJC P.S. Guitar magazine has a transcription of '3 of a Perfect Pair' in its August issue. There is no major article unfortunately, only some ideas on reproducing the guitar sound in the solo (good luck!) Another note: Fripp and the Crafties hosted VH-1 New Visions back in 1989 and they played a tune called 'Thrak.' It was, I believe, the same slashing polymetric cycle that we have come to know and 'love'. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 11:42:30 -0400 From: Cahalan at aol dot com Subject: Hot Date Last night in my office I listened to an old, worn cassette of Discipline. The music from side two bled through and could be heard at the end of side one - but backwards. I listened closely and could hear Thela Hun Ginjeet playing backwards. "Thela Hun Ginjeet" sounded like "She describes me." Strange. And ironic. I have been mulling over my impression of the Cincy show (6/9), wanting to compose a contribution to ET. I don't know if I *can* describe it. It was hot, surreal and complete. Thrak, performed before me, was an epiphany of reason. Its genius, concealed to me before, revealed itself through these music masters. I was totally struck by the interplay of the two drummers. I was amazed that it was two pieces, the fit tight and on time. I was especially impressed with this in "Thrak" when Mastelloto smacked once in between Bruford's two strikes. Dinosaur. . . that spill of pure sex rock after the pregnant pause near the end sends me. I looked out over the 11 rows before me; heads were bobbing in unison, enjoying the (pardon the expression) "mind f**k". And it was hot, hot in that theatre. The air was saturated with sound and we all became drunk on it. Perhaps that is why it was so consuming of a performance. Is that what Fripp means by a "hot date." On the way back to the hotel, Kristi said, "How 'bout f**king Robert Fripp, man?" and I totally thought the same thing. We both thought he looked very cool sitting back there, a ray of green light caressing him occasionally. He seemed like a spirit up there, while the rest of them, in a clearly physical state, performed as a *result* of him *being* there in that spiritual state. He's intense, that's for sure. Better we were *more* of us that way. Kathleen [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 17:09:45 +0100 From: James Collett Subject: Seeing is not hearing It seems that a good number of people are disappointed that Robert Fripp has not been made visible by the spotlight at the recent live King Crimsom shows. This is, I guess, a shame for those people who want to see that Mr Fripp's hands and fingers _really_are_ bringing about those sounds. (And who can blame them?) Seeing is believing? However, this reminds me of a comment made by Allan Holdsworth, when he was talking about people's reception to his use of the Synthaxe in preference to the guitar. He said that too many people listen to music with their eyes, instead of their ears. ___________________________________________________________________________ James Collett JamesC at bartley dot demon dot co dot uk ("work") It's not the end of the world but from here you can see it. ___________________________________________________________________________ [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 17:06:04 +0100 From: James Collett Subject: Elephant Talk Numbers In Elephant Talk #202 Fernando Simonotti writes:- > I am not willing to turn this into any sort of argument but does it > necesarilly follows from the numbers of ET subscribers that argentinian > Crimson fans are ten times less numerous than australian C.f.? Maybe it depends upon where the reaction starts. Perhaps the first person to catch the ET Wave in Australia did so a few months before the first person to do the same in Argentina. The news travels from there. And quick. I do appreciate that the Internet is not bounded by geography and yer typical demographics. That's one of its wonderful, liberating features. However, most of the people I communicate with via the net _are_ in the same country as me (so far). > I understand your impatience but not your implied derision. What impatience?! What derision?! You don't believe me! The explanation was going nowhere. ... ... By the way, to those folk who have been painstakingly transcribing various interviews with various members of the Fripp Brothers jump Jive Sextext ;-}, my thanks! They are most appreciated -- by me at least. ___________________________________________________________________________ James Collett JamesC at bartley dot demon dot co dot uk ("work") It's not the end of the world but from here you can see it. ___________________________________________________________________________ [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Craig Dickson Subject: GIG REVIEW: KC in SF 6/25 Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 13:50:23 -0700 (PDT) Well, I've just read the latest ET and am rather surprised at the negative reactions of