King Crimson: Robert Fripp Unveils New Line Up and Plans for Autumn 2014 Shows

DOWNLOAD: King Crimson - "Snowflake", 3/21/01 (Free Download - Requires Signup on DGMLive.Com)
(From DGMLive: This previously unreleased little gem dates from the writing rehearsals of what would be The Power To Believe. That descending chord sequence has a whiff of the coda to People about it but the electronica-tinged beats take it somewhere else entirely.)

I'm pleasantly shocked that Robert Fripp has reactivated King Crimson as I had thought that his 'war' with Universal Group had sidelined the group permanently.

Uncut Magazine reported the following from Mr. Fripp: "King Crimson is returning to active service. We are on-call to be ready for a live performance on September 1, 2014. Seven members. Four English, three American. Three drummers. It’s a different configuration of King Crimson than before. Some are familiar names, maybe more than others. The first performance will take place in either North or South America," Fripp told Uncut. "There will be rehearsals primarily in England, and the final batch of rehearsals will most likely be in America in August or September 2014. There is a plan to include the UK in the tour dates, but it depends on a number of circumstances. Right now the primary geographical focus is the United States."

While I'm disappointed that Adrian Belew isn't back in the lineup, King Crimson VIII is comprised of Fripp, Gavin Harrison, Bill Rieflin, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Mel Collins and Jakko Jakszyk. Mel Collins return to the lineup strikes me as particularly exciting as he was the saxophonist, flautist, keyboardist, etc. in the 70's Crimso lineups from In the Wake of Poseidon through Red.

Links:
King Crimson

King Crimson Posts ProjeKct Six (Fripp/Belew) Rehersal Track 'Persian E' as Free Download (Recorded 10/2/06)

DOWNLOAD: King Crimson/ProjeKct Six - "Persian E"

I had gotten out of the habit of checking Robert Fripp's DGM Live for free downloads of Fripp/King Crimson related rarities but happened to take a look last night as was pleasantly surprised by this most recent freebee. 

ProjeKct Six was the last of the King Crimson side projekcts prior to Crimson briefly reforming in 2008 and this projekct featured Fripp on guitar and Adrian Belew on drums.  The track, "Persian E", which is posted as a free download is described as "[t]aken from the rehearsals at Adrian Belew’s studio, ProjeKct Six sketch out some of the areas they’d be visiting as support to Porcupine Tree later in the month. The mood is somewhat restrained here but there’s a certain intensity present in the wreathes of soundscapes which billow and hover around Belew’s straight-ahead beats. Fripp’s soloing is on slow-burn mode rather than being set to “incinerate” but an engaging little toe-tapper from the team nevertheless."

Links:
DGM Live / King Crimson

King Crimson Releases Free Download from "The Power To Believe" Sessions

PLAY: King Crimson - "Buzzsaw" (Track hosted on DGMLive)

This week's free download from King Crimson is a "Garage Mix" track from the The Power To Believe sessions (recorded 17 July 2002).

From the same Pat’s Garage Mix as the riotous Happy Nouveau Metal. We think the session dates from the making of The Power To Believe. What a belter this was, is, and might-have-been. Quite why this idea was never worked up into something more complete we’ll never know. As it is though there’s plenty to enjoy - thundering drums, Trey channeling his inner Levin, and some weird-shit soloing that makes you sit up and say “what did they just do back there?” We love the bit at the very end where Robert asks to listen back to it “if only to draw breath!” We know the feeling!

Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson

King Crimson - Live Stream from Robert's NYC Soundscape Show // Free Download from The Vicar

I really dropped the ball by not seeing Robert Fripp perform at World Financial Center this past December as I think this clip (hosted by WNYC) from his live show is brilliant. If you go over to WNYC's site, there are some audio interviews with Robert on being sampled by Kanye for "Power" and on finding the original master for In The Court of the Crimson King.

DOWNLOAD: The Vicar - "Show Reel"

This week's free download from DGMLive.com is from The Vicar. I've been a fan of King Crimson for over 25 years and I have absolutely no idea how The Vicar fits within the whole Crimso family but...give it a spin and see if you can figure it out.

This is Stormy's fast ride through the world of The Vicar, Song Book No.1. Encompassing the many moods of this wonderful album in less than ten minutes!

Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson

King Crimson Releases Improv Bass Jam with Trey and Tony from Thrak Sessions

PLAY: King Crimson - "Two Sticks" (Track hosted on DGMLive)

This week's free download from King Crimson is an improv bass jam with Trey and Tony from the Thrak sessions (recorded 9 Nov 1994).

