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 #503 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 503 Thursday, 28 May 1998 Today's Topics: The name Crimson (A rose is a rose ...) Still a fan anyway..... THE TRUTH AT LAST Early Crim, 'tron, Aussies The Night Watch An interview with Fripp's chiropractor! The Mysterious Sun Ra - ProjeKct 2 Connection Whither "90's Music"? Re: waving and drooling Re: Paid DGM Marketing Reply to "Ted White" (what P2 R&D's for?) Re: THRAK on Vinyl?? Damage CD rollins connection RE: DGM Catalogs on CDs Mellotron - a job stealer? P2 and Star Wars Mellotron Samples Can't Stop The Elephant From Talking Dead Space (Grooves) on Vector Patrol Faux Mellotron (I've got it!) Bogart's, talkers Sleepless Video vinyl Absent Lovers and other still alive archives ! Crimsky-Korsakov/Les Six ------------------ 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: Tue, 26 May 1998 13:00:22 -0500 (CDT) From: flaherty michael w Subject: The name Crimson (A rose is a rose ...) After Bryan Ferry's last album bombed, he said that his next album will probably be a Roxy Music album. When asked why, he noted that people like to buy albums with the name Roxy Music on them .... I found Ted White's post in ET 500 to be very interesting (as Ted usually is), but Eb makes a good point (as he often does) in ET 501: Mr White assumes a certain reaction towards the first album. I cetainly do not want to put words in anyone's mouth (or post), but it struck me as particularly odd that he would say that Ian MacDonald should be "consulted". Whatever any of us may think of Project 2 or the lack of "Crimson" material in the 90s (I think the amount of new material has been amazing, but that's just me), the worse thing Robert Fripp could do is to attempt to recapture a "past" Crimson: the act would result in a project doomed to failure. It may be true that the "original" Crimson has some rights to the name King Crimson; if so, when they left the band (of their own will) they should have indicated to Mr Fripp that they objected to his continued use of the name. As it is, King Crimson is now a name that signifies a number of bands that have had Robert Fripp as their guitarist. Mr Fripp's naming all of these different bands "King Crimson" is a questionable act at best, but ultimately one that (beyond live cover versions) has little to do with the music: "Dicipline" would be the same album, I would assume, if the band had used the name Discipline instead of King Crimson. Ultimately, the current band using this name has six members. The original members have nothing to do with this particular group. Perhaps the double trio should not be calling themselves King Crimson, but they are. Their only debt to anyone is to make music, in whatever combination they choose, that is true to themselves right now. They owe the past nothing. Michael Flaherty ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 13:17:41 -0500 From: gary dot l dot weimer at awo dot com Subject: Still a fan anyway..... Greetings! This is my first posting to ET. It's an interesting site, and it's very well constructed. I'll try to be brief. First, thanks to all the comic relief this week; especially the "light bulb" jokes. It was needed. I've been a Crimson fan for pretty much the last 30 years. I haven't liked everything they've done, and I'm not completely up-to-date, but in response to all of the "guess I'm not a fan anymore" discussion, I'd like to say that I'm still a fan for pretty much many of the same reasons. Not many bands (or musicians, for that matter) can boast of a 30+ year career. Not only that, but the fevered pitch of this group makes the KISS army look pale by comparison. Here's the best I can do on the fast rundown of why I do\don't like King Crimson. As with most people, I got my exposure with 21st Century Schizoid Man. Yes, it was amazingly rigid and structured (I liked the use of brass), but suddenly, it breaks into chaos in the middle only to rejoin at the end of the line. For someone like me, who cut his teeth on Grand Funk and Black Sabbath, this was simply amazing. I followed through to Poseidon; didn't like all of it, but loved Cat Food & Pictures of a City. Is the Devil's Triangle really Mars? - maybe, but then Metallica also borrowed it, and Dave Edmunds recorded it outright. Bought Islands. I found it quirky, but liked Ladies of the Road for it's goofy "never quite in key" guitar break. I really came on board, though, with Lark's Tongue in Aspic - which was, and still is, a riveting album. If I'm wrong about that, why all the focus on that period of KC, and why The Night Watch? This was a very creative period for King Crimson. I saw them live in Chicago for this tour, and it remains one of my favorites. Those who remember Bill Bruford's drum kit taking up most of the stage will attest to that. While Fripp seemed