a couple of people to KC's shows at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco. While it's always possible that the Saturday and Monday shows were vastly inferior to the Sunday night show that I saw along with my wife and two friends, I rather doubt that it was all *that* different. One ET writer described the CGT's performance as "unimpressive". I find it hard to believe that anyone who was actually there for their show could say such a thing. I would say that their show was a bit short on passion, but certainly from a technical perspective their performance was amazing. They are three highly-skilled guitarists who display incredible unity together. The only criticism I would make of their show was that it was too loud; acoustic guitars have some very strong high-frequency transients that can be quite painful to the ear when overamplified. My ears were ringing for a couple of days after the concert, and I think the CGT probably had more to do with that than KC. I am a long-time KC fan (since the early '80s); my wife was introduced to their work fairly recently; the other two people with us had heard very little of KC's music. So in our group, we had quite a range of level of knowledge of KC and could be expected to react accordingly to the concert. All four of us were completely blown away by KC's performance Sunday night. We found Fripp's position in the shadows rather intriguing; it gave the impression that he was at the center of it all, leading the band from within, surrounded by his more visible helpers. KC's music has always had a quality to it that suggested that there was more to it than met the eye; Fripp embodied that quality by his location and indirect lighting. It was a master-stroke of staging. As for complaints that the band's performance was without passion, all I can do is strongly disagree. If you couldn't perceive it, that's your loss. Particularly bizarre is the whine of one person that KC played the songs the same as on the albums. One can only wonder if he was paying enough attention to notice the many deviations from the original recordings of various pieces. If he wanted more improvisation, well, there wasn't a lot of that, but that's true of most concerts; most performers vary their routine a lot less than KC do. One writer described the Warfield's sound as poor. From my location near the middle of the balcony, I would say the upper-treble range was a bit overemphasized, and I often couldn't tell what Trey Gunn was playing, but this appeared to be location-dependent; I heard the second encore, "Walking on Air", from near the far-right balcony entrance (we were preparing for a quick exit once the show was definitely over), and the sound was less trebly there, though also somewhat muddier. So the other writer's dissatisfaction with the sound may have simply been due to poor location. My only dissatisfaction with the show was the quality of the audience. Most of our fellow concertgoers were civilized enough, but despite two requests from the stage (one by the announcer, the other by Adrian) that people not smoke, there was a definite marijuana odor floating around. Additionally, there were a few people boorish enough to boo the CGT and shout song titles during KC's show. Craig [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 3 Jul 95 14:54:25 PDT From: lspirito at thomas dot com (Louis Spirito) Subject: GIG REVIEW: KC in LA! By now -- most everyone has seen the band as they blew across the US. I was fortunate to catch the final show of their US tour on July 1st at the Wiltern Theatre in LA. It is the first time I have seen KC and I am proud to say that the show soared well beyond my expectations! This band, more than any other I have ever seen -- and I've seen most -- played with a rare intensity that is seldom seen in any other group of 'musicians'. A truely delightful experience. If you have not seen this band live, then you are missing the essence of their music. It is an understatement to say that their studio recordings are outshined by their live presentation. Additionally, a pleasent surprise was the opening act, "The California Guitar Trio". Some truely amazing and thoughtful playing. This is the first time I have ever seen an opening act recieve a standing ovation -- Let alone Two! Bravo! Lou Spirito -- Anaheim, CA [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 30 Jun 95 10:14:30 PST From: "Allen Huotari" Subject: GIG REVIEW: prog rock pond scum; KC in LA 6/29/95 I'll leave the detailed review to others, but will share a few anecdotes: funniest moment: for the Gunn/Levin duet preceding 'Elephant Talk', Gunn begins the proceedings. He concludes a beautiful, moving, evocative solo on the Warr, looks over to Tony Levin and waits for him to begin...and waits...and waits...but nothing from Levin. Finally Levin pipes up: "I guess I'll plug in" second funniest moment: Adrian Belew's opening line for 'Indiscipline': "I do remember one thing...I'm glad Tony