What happens when you put two formidably talented Stick players in a room with an idea? They try and try again to iron out the creases and wrinkles. This is Trey and Tony taking time out from the main recording of Thrak to see if they could get an idea to fly. Despite going on for an hour (this is just an extract) it never quite made it from the drawing board stage. Fascinating nevertheless. I don’t know about you, but does this particular idea share some of the same DNA of Trey’s labyrinthine bass line to The ConstruKction of Light?

Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson

King Crimson Releases Snippet of Vocal Track from "In the Court of the Crimson King"

PLAY: King Crimson - "Ah" (Track hosted on DGMLive)

This week's free download from King Crimson is a snippet of the vocal tracking for "In the Court of the Crimson King".

Mister Stormy has dusted off this snippet of the vocal tracking for Court of the Crimson King. Recorded at Wessex in the summer of '69 we can hear Greg, Ian and Mike giving it their all.

Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson

King Crimson Releases Demo of "Inner Garden" (from Thrak) as a Free Download

PLAY: King Crimson - "Running DAT 8" (Track hosted on DGMLive)

This week's free download from King Crimson is a studio session from Thrak where the band is working through an early version of "Inner Garden".

After Pat’s count-in, we hear the happy-sad sound of Inner Garden but in this earlier form it comes with double drums. Adrian guides the team through the changes on this work-in-progress rendition that would eventually dispatch the percussive parts in favour of something slightly more open-ended and ambiguous on the Thrak album.

Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson

Robert Fripp Releases "Non-Loop Idea" Tracks from 1979 as Free Download

PLAY: Robert Fripp - "Non Loop Idea VIII"
DOWNLOAD: Robert Fripp - "Non Loop Ideas VIII & IX" (Requires Free Registration on DGMLive)

This week's free download from Robert Fripp/King Crimson are some short instrumental pieces that were recorded in 1979.

It’s interesting how ideas might come along but don’t necessarily find their place until many years later. The driving chords of Brightness Falls by Sylvian and Fripp are instantly recognisable on the first of two unplugged outings from 1979. Fifteen years would pass before the record buying public would get a chance to wig out and exchange dandruff to this little head-banger. As far as these ears can tell, Non Loop Idea IX sounds as though it has still to find a proper home, although that ascending run near the end would surely make for a lovely bitter-sweet ballad.

Robert Fripp is coming to NYC in December to "soundscape" in World Financial Centre's Winter Garden. The concerts take place on Friday, December 3rd at 12.30 p.m. and 7.00 p.m. and Saturday, 4th December at 12.30 p.m. and 7.00 p.m. For anyone who hasn't heard Fripp's Soundscapes, check out the powerful performance he gave in November of 2000.

Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson

King Crimson: Islands (40th Anniversary Series) CD Review

After watching record labels repeatedly reissue a band’s back-catalog citing allegedly increased sonic fidelity with each reissue (Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin) or appending a limited set of what looks to be haphazardly selected bonus tracks (Blondie, The Replacements), I now approach reissues with a healthy degree of skepticism. In this case, my skepticism was unfounded with the 40th Anniversary Series edition of King Crimson’s Islands.

I’m not going to attempt to review the original six-track album as there is little that I can add to the scores of reviews that have been written over the past forty years. The one thing that I do want to note though is that the sound on this remastered reissue is impressive as it captures the audio warmth of an analog vinyl record with the clarity of a pure-digital recording. I’ve probably listened to my vinyl copy of Islands dozens of times but I heard more separation, depth and clarity on this reissue than I ever heard on the vinyl.

Now for the bonus tracks – there are six bonus tracks (billed as an alternate version of Islands) added to the CD and a second disc (DVD-A) that holds additional unreleased audio tracks. The CD bonus tracks aren’t quite an alternate version of the full Islands album as “Islands” is a 2 minute snippet from the song that focuses on a middle-section with the oboe, “Prelude: Song of the Gulls” is swapped with a previously unreleased track and a number of the other songs are shorter run-throughs than what ended up on the final release. It is fascinating though to hear how these songs evolved as each of these bonus tracks contains notable differences from the previously released versions. The real stand-out track though is the previously unreleased “A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls” as this song contains segments that were later used in “Larks’ Tongue in Aspect” and “Lament”.