content to sit on his bar stool and dazzle us with fretwork, Bruford was constantly moving about; hitting one or another percussion device while jumping from a small drum kit in the front, to a smaller stand-up kit in the back of his little arena. I stayed with KC through the next couple of LP's and generally liked all of it. When Discipline came out, I was excited to get it (with no clue as to what lay in store). To me, this version of KC was much stronger vocally than previously, more frantic that military (as on LTIA). What came next, Beat, was amazingly refreshing. KC with a commercial, accessible side? Heartbeat remains one of my favorite tunes, and this tour was the second I caught. I'm looking forward to getting Absent Lovers - it's seem to capture the KC sides I like best. My last KC purchase was Thrak - which I enjoyed, but don't rave over, nor do I see the "double trio" concept as very obvious, or exploited. In conclusion, why does everyone want to trash so much about these guys? I don't like a lot of things, but it doesn't stop me from being a fan. If everyone wants to bash Boz, why not take a shot at Wetton - after all, he auditioned for Bad Company first. King Crimson is still pretty much a rock band; does anybody happen to remember that Fripp co-wrote Heroes with David Bowie? So what if Ian McDonald was in Foreigner - he probably made enough money to continue being a musician. So what if Tony Levin plays with anyone and everyone - he's a working musician. The session work can pay for the fun stuff - like BLUE or his project with Bozzio & Stevens. I love KC, but not every single note they produce. The stuff I like, I listen to; the stuff I don't gathers dust. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:18:23 -0500 From: John Barnas Subject: THE TRUTH AT LAST Report from Sector P2 (if you trace a line through Cinci, Columbus and Cleveland you get the exact pattern of the Major stars of the Quarg Galaxy- a coincidence? I think not!) Several years ago, on the dark side of Planet Ghlijji, evil Dr. XTL#C (pronounced Klemm'-itts) hatched a devious plan for the elimination of Light Vessel Ten, known to most of us as Robert Fripp, and more accurately Captain or Mr. Fribble. XTL#C had procurred the only remaining supply of Fripptonite, a substance deadly only to our dear Captain Fribble. The plan? XTL#C devised a plan to shoot the Creative One dead with a Fripptonite particle beam. Knowing that Ghlijjians could not withstand Earth's atmosphere, he made a pact with some Earthlings of Greed (EG's). How could the deed be accomplished? Get this: the EG's made a deal with 20 different camera companies around the world to implant Fripptonite particle beams in, you guessed it, flash cameras. The hitch is the camera must be flashed twice for the particle beam to inflict a mortal blow. Evidently a Fripptonite shot strong enough to do The Maker Of Shred in would melt the camera lense so 2 shots are needed. The good news: Captain Fribble knows of this plan. You may have noticed that sometimes a camera flash makes The Dear One only flinch? These are cameras without Fripptonite beams. You may have noticed that at some camera flashes Captain Space will retreat quickly? He has sensed the first Fripptonite beam. Notice the sickening expression on his royal visage. He retreats because he loves us and wants to continue playing music for us. Wouldn't you retreat if you were about to be disintegrated in front of your loved ones? Please be on the lookout for unsuspecting Earthlings carrying Fripptonite beams into concert venues. Please explain to them what the evil Dr. XTL#C (pronounced Klemm'-itts) is up to. Long live Captain Fribble! Severe bouts with stomach cramps to his enemies on Ghlijji and elsewhere! End of Report. Sincerely Yours, Cadet John P.S. Australians and Minneapolitans: Don't hate me because I'm an Ohioan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 14:48:42 -0700 From: Robert Cervero Subject: Early Crim, 'tron, Aussies I enjoyed Ted White's post about the "uniqueness" of Crimson's first album, and how it remains the benchmark upon which subsequent releases have been compared. His views really hit home, and made me soul-search as to why I have such a strong attachment to the sounds of the original line-up. (To the 30-something E.T.ers and their younger cohorts who find the '69 sound to be dated, all I can say is you had to have been there to understand.) For me, there are two core reasons why the first album remains a high water mark and why the inventiveness of the early period has so far eluded the post-80s Crimson. Both reasons have to do with instrumentation. One is the digital sound of latter-day Crimson (from the Roland axes to the V-drum). Although Crimson's digital offerings are richly embroidered, they have a certain sameness and rigidness that at times aren't terribly distinguishable