Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk Digest #478 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 478 Wednesday, 25 March 1998 Today's Topics: NEWS: ET newsletter on the Web -- a new look NEWS: BLUE Elephant Tape NEWS: ET Tribute Survey ProjeKct 2, Tony Levin, 'n' more Fripp - soul and spirit Various Things Sans Consequence ETelETubbies RE: Greenslade The Funny Side of P2 at Ventura... Yes/ELP vs Crimson/Eno Ian Wallace Crimson Mp3's and Fripp/soul? Mylon Le Fevre & Alvin Lee Connection Re: back-patting Re: Wallace's bands Larks' Tongues Part One "Lyrics" att: drummers, cheap bruford midi file spotted Eric Clapton's Pilgrim Ten Seconds/Fripp quotes Warr Guitar for sale Drummer wanted Suggestion: DVD DefEds '99 GIG REVIEW: Projekct Two in SF GIG REVIEW: ProjeKct 2 at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco GIG REVIEW: ProjecKt 2, House Of Blues, Los Angeles 3/24 ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com, or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ to ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ETWeb: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ You can read the most recent seven editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/cgi-bin/newslet.pl IRC: Regular get-togethers at #ElephantTalk on Undernet Sundays at Noon PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT Mondays at 6pm PST / 9pm EST / 2am GMT THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmeister) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest system v3.5b (relph at sgi dot com). ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Wed 25 March 1998 From: Toby Howard (ET Moderator) Subject: NEWS: ET newsletter on the Web -- a new look As part of our programme of continuous improvement at ET, :-), we've modified the look and feel of the newsletter as posted on ETWeb. It now uses frames and we hope this will be more convenient for people. If you currently receive the full newsletter by email, you might like to consider receiving instead just a brief announcement comprising just subject lines, and reading ET on the Web at your leisure. You can read the most recent seven editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/cgi-bin/newslet.pl And you can change your subscription details using the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ Cheers Toby ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 02:47:45 PST From: "Jeffrey Weinberger" Subject: NEWS: BLUE Elephant Tape Tony Levin sent the new Bruford Levin Upper Extremeties disc to Elephant Tape. Some tracks are now on the page, you can find them at: http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/3112/etape If you'd like your music to appear on E Tape, write for submission information. So far, we've been able to put every person who sent in a tape on the page for at least a month. --Jeffrey Weinberger ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 23:48:08 EST From: DanKirkd Subject: NEWS: ET Tribute Survey Just a quick word to mention that due to a technical error on my part, answers submitted for the ET Tribute survey on either Monday March 23rd or Tuesday March 24th did not get recorded. If you responded on either of those days please find a moment to fill out your answers again before April 1st. If you haven't yet sent in your response and comments, please do so. We've been getting a lot of interesting comments from people so far. Thanks, Dan ET Web ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 14:57:05 -0500 From: "Bill Knispel" Subject: ProjeKct 2, Tony Levin, 'n' more Just a few comments from a new ET'er 1st...regarding Tony Levin the 'bass whore,' as he has been labeled a few times over the past few issues...could it be possible that he his simply so engrossed in his instrument that he willplay for anyone, no matter what? Where does it say that a musician needs to chain himself to one art form to exclusion. I am happy to have Liquid Tension Experiment (feat. Levin), hopefully getting B.L.U.E., etc. I like his work with Gabriel. Just because he isn't recording a new Crim album (yet) is no reason to slam him. He is a musician. Let him make his own musical decisions 2nd...regarding ProjecKt 2...a number of dissenting reviews recently. I've not seen nor heard the material, so I can't comment on its musical integrity. But it is not Crim...it is ProjeKct 2. To attend a concert expecting to hear Crim is to go in expecting to be disappointed. Fripp, like Levin, can make his own decisions as to what Crim is. the ProjeKcts are not Crim. Would we all have been happier if he had not termed these fractals as 'Crim R&D?' Perhaps. Perhaps some people's expectations would not have gotten so high. When one goes to see (as an example) Fripp doing soundscapes, one does not expect 'Red' or 'People.' Fripp has stated that music should be invited into ones self, not listened at. Crim fans should know better than to expect anything other than what they get at any Crim-related gig, and to state that the Crim-fan will not enjoy such a show is to make a blanket assumption that might not be true. Fripp is Fripp. He performs some of the most challenging music available in a mainstream marketplace today. Enjoy it and support it, or else we'll all be stuck marching along in step-time chantong out the lyrics to 'Wannabe.' Shudder. Have a Crim-full day. Bill Knispel 'one eye goes laughing one eye goes crying through the trials and trying of one life.' ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 12:22:45 PST From: "Dick Ross" Subject: Fripp - soul and spirit Hello Team, Does Fripp have soul? In my ear I hear it. An older black blues guitarist I worked for as a drummer told me once that you did not have to be black to have soul. That it was a matter of reaching deep. Three examples of playing without soul would be: 1) playing without commitment - not being in the moment. ("When is this set going to be over? I'm looking at my watch now.") 2) playing only from the ego - playing that says nothing unless it is compared to someone else's playing. ("Dig this, dig me, dig me, DIG ME, and also dig me too.") 3) faking it - playing the latest riffs and the classic cliches and saying nothing at all. (" Wow! Yo yo, check this out, for real! Man, this is out! rock on! Do you know what I mean? But auh... Yeah!") I'm sure you can think of other examples. Fripp is just not like that. He can say more with a single note than most players around because he is committed to what he is doing, note for note. If commitment does not come from the soul it is not commitment. The spiritual teachings of the Native Americans of the south-west, the Hopi, the Navajo and others teach us that the human state is of body, soul, mind and spirit. Soul and spirit being two separate states of existence. These are very spiritual people and they see every thing on the planet having spirit including the planet itself, The Earth Mother. Spirit is like fire, it burns high it burns low and like flames of fire can join to form a single larger flame, spirits can unite to form a single spirit. Soul would be that which is completely separate from the rest of the universe and unique unto yourself - your soul. When two musicians are performing together you have two souls committing to the spirit of the music to become one spirit. So you have two souls performing sharing a single spirit. Fripp is very astute at this. Not only is he a soulful player but a spiritual player as well. He is very aware of the spirit of the music,the spirit of the members of the band, the spirit of the band, the spirit of the time, the spirit of the place and the spirit of the audience. He is committed from the soul to the spiritual nature of the whole event of a performance. As a member of the audience you can be committed as well. Some may be bad to the bone but Fripp is deeper than that. Just an observation, Dick Ross ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 22:17:13 GMT From: et at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk (Elephant Talk) Subject: Various Things Sans Consequence > From: Stephen Drake > Subject: The Night Watch - Une Reve sans Consequence Speciale > > Well, I finally got out the old bootleg, and spun it, and > was immediately intriqued, because it's different music at > the start. Specifically: the start of side one, The > Mincer, of the bootleg, is a different performance than > the corresponding cut on the cd, the Fright Watch. Really? I know that the album calls the first track 'The Mincer' but it's clearly the same track as 'The Fright Watch'. As far as I can remember, 'The Mincer' (as it appears on 'Starless And Bible Black') was an improv - later overdubbed - recorded in Zurich. > From: "Michel Champagne" > Subject: Greenslade and PFM > > I always likened PFM as closer to KC than ELP because, > while there was always a lot of organ and synth, ther was > also a LOT of mellotron, which Keith Emerson never touched > on record, to my knowledge. Emerson never touched a Mellotron on record or on stage, as far as I am led to believe. The story is (supposedly - who knows?) that Emerson didn't care for the instrument because it didn't allow for fast lead lines. More fool Emerson, I say. :-) > From: flaherty michael w > Subject: Is Fripp still reading? > > Recently, while going through the "Fripp's Postings" > section of the web, I noticed that Robert doesn't write to > ET as much as he used to. Well, Hugh at DGM still gets ET and it's he that prints it out for Robert to read. Mike Dickson - Elephant Talk Administration (et-help at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk) For subscription information post HELP to et-admin at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 10:57:11 +1100 From: j dot keens at rmit dot EDU dot AU (Jeremy Keens) Subject: ETelETubbies was doing the ironing this morning and channel surfing when the teletubbies