CD Bonus Tracks/Islands: The Alternate Album
- Islands (studio run through with oboe prominent);
- Formentera Lady (Take 2);
- Sailor's Tale (alternate mix/edit)
- A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls (previously unreleased)
- The Letters (rehearsal/outtake);
- Ladies of the Road (Robert Fripp & David Singleton remix)

DVD-A Content/Bonus Tracks

2010 Remaster:
- Formentera Lady
- Sailor's Tale
- The Letters
- Ladies of the Road
- Prelude: Song of the Gulls
- Islands

Original album:
- Formentera Lady
- Sailor's Tale
- The Letters
- Ladies of the Road
- Prelude: Song of the Gulls
- Islands

Islands: The Alternate Album:
- Formentera Lady (Take 2)
- Sailor's Tale (alternate mix/edit)
- The Letters (rehearsal/outtake)
- Ladies of the Road (rough mix)
- A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls (previously unreleased)
- Islands (studio run through with oboe prominent)

Route to Islands:
- Pictures of a City (Islands lineup rehearsal - song first recorded with original lineup)
- Sailor's Tale (Islands lineup rehearsal)
- Islands (fragment: Robert Fripp reference cassette—mellotron on vibes setting)
- Formentera Lady (rough mix)
- Sailor's Tale (rough mix)
- Drop In (Early rehearsal by Islands lineup)
- The Letters (Live at Plymouth)
- Sailor's Tale (Live at the Zoom Club)

Additional tracks: Assorted Ladies:
- Ladies of the Road (Robert Fripp & David Singleton remix)
- Ladies of the Road (Take 5)
- Ladies of the Road (Take 1)
- Ladies of the Road (Take 3)
- Ladies of the Road (Take 4)

For years, the only other recording from this lineup was the bootleg sounding live LP Earthbound. While KCCC have rectified this by issuing a number of live albums over the past decade, this set shows just how solid this under-appreciated lineup was in the studio.

In closing, I’m still scratching my head over how Boz could go from playing almost free-form jazz in King Crimson to Bad Company.

Links:
King Crimson

King Crimson Posts Free Download from "Vroom" Recording Session // Robert Fripp Plays Two Shows in NYC in December

LINK: King Crimson - "Running Dat 3" ("Vroom" Special Edit)
(This is a free download [hosted on DGMLive.com] but registration is required)

My favorite comment on this picture is "Smiling? It might not be a good sign." Having watched Robert stop shows in the 80's to admonish photographers, he may be thinking about some form of exquisite torture for whomever took this photo.

Here is how DGM describes the currently posted free download: "A fantastic confection of Vrooom intercut with the day-today drudgery of getting levels prior to recording. Whilst Real World offered a relatively luxurious environment compared to what Crimso were usually used to, the headphones in the Stone Room (where Pat and Bill were located) were problematic from the get-go as you can clearly hear!"

Robert Fripp is also coming to NYC in December to "soundscape" in World Financial Centre's Winter Garden. The concerts take place on Friday, December 3rd at 12.30 p.m. and 7.00 p.m. and Saturday, 4th December at 12.30 p.m. and 7.00 p.m. For anyone who hasn't heard Fripp's Scounscapes, check out the powerful performance he gave in November of 2000.

Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson

Robert Fripp Announces Three UK Shows with The Humans (Toyah Willcox) / Free Live Download

Robert Fripp & the Humans - "Is It Wrong", Live in Estonia, 5/1/09

Robert Fripp-King Crimson
Originally uploaded by jamesstamper

Later this month, Robert Fripp is playing three shows with The Humans. This is a somewhat rare series of shows as Fripp hasn't toured th UK as part of a band since King Crimson’s appearance at the Shepherds Bush Empire in 2000.

Here are the details on the upcoming shows:
22 Feb 2010 Assembly, Leamington Spa

23 Feb 2010 The Junction, Cambridge

24 Feb 2010 The Scala, London

Links:
The Humans
DGM Live

Robert Fripp Releases Studio Session for "Disengage" (with John Wetton and Phil Collins)

Robert Fripp opened the floodgates to the King Crimson/Fripp vaults a few years ago and steady stream of live material and studio outtakes has followed.

Fripp has just released the "Disengage Online EP" which consists of four studio takes of "Disengage" that were recorded in December 1977 with John Wetton and Phil Collins. The EP is available as an online download in MP3 format for $1 and in FLAC format for $2.

"Consisting of four different takes of the same track, we get to hear the anatomy of Disengage as it begins to breath and stretch. It's interesting to hear each musician trying out little experiments, pockets, retreats and chancing the occasional headlong thrust as the temperature rises or the inclination takes them."

Links:
"Disengage Online EP"