from the techno-pop masses. This is the curse of the synthetic sound. For me, what's missing in Crimson of the past two decades is the true "acoustical" sound of the sax, flute, and violin. An even greater void is left by the absence of that dreamy orchestral sound of the precursor to the synthesizer/music machine.....that beautiful analog behemoth, the mellotron. With all due respect to Mike Pinder and others, today's CD samplers simply can't replicate the unique, other-worldly sound of a well-tuned, soulfully played 'tron. It's that slightly delayed-response sound, that crescendoing effect, and the ability to "emphasize" sounds by the amount of pressure applied to keys, that produces a true one-of-a-kind sound (listen to Fripp's masterful but under-appreciated "In the Wake of Poseidon" as a case in point). These weren't just tape re-play machines. Indeed, for early Crimson, they were the band's signature sound. A plea to Robert: don't auction off all your trons, as reported to be in the works.....please, keep at least one! Second reason: the early bands featured a non-guitar instrumentalist who provided an nice counter-weight, indeed a much-missed complement, to Fripp's assaults (his words, not mine) on his beautiful ebony Les Paul. (Sorry, but the Stick and Warr are still, at the core, guitars -- played by picking strings.) Missing for me are McDonald's melodic reeds, Mel's blasting sax, Tippet's mad piano, and Cross's piercing strings. I wholeheartedly agree with Ted's parting advice -- Robert, have a heart-to-heart talk with Ian McDonald...something really magical came out of that '69 chemistry. (See the transcripts of Ian's recent web-chat about his own views on this.) A news tidbit, then a plea.......News: for fellow mellotron owners, Streetley's going to release a set of tapes to commemorate Crimson's 30th anniversary that will include Ian McDonald on flute, Tony Levin on Chapman stick, and David Cross on violin. (Also, regarding a possible bash this coming Jan. 16th, San Fran' is supposedly still the leading contender for venues, but London's also in the running....as is a non-event.) A plea from an American: Robert, please, why not piggyback a stop-off in Australia next time Crimson swings through Japan? You've got a lot of devoted fans there....hell, seems like Aussie ETers alone could fill a good-size concert hall. (My own Aussie experience -- while checking out a record store in Adelaide last summer (the one off the ped mall), the guy running the store, who confessed to being a rabid Crimson fan, was playing cuts from the Great Deceiver box set.) Rob Cervero 'tron M400, #1095 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 18:28:12 EDT From: King Larks Subject: The Night Watch Does anyone know if there are any differences between the US version of the Night Watch cd and the imported British version? Also, what is the release date for Absent Lovers? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 15:54:16 PDT From: "Santa Claus" Subject: An interview with Fripp's chiropractor! It's Seven With Kevin! A rare chat with Kevin Baque-Toodawal, Robert Fripp's chiropractor in Leeds. Hi ETers! I was really lucky to discover my chiropractor, Kevin Baque-Toodawal in Leeds, is also Robert Fripp's physician! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to interview him! I hope you like it! It's fascinating stuff!!!!! SC: You've had the rare pleasure of working with Mr. Fripp in a context we at Elephant Talk have little insight into. Describe the 'real' Robert Fripp. KB: Spineless bastard. What a seriously screwed up person. A horrible, horrible man at every level. Just despicable. A cretin beyond cretins. I'm talking about you by the way, ya miserable git, not Robert. He's a lovely chap. SC: Have you ever attempted to take a flash photo of Rob during an examination? KB: Hmm. Touchy subject indeed. On one occasion, I whipped out the Vivitar and attempted to capture the moment. He responded with: "Sly! Sly!" After a moment's pause, he offered a hearty laugh, a pat on the back, a peck on the cheek, and a nod and a wink. He then proceeded to tell a joke about two nuns, a billygoat and a crowbar. Eh, who were we talking about again? SC: Uh, Robert Fripp. KB: Rob! Bloody hell, I thought you meant Rod. That Stewart chap is a scary bloke I tells ya. SC: Who were your earliest musical influences? KB: Eh? SC: How did you and Robert Fripp ended up working together on this project? KB: Ya daft twit. What in God's name are you nattering on about? KC: What are the compromises you've had to make when working with a major label? KB: A major wot?! Did you break into the Viagra cupboard? SC: What philosophical nuggets has Robert Fripp shared with you? KB: I recall him mentioning something about discipline and earnest young men. I dared not enquire any further. I'm just a simple chiropractor. These matters are none of my business. SC: Describe the ontological significance of Robert Fripp's contributions to human civilization. KB: In a world of hydrogenated palm oils, he's butter than all the roast. Wow! That was great! Hope you liked it! Copyright, copyright, blah, blah, blah! This interview has yet to hit the print medium, or even the restroom wall for that matter. Do not expose yourself to THE SPANISH INQUISITION by distributing it anyplace else! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 00:52:46 -0400 From: "Louis Courteau" Subject: The Mysterious Sun Ra - ProjeKct 2 Connection Salut tout le monde. >From *Jazz: The Rough Guide* [Brian Priestley], p. 620, >under Sun Ra: "*Space Is The Place* (1972; Evidence). Only issued in 1993, these soundtrack recordings for the film of the same name include several of Ra's greatest intergalactic hits such as "We Travel The Spaceways", "Planet Earth" and the title track." Everyone knew that, of course, but has anybody seen the film of the same name? louis loco at caractera dot com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 22:37:48 -0700 From: "Stephen P. Goodman" Subject: Whither "90's Music"? As we come to a close of the decade, I see more and more talk on this concept of 90's Music. The media in general have been attempting to label just about every three consecutive tunes with a similar style as 90's Music, since late 1989. If you think back, folks, people didn't refer to things as "70s" or "80s" music, until perhaps five years after the decades in question. As such it would be that we here can only blindly extrapolate at best in this regard. What then of the people who missed out on the big Time Magazine "100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century"? There IS after all more than a year left in the 20th Century; do we want to get the decade over with that quickly? Similarly, do we have a desire to close the books on our favorite band as well? I hope not. I'm still having fun listening to KC and their constituents Now. Stephen Goodman * It's... The Loop Of The Week! EarthLight Studios * http://www.earthlight.net/Studios ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 23:29:20 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: waving and drooling David S. wrote: > Eb, Just because you weren't an informed KC fan in '69 > doesnt mean you havent back purchased these records. Umm...no kidding, Sherlock. But the original post made an assumption about how "we all" were so blown away by the novelty/innovation of In the Court of the Crimson King when it was newly released. So, I (justifiably) pointed out that many of us were NOT able to perceive the "newness" of ITCOTCK in this context, because of our younger ages. ET posters shouldn't assume we're all paunchy 40somethings who spent the '70s waving lighters at arena rock shows. That's all I'm saying. Any perception of ITCOTCK's daringness via historical hindsight is a watered-down impression -- you had to be there, really. Just as I'll never fully fathom just how radical Sgt. Pepper must've sounded when it first hit the shelves. Oh well, that's life. On the other hand, I can enjoy '90s-generation artists without constantly grumbling about how "Music's just not the same as it was in the old days." (For the record, the first KC album I bought was Discipline, when THAT was new. First concert: Peter Gabriel, 1982. Last concert: Bjork, three days ago.) >Why do people think LoG suck? Why do people think they don't? ;) >Its dance stuff, yeah, but FAR from disco. Our opinions differ here. >(And the original letter said that KC didnt do any disco. >LoG are as much KC as ELP.) Well, the way the original post was worded, it implied that in His Infinite Wisdom, Fripp would never stoop to embracing temporary fads like disco. I believe that LoG and (especially) Under Heavy Manners indicate otherwise. Straining awfully hard to start an argument, aren't you? Is this the same guy who was sending me all that bombastic "I'm too erudite and sophisticated to like pop" email a week or so ago? Eb np: Jeff Buckley/Sketches for 'My Sweetheart the Drunk' ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 02:41:07 -0400 From: Bayard Brewin Subject: Re: Paid DGM Marketing In ET502, Eric Kirchner wrote: > I get increasingly irritated by DGM's new practice of > including a catalog that automatically launches when the > CD is inserted. Is there any way to disarm this feature on > the CD? It takes over a minute to boot up, and shutting > off the program is a pain. I would much rather > access the DGM website catalog when I want DGM release > info. The King Crimson demographic seems to include a > large number of PC/Internet literate fans, so including > the auto-launch catalog on the CD is an annoying > duplication. GIMME MUSIC NOT MARKETING! A huge, huge ditto on that, Eric.This is in essence