came on. as a radio TV critic had remarked on the hallucogenic nature of this program i gave it a viewing - and it is indeed very weird. but someone mentioned in passing that toyah was a teletubby voice - i caught the credits which indicated she was not the voice of one of the stars, but rather an additional voice (there was a voice chanting 1/2/12 or such to which the TTs 'danced' which reminded me of sunday all over the world. so REAL Fripp fanatics should watch all episodes of teletubbies, identifying which parts are spoken by 'mrs fripp', comparing them, identifying the best toyahteletubby solo etc. perhaps we should start a new parallel list: Tele Talk or Tubby Talk (i thing the best scans better: (puts on tone perfect imaginary Belew voice) Its all talk, tubby talk. again, again (i was going to repeat all the above, for those in the tubby know, but i won't: however this tele-phrase could be used when someone wants to resurect a thread) jeremy ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 16:53:31 -0800 From: Michael Tanigawa Subject: RE: Greenslade I'm glad someone remembers this band. I recently managed to find their first two albums on cd after years of searching. The overall sound I would describe as a combination of Atomic Rooster and Steely Dan. The purely instrumental pieces are better, mainly because they do not suffer from Dave Lawson's vocals. He is probably the worst singer I have ever heard. I am not sure from where he draws his inspiration. Maybe he is trying to copy Donald Fagan, although not very successfully. Is this "prog"? Probably not, even though it is awash with mellotrons. I would classify it as pop. The opening notes of the first cut on "Greenslade" (I think it's called "Feathered Friends") reminds me of the transition between "Lizard" and "The Battle of Glass Tears". It is quite good, in spite of the fact that Lawson sings on it. My favorite from this album is "Melange", with the multitracked bass taking the place of the missing guitar. The second album "Bedside Manners are Extra" is not as good as the first, but still quite good. There is a mellotron piece called "Pilgrim's Progress" which I've been playing repeatedly for a month now. The flutes sound a bit like those on "Trio". Of course McCulloch does an excellent job on all of the songs. It's unfortunate that his performances are so rare. Mike Tanigawa ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 17:02:07 -0800 From: "David A. Lichtenfeld" Subject: The Funny Side of P2 at Ventura... Hi All Crimson fans, Ok, I know a lot of you didn't like my posting panning P2 at Ventura. Sorry, but everyone's entitled to their opinion. A funny, true story did arrise from the occasion: Just when the show was just beginning, with Fripp walking out and starting to get some loops going, the house lights were still on. A guy sitting in front of us asked the waitress, "Hey, when are they going to turn the lights off?!" The waitress replied, "As soon as he's done tuning his guitar." My friends and I told her that he wasn't tuning his guitar and that the show had started! She scurried-off red in the face! -Dave Lick ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 17:31:56 -0800 From: Nic dot Roozeboom at sv dot sc dot philips dot com (Nic Roozeboom) Subject: Yes/ELP vs Crimson/Eno Reacting to the following post by Michael Flaherty: >Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 13:06:52 -0600 (CST) >From: flaherty michael w >Subject: KC, ELP, Yes > >Some unimportant thoughts on the recent "prog rock" (how I >wish that term would evolv into something useful) >discussion: > >In Eric Tamm's book on Eno he refers to ELP and Yes as >romantics, and to Eno and Fripp as classicists. While this >definition may not be agreed on by all, it may help explain >why some of us cannot get enough of Fripp/KC, and yet find >Yes and ELP less than completely enjoyable to listen to. Of >course, these bands are similar as they are all classically >influenced. Furthermore, it is not at all unusual for one >person to enjoy Classic and Romantic works of art. I haven't read Tamm's work, but the terminology used (the juxtapositions of "classical" and "romantic") flashes me back to Robert M. Pirsig's work, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". In that context, I think the Yes/ELP vs Crimson/Eno distinction makes sense. Regards, Nic Roozeboom ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 18:23:44 +0600 From: Yuri Zykov Subject: Ian Wallace Hello, dear ETers! I'd like to make a little addition to John Smallwood's list of Ian Wallace's bands. As far as I know, in 1971 Ian Wallace played with Alexis Corner's band called 'Alexis' (with Boz Burrell and Mel Collins by the way!). I'm not absolutely sure but there was two Alexis's albums featuring Ian Wallace: 1971. Alexis 1971. What's That Sound I Hear But I may wrong. And it is very interesting did Ian play with Alexis before or after his work on ISLANDS??? After