plugged in" (btw, Belew's indisciplinary digressions for the evening included a rebuttal to an article in the LA Weekly which speculated that KC were either the best rock band since the Rolling Stones or were simply prog rock pond scum. Belew theorized that the Weekly was confused and that KC were in fact the best pond scum since the Rolling Stones. Maybe you just had to be there. Another digression included a commentary on Hugh Grant but this is best left undocumented) most annoying moment: to the yutz who screamed out 'Hocus Pocus !' during the silent pause in 'Dinosaur'. most frightening moment: Fripp's soundscape prior to 'Thrak' Absolutely menacing. If it were possible for a piece of music to suddenly break free and come to have a will of it's own, this was it. Threatening, malevolent, I liked it. least surprising moment: the CGT, who were inevitably outstanding most surprising moment: the entire KC set! Although I anticipated an excellent show, my expectations were far surpassed. conclusion: see this band by whatever means necessary [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 05 Jul 95 11:34:39 -0700 Subject: GIG REVIEW: KC GIG REVIEW, Seattle From: mikel at oz dot net (Mike Lempriere) Sorry about taking two weeks to get around to type in a review, but I was stuck out of town on business all last week without e-mail. (And of course, now that I'm typing about it, I don't have the time to do a very thorough job of it...) I caught King Crimson in Seattle at the newly refurbished Paramount Theater June 22nd. Overall rating on the scholastic scale would be an "A minus". California Guitar Trio opened. Summarized nicely by my friend Mark, "They're certainly nimble". Technically proficient, but not very cohesive. There was no particular leader, and their interplay was uninteresting. They just didn't have the power to pull the audience in. Their portion of the gig I'd rate at a "C plus" to "B minus". KC was wonderful. The same set and jokes as everyone else has observed in other cities on the ElehantTalk list. Belew messed up the timing a bit on Indiscipline, including the checking of the watch. He also goobered up the words a bit on Elephant Talk, including dropping "these are words with a D this time" entirely. What scares me the most is that I noticed; jeez how many times have I played this disk? Fripp was only visible when the whole band came out for the final bow. Of course he wouldn't step all the way into the spot, he just came forward until the spot was on his neck, not his face, then proceeds to shade his eyes and scan the house. Is he really that insecure? Could barely hear Trey, he was a bit low in the mix. As observed earlier in ETlist, I believe he's still finding himself a place in the music. This was a bit disappointing. Levin is perfection embodied on earth, nothing more to say. I'm not a drummer, so I had a bit of a time telling apart the contributions of Bruford and Mastelotto; taken as a whole, the percussion was wonderful. The interplay between the two on B'Boom was grand! Two observed badnesses; the Paramount acoustics aren't all that great. I was there a few weeks earlier to see Jelly's Last Jam, and for that show you could hardly make out a single word. It was somewhat better for KC, but still rather muddy, kinda like those lower-end Bose speakers that stereo salesmen used to try to foist off as being really great, back in the early 80's. Secondly, you know that loudmouthed drunken shithead that's at every gig? Well there 3 of them at this gig. One on the main floor, one on the east balcony, one on the west balcony. The guy on the west balcony was in the seat next to me. Not a few rows over or a few rows back, he was bumping elbows with me. He stood up blocking the view of people behind him, he screamed frequently, he played "air drums" bumping everyone around him, and generally pissed off lots of people. Why did he have to get the seat right next to mine? I was hoping to catch them again a week later in San Diego, but life seldom works that way. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Mark Lewin Date: Wed, 5 Jul 95 17:54:16 PDT Subject: GIG REVIEW: KC, Seattle, 6/22 Mike Lempriere has already posted a detailed review. I'll add my slant. I'm lucky enoug to have seen KC both times they were in Seattle in the 80's: at the Showbox on Nov. 30, 1981, and in 1994 on the 3oaPP tour. The 1981 show was a complete epiphany and is still one of my favorite three shows of all time. so, I went in with mixed expectations and came out with mixed feelings. [ramble alert: this is stream-of-consciousness...] CTG were about dexterity and histrionics to this listener. They don't quite have the chops to dazzle, the nuance to move, or new musical ideas to make me care. they seemed like nice folks though. KC played the well-documented setlist. thoughts: Fripp was in great form but his guitar was never well-featured in the mix. Belew's guitar dominated the sound. Double arghhh! Fripp