advertising paid by the buyer -- and it's occupying a substantial amount of real estate on each disk. Worse yet, the teaser icons and text on the back of the jewel case say nothing about the content being commercial. The place for such a demo is on a sampler like Sometimes God Hides, not the final deliverable. If DGM is enthusiastic about adding multimedia content, let it be some of Fripp's journals, or commentary, or photos from old gigs, or whatnot. Put it in HTML and let people use their browsers, and save the Director player overhead for yet more content or -- God forbid -- more music. Bayard Brewin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 00:34:09 PDT From: "George Khouroshvili" Subject: Reply to "Ted White" (what P2 R&D's for?) Nice-written, very interesting but completely untrue. In fact, this is very intimate opinion. For example, I never supposed ITCOTCK was the best KC album. Revolutionary, great with lovely music, but not the best. (I prefer "Red"). As for P2 - I think it's the same situation as with "NO Pussyfooting": some experiments and then - new KC's masterpieses. By the way, "The Court..." is getting older because of Lake's love to the "Vickings' chorus" like "haa-aa-aa". Now this sounds funny and old-fashioned. Robert Fripp improved the band. Now it is the last dinosaur playing really interesting music without feeling of nostalgy of 60's, 70's or 80's in its sound. George Khouroshvili P.S. Hope to find some more archive recordings in CD stores in the future. Keep on, Robert! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 10:54:10 +0000 From: Philipp Quaet-Faslem Subject: Re: THRAK on Vinyl?? > What does everyone think? THRAK on Vinyl, or not? Definitely yes! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 10:39:35 +0100 From: Robert J Lethbridge Subject: Damage CD > For quite some time I try to get hold of two CD > collaboration albums of Robert Fripp and David Sylvian, > namely: Damage and Gods Monkey. > Unfortunately it is not available in the Netherlands. > Can anyone advice here? Thanks in advance. I've been looking for the CD "Damage" myself, but have been told that it's discontinued in Britain. Can anyone say if it's still available anywhere else? Thanks Rob PS Great newsletter. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 08:02:26 EST From: "Tim Breen" Subject: rollins connection greetings! i work in the education business( large catholic boys high school). we get a tv production daily known as channel one. they did i special last month on SGT PEPPERs LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND. one of the special guests was henry rollins. the moderator asked henry what his current band sounds like. his response," we try to sound like king crimson on a bad day"! interesting...comments? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 11:43:43 +0100 From: "mark" Subject: RE: DGM Catalogs on CDs > Is there any way to disarm this feature on the > CD? It takes over a minute to boot up, and shutting off the > program is a pain. You can disarm the autoplay cd feature - which in win95 is in the properties of the cd drive I belive - however this then stops Audio CD's playing when you shove them in the drive. Given that my computer CD player is currently my main CD player as well I find the catalogues very irritating - plus it is info that will date - I am sure I will still be listening to the cd's in ten years time - but the catalog? I will have bought the cds' I want from it anyway. I think a much better way of distributing this info is the "young persons guide to Discipline" method. Any KC or DGM fan (assuming that it is a possible to separate the two) would buy this kind of thing anyway - especially if like YPGTD it is a) cheap & b) has CURRENTLY unreleased material on it mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 11:20:06 -0400 From: "Louis Courteau" Subject: Mellotron - a job stealer? Rebonjour tout le monde, In ET #501, our mellotron specialist Mike Dickson says of the players of the recorded sounds: > Part of the reason for the musicians being apparently > 'unknown' is because the whole scheme seemed somewhat > dubious, particularly to the Musician's Union who had got > wind of the instrument's development and who didn't like it > *at all* since they figured it could put orchestral > musicians out of a job I remember the first time Genesis came to play in Quebec in 1972 (the Foxtrot tour), in the then brand-new government-built Grand Theatre de Quebec. Rumour has it that the tour organizers had to pay 2 union musicians to sit backstage through the show and watch Tony Banks steal their jobs. That union "awareness" must have been recent (and, I hope, short-lived), because nothing of the kind was reported a year earlier at the Island band's concert in Quebec City (reviewed here last winter), which had taken place in a crowded