King Crimson, Ian played with Humble Pie (for a short period of time) and with group called Streetwalkers (approximately in 1974). Regards, Yuri Almaty, Kazakhstan ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 20:47:22 -0600 From: Derek Bergeron Subject: Crimson Mp3's and Fripp/soul? First: I was just wondering if anybody knows if or where I can find Crimson mp3's?... Second: I thought I'd offer a response to the Fripp/soul enigma. It seems to me that one indication of the degree of "soul" an individal puts into a hobby/job/vocation/whatever is simply this: time. That is, the amount of time one dedicates to something tends to be directly proportional to this abstract construct we call "soul". Of course, this is not an absolute. One argument against this is that more time can be indicative of less skill. Time can also be an indicator of necessity; that is, one spends time on something as a means to a specified end that some authority commands you to complete (i.e. potentially school, a job, doing your taxes, etc.), irregardless of any "soul". These are good objections. Therefore, I will qualify my argument by adding another variable: volition. That is, a willful and conscious decision to spend time on something not rendered requisite by necessity tends to be indicative of "soul." My premise is that Mr. Fripp fits this definition for "having soul". He certainly did not have to pursue music as a career. Thus, it is not a requisite. Also to consider is the devotion Mr. Fripp has for music. The size of his aural catalogue is voluminous, relatively speaking. Most artists simply do not record as much as he has. Also to consider are the factors of playing live and temporality. I can't really argue about his touring schedule, as I don't know much about it. However, I can argue about time. Most musicians don't have as long of an active career as Mr. Fripp. He has been slogging it out for several decades, and he seems prepared for the new round ushered in by the 21st century (schizoid man?...). At any rate, all of these digressions are meant to demonstrate that Mr. Fripp has spent a hell of a lot of time creating music. In other words, he is dedicated. Dedication is devotion, which entails consigning oneself to something greater than their own being. It also entails passion/enthusiasm/love. Sounds to me like "soul". Maybe I'm just arguing for a different defintion of "soul". At any rate, if one feels that Mr. Fripp doesn't have "soul", what does that prove? It does not seem to me to entail a lack of all other special virtues worthy of note. Each individual places different values on different qualities. One should not forget that in making judgements. So, if Fripp hypothetically lacks "soul", the question to me then seems to be: "So what does he have in its place?..." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 22:08:39 EST From: CPFIREZINE Subject: Mylon Le Fevre & Alvin Lee Connection Ian Wallace and Boz contribute to songs on side two of the album "On The Road To Freedom" by Mylon Le Fevre & Alvin Lee, released in 1973. Ian Wallace plays drums on "Carry My Load", "Lay Me Back", & "I Can't Take It". Both he and Boz are on "Riffin" & "Rockin Til The Sun Goes Down" on drums and bass respectively. Boz is also credited with background vocals on "Rockin ---". Other musicians credits include Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Rebop, George Harrison, Ron Wood. Chris Palladino ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 22:42:44 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: back-patting >From: "Ursic, Caesar" > >OK - This will end the debate as to whether Fripp is >fundamentally Blues or Anti Blues. Exhibit One: First track >("You Burn me up I'm a Cigarette") on his first solo album >(Exposure, 1978) is undeniably, unmistakably and without >question a straight-ahead undisguised blues number. I dunno...that's much more of a '50-style rock 'n' roll raveup than pure blues. And anyway, that song's presentation feels very "ironic" to me. Maybe even satirical, a la Zappa. And even if the song IS "straight-ahead and undisguised," that's one blues song in 30 years. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Then, amid various other aristocratic putdowns of the unwashed pop masses (and lack of grammatical agreement between "one" and "we"), someone sniffed: >One cannot play "Larks Tongues," and then expect to get the >same rush from Chumbawumba now, can we? Perhaps we cannot. But I'll take Chumbawamba's maddeningly catchy "Shhh" album over "Earthbound" or "Islands" any day. Maybe over "Lizard" too, for that matter. (I'm not much of a "Tubthumper" fan, however. Chumbawamba turned into a slick danceclub band with the new album...really disappointing.) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 03:26:29 EST From: KRosser414 Subject: Re: Wallace's bands Ian Wallace has also made several excellent records with David Lindley's El Rayo X, doing his reggae/cajun/wacked-out-world-music hybrid. I saw him play with this band a number of times and he was outstanding. I believe Lindley is about to release a double-live album of that band from 1987. Ken R ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 22:51:19 -0600 (CST) From: Brian Andrew Marek Subject: Larks' Tongues Part One "Lyrics" Hi there! I'm new to Elephant Talk, so this question may have arisen before... in any case, it's a bit of trivial minutiae, but if anybody has the answer, I'd love to know... Does anybody have any idea what exactly Bruford, Cross and Muir are saying at the end of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part One"? [ Please use the search engine at http://jthome.jthome.com:8008 to check whether topics have been discussed on ET previously. This one certainly has. -- Toby ] Also, another curious question - the CD reissue of Giles, Giles & Fripp credits "Under The Sky" to Fripp, whereas Sinfield's "Still" credits it as McDonald/Sinfield. Which is correct? And if the GG&F CD is incorrect, is it also incorrect about "She Is Loaded" being a Pete Sinfield composition? (Incidentally, I LOVE "She Is Loaded"; it's definitely my fave thing on that CD... amazing it could remain in the can so many years!) Thanks BaM ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 13:21:07 +0000 From: kate dot d at virgin dot net Subject: att: drummers, cheap bruford midi file spotted g'day, i spotted this in the latest loot: Bill Bruford Midi file disc 15 pounds (still haven't worked out how to get a pound sign happening on this thing..) The number to call (london) 0171 635 7253. cheers, ashley ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 14:03:41 -0400 From: ab4798 at wayne dot edu Subject: Eric Clapton's Pilgrim I recently bought Eric Clapton's Pilgrim. It is thoroughly wonderful and it begs comparison to the best of Robert Fripp's works--including the bombastic deconstructed realism of his soundscapes. Though Eric's guitar playing isn't showcased on this album, this doesn't undermine my point. What do others think? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 98 14:03:33 -0500 From: alan s cohen Subject: Ten Seconds/Fripp quotes Not long ago, some of y'all were wondering about the future of 10 Seconds. Well here's an excerpt from an interview with Bill Forth in the Crimson fanzine "We'll Let You Know." Q: What of future releases by yourself? Bill: I am currently editing and sequencing a solo album of atmospheric instrumental guitar pieces and tape treatments, and plan to have that out very soon. Mostly I am interested in working live with Ten Seconds right now. I'd love to make another Ten Seconds CD, but it all comes down to finding a way to finance it. Q: From the inlay card, am I correct in saying that Jeffrey Fayman and yourself are Ten Seconds? Bill: In that configuration, yes, we are/were Ten Seconds. Jeff is now very occupied with music for film advertising (a lot of what you hear in movie trailers is Jeff.). He has a company called Immediate Music in Los Angeles, and that is his main focus. I think it's doubtful that we will collaborate on another Ten Seconds album, but you never know... He has asked me to contribute music to an album he is developing, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. On an entirely different subject, here's a quote from Fripp, who was interviewed for the May 97 issue of The Wire... "Anything created can't be predicted- at least the form any creative impulse will give rise to you can't predict. Anything you can anticipate will be in terms of what you already know, which is not, by definition, creative. Something which is creative is new, utterly novel. "One of the difficulties I have working with professionals is that they know what they're doing. Because they know what they're doing you can't get them- this is generally- playing what they don't know how to do." Does this sound to you like Bournemouth Bobbie was on some level anticipating the ProjeKcts? Alan * ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i000371 sends (alan cohen)... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 14:25:06 -0800 From: "Brian T. Perkins" Subject: Warr Guitar for sale Dear all: I met a guy at the Trey Gunn show at Music Millennium in Portland, OR that told me then that he was trying to find a buyer for his 8 string Warr Guitar. He may have sold it by now, but I told him I would check around and see if there was anyone I knew that might go for it. It only occurred to me now that an ETer might find a home for it!! :( Email me privately please if interested. Cheers, Brian ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 21:41:00 -0500 From: oracular at webtv dot net (David Denis) Subject: Drummer wanted Drummer wanted in Southeastern CT for recording and gigging.Original music. Lineup: Guitar,Keyboards,Bass,Stick and You on Drums. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 22:11:05 -0500 From: Doug Otte Subject: Suggestion: DVD DefEds '99 I had an idea the other day whilst remembering a post from someone regarding a (fantasy?) DVD mix of a KC live video. Perhaps the next generation of DefEds (audio) should be done on DVD. With the advanced compression available, 3 versions of each track could be available for us: 1) original album mix; 2) '89 DefEd mix; 3) '99 mix. In cases where the mixes are the same, an alternate version of the song could be provided, or perhaps guest musicians could create their own mixes. We could then listen to the tracks in different combinations at each sitting. BTW, the reason I'm suggesting '99 is: 1) Fripp & Singleton apparently have enough work lined up for '98 already; 2) by next year DVD might be a more universal medium (that's when I plan on having mine!). -- ***************************************************************************** "Music is a dream without the isolation of sleep." - Klaus Schulze - ***************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 16:45:00 -0800 From: Building Dept Subject: GIG REVIEW: Projekct Two in SF Hi, I went to both of the Projekct Two shows in SF this past weekend. Wow! My overall impression was very positive. Fripp was playing some blazing solos throughout both shows. I actually thought Fripp's playing at these two shows was much better than his playing on the last Crimson tour. At the Crimson shows his guitar seemed way down in the mix, he didn't take many solos, blistering or otherwise, and he just seemed very low key. But with Projekct Two he stepped out quite a bit with some nice loud blistering Frippian guitar work, the way we all like it! Trey Gunn was unbelievable!! These gigs really showcase his talents. He played an 8 string bass guitar and I think his playing has improved alot since the last Crimson tour. He was definitely a highlight of the shows. (I hear that Trey will be on the new album by John Paul Jones along with Elvis Costello's drummer, and that this trio will tour this summer...)As for Adrian Belew, his VDrumming was pretty good but nothing compared to his guitar playing or Bruford/Mastelotto's drumming. I'm sure he's having fun. Nuff said. The shows consist of two 45 minute sets. If Projekct Two comes to your town you should go. You'll be glad you did. On another topic, I've only been on this list for a month or two and I have not seen any discussion of live tapes. Is this a taboo topic on Elephant Talk? [ No, it isn't taboo. -- Toby ] Later, Jim ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 11:26:48 -0800 From: Scott Steele Subject: GIG REVIEW: ProjeKct 2 at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco A good time was had by all. Patricia Fripp worked the crowd before and after the show. She's delightful! She was selling shirts and coffee mugs pertaining to her own business at the merchandise table, and I was happy to get a button before the show, proclaiming that I have been Frippnotized. Other items at the merchandise table: Trey Gunn _The Third Star_; King Crimson _B'BOOM_ for $10!!; ProjeKct 2's new 2-CD set for $15 (this is a kick to listen to); The Noise and Live in Japan videos; good looking ProjeKct 2 shirts; and handout flyers saying how to obtain Adrian's second volume of acoustic songs. Adrian played Roland's new electronic drums. He had a great programmer (he can play bass lines with his bass drum pedal), and Adrian has a great ear for appropriate drumming. There were a few times I wished he had a little more technique (sometimes I wished he actually hit the stuff he was trying for, instead of whiffing), but he often cracked himself, Gunn, Fripp, and the audience up with his "errors". Fripp and Gunn are both really up for the occasion and are playing very well indeed. I would encourage everyone to attend if they come anywhere near your area. The encore was the lounge version of VROOOM. Fripp chose a vibraphone patch and a violin patch for the melody, Gunn covered the rest of the band's parts on the touch guitar, and Belew played a light Latin beat, except for his solo, which was quite amusing. Catch it if you can! - S. scottst at ohsu dot edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 03:32:27 -0800 From: "Stephen P. Goodman" Subject: GIG REVIEW: ProjecKt 2, House Of Blues, Los Angeles 3/24 Well, I made it to the show, though I didn't see anyone pop up identifying themselves as an ET'er, nor any tables in the front section. So my original idea of taking over a table and putting an "Elephant Talk" card on it was out of the question. By the time I found a good spot, it was on the left side, not bad, but not dead center. Immediately I noticed that the Soundscapes playing weren't live... At something like 9.10 they announced that the bar was separating - something I suppose is part of the 'show' now? Or is it? They started a bit late, strangely enough. But fast, punchy, with a rolling bass that made everyone pay attention, at