breakout in the middle of 'Red' was buried! Levin: Awesome! though i don't know why he jettisoned the rolling hammer-ons that start 'Elephant Talk'. his stick duet/duel with Trey didn't gel. they took turns playing, but their musics weren't talking with one another. i know it's not a competition, but Tony spanks Trey. Bruford: godlike as usual, and his yellow suit jacket was stunning! Trey and Pat were at a double disadvantage: (1) the arrangements for all but the new tunes aren't accomodating of so many players, and (2) in my opinion they don't have the musical personalities/egos needed to hold their own in the company of the 80's players. i'm not confident that this will improve over time. with the 70's and 80's KC, i got a good sense of what each player was bringing to the game in ideas and music. Pat and Trey are obviously super-skilled but when i listen to the music, live or recorded, they're just *not there* somehow. Belew: for me, the sore spot of the evening. First, he rushed through all the 80's KC tunes like they were tedious obligations. particularly on 'Matte Kudasai' his delivery was so hasty that the seagull slides lost their beauty and became mere special effects. speaking of which: the digital MIDI-ized Belew is not near as interesting sonically as the old Analog "mr. feedback" Belew. The elements of risk are removed from his sound... [at some point KC should consider retiring 'Indiscipline' from live performance. It, 'Thel Hun Ginjeet' and to lesser degree 'Elephant Talk' are novelty tunes, lyrically speaking. As Mike noted, they seem to bring out the worst in certain members of the audience.] my main beef w/ Belew is that he has become Comfortable On Stage (tm). He's a Front Man (tm). he seemed to exude more 'Rock Star Nobility' than ever before and i thought he was coasting through the set, which he ended by saying that this show was his most memorable ever in Seattle. Hey Adrian, how about the Astor Park in 1985 when the Bears pushed you into playing 'Purple Haze' as an encore for the first time? That was sure more memorable for me! all in all, a mixed affair but I'm very glad i went. i'd love to see them boil back down to a Fripp/Bruford/Levin trio. live at least, those are the guys making it happen. ciao! mark [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 12:41:26 -0400 From: ASchulberg at aol dot com Subject: GIG REVIEW: Rolling Stone review of NYC gig Review of King Crimson concert in ROLLING STONE, Issue 712/713, July 13-27, 1995, by Steve Futterman.(Abbreviations for band members added) King Crimson New York Town Hall, June 4, 1995 "Officially, it's been a decade since King Crimson played together in any form. But at Town Hall the newly revamped band sounded as if it had been practicing clandestinely every weekend for the last 10 years. Shuffling rhythms and interlocking instrumental parts with offhand ease, King Crimson combined their trademark prog-rock sound with an increased emphasis on texture and discordance. It wasn't near Sonic Youth or the Orb territory, but King Crimson's contemporary thrust couldn't be denied. Crimson are a double trio these days. Two guitarists (RF and AB), two drummers (BB and PM) and two Chapman stick players (TL, also on bass, and TG) hold down the middle and the bottom end. Together they compose an airtight unit that treats each instrument as part of a musical jigsaw puzzle. The two-hour set concentrated on material from King Crimson's latest recording, THRAK, with slamming versions of "Dinosaur," "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" and the pounding instrumental "VROOOM". Throughout, Fripp, Crimson's founder, leader and aesthetic guru, took a nearly behind-the-scenes stance: perched on a stool in near darkness, etching the complex structures of a piece with sleight-of-hand fretwork and conjuring yowling screams of guitar noise or lyrical sprays of melody through his Frippertronic effects. An unusually animated (for Crimson) Belew took the frontman role, juggling vocals with his own dexterous guitar playing. The driving rock drumming of Mastelotto blended perfectly with Bruford's looser, swinging stickwork; Gunn moved in and around Levin's melodic bass parts. With solos and instrumental passages that stressed sonic experimentation over instrumental virtuosity, King Crimson buried their image as purveyors of ice-cold fusionesque indulgences. Their music now has all the aural enchantment- and commotion- that marks adventurous pop in the '90s." [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] The views expressed in Elephant Talk are those of the individual authors only. Elephant Talk is released for the personal use of readers. No commercial use may be made of the material unless permission is granted by the author. Toby Howard, Elephant Talk editor. http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/staff-db/toby-howard.html toby at cs dot man dot ac dot uk [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]