university cafeteria, a much cooler setting than the Grand Theatre with its ushers clad in mauve trying to stop everyone from damaging the carpet with droppings from their joints. No wonder there were practically no rock concerts at the GTQ between 1973 and the Thrak tour. louis loco at caractera dot com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 12:27:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Andy Acunzo Subject: P2 and Star Wars > From: "kyle clarke" > Subject: Send a P2/Space Groove CD to George Lucas > Listening to P2 Space Groove, it occurs to me that this is > the perfect music for George Lucas if he needs to have > another bar scene with an extraterrestrial band (in the next > Star Wars trilogy of movies). Funny you should mention this. A few days before the Huntington P2 show, the Long Island newspaper Newsday had an article on P2. It included bits of an interview with Trey Gunn about the band. One of his quotes was something to the effect of "We're sort of like the cantina band from Star Wars." A pretty cool comparison I think. I'd love to see P2 or soundscapes or something else KC related (droid sounds from Trey's guitar?) :) in one of the upcoming Star Wars movies. Plus maybe it'd make them enough money to get the double trio back together! :) ttyl, Andy Acunzo aacunzo at sbchem dot sunysb dot edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 May 98 13:21:30 PST From: Mark_Jordan at roadshow dot com dot au Subject: Mellotron Samples G'day All On the samples of Mellotron issue I found a web site that has a bunch of samples of various mellotron voices on it as well as suggestions for loop points etc.. I know the purests out there will find this sacreligous but there are very good and easier to keep in tune than a real mellotron. I hope JP, whose page it is, doesn't mind me posting this (he has put them out in the WWW). The page is http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/oldsquire/17/index.html So go sample nuts if you like. Regards to all Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 98 20:22:15 -0400 From: leslabb at ptd dot net Subject: Can't Stop The Elephant From Talking In ET 502 Eric Kirchner Mentioned The Following: >I love to listen to stuff like GOP at work through my PC, >but I get increasingly irritated by DGM's new practice of >including a catalog that automatically launches when the CD is inserted. >Is there any way to disarm this feature on the CD? It takes over a >minute to boot up, and shutting off the program is a pain. Eric and others who may want to disable the autorun feature: Assuming you are running Windoze95, you can disable the Autorun feature in one of the following ways: 1. Open your control panel 2. Open the System panel 3. Click on Device Manager 4. Select CD-Roms, and then select the CD-Rom Drive. 5. Click on the properties Icon. 6. Remove the checkmark from "AUTORUN" box. 7. Close all windows. Another method: 1. Open MY COMPUTER 2. Click on the CD-ROM drive 3. Right Click, then select properties 4. Remove the checkmark from the "AUTORUN" box. I am typing this from memory, so I am not sure if this is exactly correct (I only boot to WINDOZE when playing games, I use OS/2 for the Web and productivity.) Hope this helps. Les B. Labbauf http://home.ptd.net/~leslabb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 98 19:53:24 -0400 From: leslabb at ptd dot net Subject: Dead Space (Grooves) on Vector Patrol In ET 501 and 502 The Following Was Observed: >I am writing in response to Manuel Fernandez's observation >in ET #501 concerning track #9 on the "Vector Patrol" CD in "Space >Grooves". When I first bought the CD (2 for the price of one!) I >noticed that break as well. I think that the break was definitely intentional, kind of similar to the "break" during Dinosaur. The jam pushes you to the brink, and just when you thought you were going to go over the edge, it stops, leaving you dangling and wanting more. Les B. Labbauf http://home.ptd.net/~leslabb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 15:27:44 -0700 From: Herb Boardman Subject: Faux Mellotron (I've got it!) Greetings, all. I, too, have been disheartened by the lack of a quality Mellotron patch on new keyboards/synths. The best one I had heard until last week was on the Yamaha AniX synth. (I had to do some tweaking of nobs, however) Until I purchased a Korg X-5 last week. The StringEnsemble program can be affected just so to almost perfectly replicate the un-perfect sound we all so know and love. But it took a while. And I feel most any synth with a decent STRING setting can work just as well. The key is using overdrive, which is one of 42 effects to be used on the X-5. This is what had always been lacking (for me, anyway) in all the keys nowadays. I am assuming Mellotrons had built-in amplification and speakers, which could be the culprit for the gritty