least. I think perhaps I should have had ear foam, but there was no inference of volume-based distortion during the entire performance that I could hear, to the credit of all concerned. At the "1999" shows at the HOB some years ago, I remembered how the bartender - the frigging help there! - had made jokes about it not being the blues (this guy looked like he'd just learned what the blues was on his current job), and a latter comment about "gee, I left my mushrooms at home, man...!" nearly had me going for the management. I HAD left my mushrooms at home, and opted for the Chicken Fingers instead. Thankfully the staff was not confusing themselves with critics this time. They did their job and stayed busy. Some of the comments I'd read before the show complained about the improv, that it wasn't the best some people thought they could do, that something was lacking, or that it was somehow uninspired or something. I disagree completely. I believe that this entire set of tours has a structure, around which the jamming/improv takes place... I just think it's a little more definitive than the drums. The sound of course is difficult to gauge to the side of the stage, but from the left bar I had a great view of RF, who was quite well-lit, and mixed in well. The bass notes, though, were strictly pants-and-bar-rattling, and were toned enough not to be a rolling rumble. Trey Gunn's playing appeared to be expending the most energy visually, second place going to Adrian Belew's quite capable drumming, third, of course, goes to the Smooth Unflappable One playing guitar. On the basis of what people had already complained about, I decided to enter this as a blank page, much as I had the HOB shows that RF put on a few years ago for the 1999 release. I'd not even heard "The First Day", nor "1999", so I had absolutely no idea going in, and was delighted. To each his own, I suppose some of you are saying. I was told flat out by one fellow there that he "hoped there weren't any Soundscapes, 'cause he didn't come to hear THAT". This of course, while Soundscapes - not Live, I'm fairly sure! - were playing over the PA. There had at one point been a statement online about the opening song for the second set, which was low, moody, and nicely-textured. I was reminded in some regards of "Industry"; Trey went to town on his instrument in this regard, to good effect. For those who'd been driven off by the less accessible material in the first section of the show, here was something that they could chew on (or vice versa). One impression I distinctly got at several points was that they were playing a kind of musical catch, but one that didn't involve such a strictly serial process. Perhaps an overlapping sequence of subsequences or something like that? Hmmm. In any event, any parts that could border on possible tedium were broken up by another player's work, continuing the progress of the piece. I Undoubtedly the "usual" HOB-Crimson-Fripp crown was there... In the beginning you could see the ones who were perhaps looking too hard for the thing to satisfy them, their faces a cross between being spaced-looking, and flat-out confusion. The people sporting these faces, alas, were not visible during the second part of the show. I came away thinking of it all as "Juju Space Jazz" Meets Adrian and Trey, somehow. It was evident that all three of them had a good time. RF did a kind of shading his eyes and looking out over the crowd through the lights, which, when he did it a second time, brought some level of a surge of cheers from the crowd. So (apparently) he did it again, eliciting a larger cheer. I had the distinct impression that this third action was a kind of nudge, or perhaps a test of the "starstruckness quotient" for the evening. A parallel I can draw to this work, is to Eno/Byrne's "My Life In The Bush With Ghosts", which took some number of listenings before I could appreciate it fully. When I got there, I loved the album (and I've got one of the ones with "Kuran" on it!), and it hasn't disappointed me yet. I can say I hope they don't do nothing BUT this stuff. I had the distinct impression that, in these two sets of 3 people touring in different parts of the world, several things are happening beyond the obvious.... 1. We're seeing more individual efforts in focus, as opposed to in conjunction with 5 others. 2. There is probably a good amount of writing going on between these shows. It would be interesting to see how much variation may or may not exist between an array of shows. Anyone? Larry? 3. None of us know what the hell is really going on anyway, so perhaps we should just sit back and wait to assess the entire body of work when they're finished, and enjoy the effort-in-progress. [putting on flame-repellent armor] Stephen Goodman * It's... The Loop Of The Week! EarthLight Studios * http://www.earthlight.net/Studios ------------------------------ End of Elephant-Talk Digest #478 ********************************