Happy New Year, everyone. The first post of 2024 is the only CD I received for Christmas, a 2022 reissue of Robert Fripp's noodling in the early 1980s, between the release of his solo album Exposure and reforming King Crimson, initially as Discipline.
The album consists of Fripp's experiments with tape loops and the electronic guitar attachments he referred to as Frippertronics, and it's something of a mixed bag. The first half (God Save The Queen) opens with Red Two Scorer, a repetitive ambient soundscape, which sounds like a development of his 1970s collaborations with Brian Eno, God Save The Queen is longer, harsher, a repeated theme which is built on at every step, becoming more gentle and enveloping as the piece proceeds. 1983 brings the first half to an end, something of a drone, to conclude the ambient side.
Under Heavy Manners is the 'disco' side, with a bass and drum accompaniment, and the title track features David Byrne's distinctive vocals on a repetitive but infectious jaunt, while the other piece The Zero Of The Signified is at first, a long, intricate guitar run over a pounding beat, reminiscent of the work Fripp was to later do with The League Of Gentlemen before slipping into another ambient drone.
There are two additional pieces on the 2022 reissue. God Save The King is another long piece which reminds me both of League of Gentlemen, and some of Fripp's guitar work with David Sylvian, but once again moves from a bouncy guitar piece to a more abstract soundscape over the last five minutes, while Music On Hold is a similar, more rocky, almost funky piece featuring extended overlaid guitar solos.
Overall, this is an enjoyable listen. Perhaps everything goes on a bit longer than it needs to, in order to make the point, but where it livens up, from Under Heavy Manners onward, it's a real toetapper at times.
3* - at times very experimental and noodling, but there's still lots to enjoy from the Crimson King
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