sound. Another suggestion is to remove all decay, so as to make the sound cut off simultaneously with depressing a key. And make the attack as sharp as possible. Using these methods, I can play MARS ( the Epitaph versions) with considerable authenticity. Please E-mail me if you have any luck with this, or with suggestions. Regardless, Mike Holst "Okay, well that's fine. Thanks Adrian. [very dryly]. And the reason I'm not involved is because of course, I'm a little difficult for Robert [Fripp]. Robert is better with sweet, smiling Americans, who don't really know what he's talking about. [laughs] Unfortunately, I know exactly what he's talking about, and I'm not invited." Bill Bruford, to Anil Prasad ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 15:01:59 -0700 From: Herb Boardman Subject: Bogart's, talkers Greetings, all. In response to....I saw Primus and others at Bogart's in October of last year. Rowdy musicians, rowdy crowd, and no incidents that I witnessed. I am assuming a ProjeKCt 2 crowd would be far more civil than a Primus, et al. audience. So, shouldn't be much worry for the boys in the band. --note-- I only saw the Primus, et al. gig because my cousin had a free ticket. Spent most of my time downing whiskey sours at the bar in the next room ( where 2 dj's were spinnin' the DEF jams {heheh}) PoiNt tWo: for Frank, who noted: >> p.s. I find it ineresting that (right or wrong) there is >> more discussion on this digest regarding RF's behavior and >> thoughts - than his music. This is due to the jelousy inherant in us all, and manifest by us most. In other words, " If I were Fripp, I would " Basically: " I want attention, too! Hell with it, I wan't mommy! BWAAHHH!!! " Perhaps my motto is more poignant than I thought. Regardless, Mike Holst my motto: The dumber you are, the smarter you feel. my alternate motto: People who talk always about others have nothing to say for themselves. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 15:37:01 -0500 From: Eric Kirchner Subject: Sleepless Video Greetings, I hope this hasn't been a topic of discussion over the last 70 issues or so... I seem to remember in my early college days seeing a video for Sleepless from ToaPP -- if my memory serves me, Tony Levin was cast as a boxer but that's about all I remember. Does anyone have a tape of the video? I think it would be a fun viewing experience (even at the time, I thought "I can't believe that Fripp [FRIPP!] would even consider something as commercial as this!"). regards, Eric ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 12:00:55 +0100 From: kate dot d at virgin dot net Subject: vinyl g'day all, Camzone wrote in #502 >What does everyone think? I would imagine that the new craze >of "heavy vinyl" (180g usually) would be right up Robert's >alley, and he'd release at least some of the DGM catalogue >onto it. > >What does everyone think? THRAK on Vinyl, or not? Some years ago now I cracked a total wobbly and wrote a huge rant /open letter/ petition to a heap of record companies, mainly directed at sony, concerning the lack of choice given to consumers on the cd-vinyl issue. It offended me that we, as consumers, were forced to buy cd players and cd's before we could listen to new albums, regardless of how we felt about cd's. I hate 'em. I got some people to sign it, i did some measurements and came to the conclusion that a vinyl lp (packaged) takes up less space than a cd (cubicly), i sent it off and naturally got no reply. it probably only served as a funny letter on a tea-room door somewhere. Personally I would love to see people given the freedom of choice. I always buy vinyl over cd's and probably always will. Remembering past debates in this organ, as well as knowing that at the very least 10% of the subscribers here are vinyl nuts and have very impressive collections, I think that DGM would be well served by releasing new stuff as well as their back-catalogue on vinyl. Even if only in "limited edition" mode. It pisses me off no end that one can walk into any number of record / "music" stores and have a selection of eleventy billionty twenty different "latest" drum 'n' bass (or whatever the tit the stuff is called) vinyl albums/ep's with nothing at all valid on 'em (ok ok ok, my opinion...i know...), but a new pressing of anything the MUSIC buying public wants is not an option. I realise all this would involve record presses and such, but surely DGM has stuff lying around in a basement next to a couple of clapped out 'trons somewhere. I do remember seeing a vinyl copy of neil young's ARC/WELD once, it was expensive (this was in australia), but it would've sounded fantastic...the vinyl would've captured their gear very well indeed. I wouldn't hesitate to say that thrak/thrakattak would have more appeal soundwise on vinyl... I'll shut up now, sit back and wait to be flamed by all those clever audiophiles... get a mullet up ya's! ashley (REALLY REALLY missing my vinyl collection back in australia.) "all synthesizers are programmed white" -miles davis ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 18:07:34 +0200 From: Thierry Wyss Subject: Absent Lovers and other still alive archives ! I have just received "Absent Lovers" a few days ago. The quality of the sound is simply astonishing, far better than "Epitaph" which was interesting as archive ... I was one of the happy few to contact DGM when I read one month ago about "Ladies on the Road" and "Absent Lovers" etc.. The answer came soon from DGM explaining that the "Ladies on the Road" would be released sometimes later but that "Absent Lovers" would be available on preorder on May 15... and received the whole order only a few days later. So I am sometimes amazed with the problems that some of you are getting in ordering or back ordering (on CD) which is usually my case. DGM works perfectly. However I think that their website should be better updated ... Concerning the assumption from Ted White that everything from KC had to be measured against the first album, this is true when you consider that even Fripp released a "Schizoid Man" CD with 5 different versions .... When I heard this original sound in 1969, it was almost like a revolution in "Pop" music as Sergent Peppers. But as for Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis other records can be considered as miles stones in their evolution. I don't think Projekct2 is the creation of '90 but I am surprised with all the polemic around it. Anyway I believe it is a honest Research of Development, not my prefered ... I am missing Earthbound and I am very happy since DGM is not releasing on CD to know that "Ladies on the Road" will contain most of the live recording of it. I don't agree that DGM is cheeting us but that it provides to old fans or addicts the opportunity to get a very technically professional recording of concerts that were only bootleged. I don't even know if they make a big earning with this type of sale. By the way I happen to order the Wallace-Trainor Conspiracy " Take A Train" which contains a combination of "21st Centory Schizoid Man" and "Evidence" by Thelonius Monk featuring Ian McDonald on sax ... The CD is rather jazz-rock fusion type. You can get this record by contacting www.finemusic.com (Wallace website), you can even listen to some of the compositions. I got the CD signed and on top of that a letter from Ian Wallace explaining his point of view of the permutation in King Crimson and his reaction to some of the critics towards "Islands" (which I personnaly love). It was very interesting but unfortunately Ian expressely mentioned that he would appreciate if I would not duplicate or transmit it to anyone else ... Regards Thierry WYSS ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 14:28:20 -0400 From: Ellwod Irish Subject: Crimsky-Korsakov/Les Six The diversity of feeling in the reviews of THRaKaTTak written here have been far greater than that of any other Crimson album. I received the album last week, and have given it heavy play. The album is altogether brilliant, on the whole a stronger work than "Space Groove." If it doesn't maintain a constant level of excitement, such is the nature of improvisation, especially in a concert-forum, rather than the studio. That it doesn't descend to the level of Spinal Tap's "Jazz Odyssey," is a testament to the technical and intuitive brilliance of the six musicians involved in these sets. With "Thrak" as crunch-time guitar bookends, and Soundscapes providing an interweaving mesh (reminding me some of Jackson Pollock, whose painting, "White Light," is featured on the back cover of Ornette Coleman's "Free Jazz" recording), the doors are opened to wind and sky, and Adrian's dentist drill applications to his Fender. I again concur with the comparison made in a Previous ET Digest, comparing THRakaTTaK to "Bitches Brew" and Ornette's "Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation by the Ornette Coleman Double Quartet." Compare Thrak's Double Trio with the Double Quartet: We have these musicians from the latter recording (dating from 1961): Ornette Coleman: alto sax; Eric Dolphy: bass clarinet; Don Cherry: pocket trumpet; Freddie Hubbard: trumpet; Scott La Faro: bass; Charlie Haden: bass; Billy Higgins: drums; Ed Blackwell: drums. The "Space Groove Tour," or, " The No Guitars For Adrian Tour." Overall, I enjoy Vector Patrol over the first disc. Were the tracks recorded in sequential order? Trey Gunn's Road Diary offers a fascinating perspective from the band's side of the stage. How have Soundscapes evolved, both from a musical and technological standpoint, from the Eno/Fripp "No Pussyfooting" record? Michael ------------------------------ End of Elephant-Talk Digest #503 ********************************