Customer Reviews

The Projekcts

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

OK, in summary, it's odd, improvised, and thouroughly exceptional. One reviewer here clearly missed the point of this release: experimentation. All improvised, distorted, twisted, jumpy, scattered and futuristic.

If only more artists were willing to experiment, we would have far more interesting music around. Not, of course, to say there's anything wrong with arranged music as opposed to improvised. I just believe they need not be mutually exclusive in anyone's CD collection.

***

ProjeKct One is a succesful disc because it sounds fairly different to King Crimson of the past. However, it is not nearly as odd as the other discs, making it possibly the most immediatly listenable of the four. Also, it's the only one to feature BB's acoustic drums. Though frankly I don't find them standing out particularly here, considering his earlier KC work.

ProjeKct Two features Belew switching guitars for electronic V-Drums. While he's no BB (or as P3&4 reveals, no PM) his odd rhythyms here are very interesting and new. Some of the tracks here would become foundations for the ConstruKction of Light LP - the titles should ring a bell. Oh, and The Deception of the Thrush begins its life here. TG stands out more than on THRAK.

ProjeKct Three is possibly the weirdest music i think i have ever heard. Basically, PM took control of this ProjeKct and poured over all the live recordings and studio rehersals, and stitched together an entity called Masque. This one is probably my favourite. Lots of V-Drums mixed with live drums.

ProjeKct Four sounds as if it could have been the next King Crimson (and now in 2004, it nearly is the next King Crimson but for TG swapped out for AB). The Deception of the Thrush sounds far better here than on P2. Both Ghosts are excellent. Some more PM excellence here.

***

Be warned this is not King Crimson past, present or future. It's the ProjeKcts. And if you hate electronic drums and RF's guitar distortion and sound effects (the piano heard in P2 is not a piano), you might want to reconsider. If your mind is open, you will be rewarded.

Having purchased "The Beginner's Guide to ProjeKcts" and "ProjeKt 2: Space Groove" (not included in the set), the box set seemed the next logical step - even if it meant bashing my credit card just to see how they progressed inbetween "THRAK" and "ConstruKction of Light". Of course, this is very heavy stuff - King Crimson are synonymous with loud, accurate and perhaps angry progressive music, and the "ProjeKcts" are no exception. However, given the member's technical skills, the music does not get gratuitous at any point - it simply remains atmospheric and eclectic.

It's hard to pick out highlights as each disc is best played start to finish without looking at the track listing, but I'd definitely give "Masque" a listen.

My only moan is that Ade Belew features only on one ProjeKt, playing V-Drums (in such a way, "Space Groove" could have had Pat Mastellotto fearing for his job)!

If you're new to King Crimson's ProjeKcts, I wouldn't dive in head-first, get "The Deception of the Thrush" first and go from there. If you like any of the discs in this set, the 2CD studio ProjeKct "Space Groove" comes highly recommended - still as jazzy, but more laid back.

This is what contemporarly music is really all about.

Nothing can divert Fripp from his vision, and he definitely knows where he's going and what he's about. This collection is a series of recordings from four separate concert tours, with four different subsets of the extended band which is King Crimson. And each one is completely different from the others.

Improvisation is what jazz is all about, which is why this style of music is generally lumped in with jazz, but there's so much more to it than that. You have three or four performers who are all collectively trying to make something happen - they don't know exactly what until it does. And when it does happen, you are *gone*, man ...

When I first saw the line up of instruments I was a little sceptical because I am a kind of 'authentic' prog rock fan. The thought of electronic drums and over produced guitar sounds sort of made me a little worried. But my doubts were soon quenched when the first track of Disc 1 kicked in. My ears nearly exploded at how much energy it had (and I'm a vegetarian so I felt guilty about listening to something so meaty!!).

The discs are so varied as well, but my favourite by far is disc 1 with Bill and Tony driving the music at about a million miles an hour with Robert and Trey crusing over the top with there touch guitars and midi synth lay out.

I have never looked back since I have heard new Crimson, the old stuff is just as good, if not better, but they are keeping up with the spirit of the age where other prog groups have floundered.

The ProjeKCts is perhaps best described by Robert Fripp as King Crimson by Fractals. Because King Crimson as a band contains a bewildering number of members past and present, the ProjeKcts is an attempt at making it all a bit more manageable for them and for us... It also side-steps those fans with an axe to grind that come to a "King Crimson" product, gig or "event" with preconceptions... always a bad move where music involving Robert Fripp is concerned - any preconceptions are things best left at the door when putting on any one of these CDs.

So, without anything other than knowing who was playing, what was being played, (and how it was being played) on these four CDs, I decided to give it a go anyway and grab a copy while I was last out in San Francisco. I'm glad I did - and this is why.

ProjeKct One -- Live at the Jazz Café is exhilarating to listen to. The music soars, roars and jars, sometimes it flows, sometimes it grabs you and transfixes you with its sheer virtuosity. It's (a)live, "warts and all" music. Improvised, nasty, gritty and also velvety. Its King Crimson all right, but it's music on the edge, hell it puts the audience on the edge. 9 numbered tracks With Bill Bruford coaxing pulses from drums and percussion, while Tony Levin, Trey Gunn, and Robert Fripp navigating their various fret boards leaving this humble Stick player to just give up trying to follow what's going on and sit back and enjoy the ride.

ProjeKct Two's "Live Groove" heads up CD 2. ProjeKct Two is Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn and Live Groove will make your midrange wobble all right with some dead serious three way aural assault (but don't worry its not all harsh, some of it sounds like it is designed to woo you back into trusting them again - such as the lovely "Light ConstruKction"). For those of you who may have come across Adrian as the live guitarist to Talking Heads just before the band self-destructed, Adrian is showcased here as an exceptional drummer too (well, I like it). Again, recorded live, again improvised you have to marvel at these guys because it's very tight playing. Very tight playing in an improv setting is a sign of a band that really feels at ease with going beyond their limits. On many occasions (on this particular CD) even I can hear even the sheer joy at playing live, unhinged and just for themselves, the audience feeds this energy and it really makes you want to go out more to hear music like this played live.

ProjeKct Three's excursion is an altogether different kettle of fish. The nice pantomime horsey on the cover has already set me into a happy state of expectation (I'm a sucker for all things equine). The sound is, if anything, lusher than the previous two ProjeKcts. With some dead-on percussion from Pat Mastelotto, Masque (as this CD is titled) showcases a lighter, airier sound. It still doesn't lurch uncontrollably into electro-kanoodling (and with three CDs so far of largely improvised music its amazing they haven't done this yet), the sounds are more organic if anything. This is something I have found ideal for playing at night, with the lights out and at very high volumes - its stuff I can personally get very scared listening to and that's okay, the adrenaline could do me some good every now and then.

ProjeKct Four is the line-up of ProjeKct Three plus Tony Levin, Sticking, Bassing and otherwise bringing a lot of his Levin-ness sensibilities to the music. I've long time been an admirer of Tony Levin. After the angry crunch of the Strangers' Jean Jaques Burnel's overdriven Precision Bass and the womb-like dub-infested throb of Jah Wobble, Tony Levin really opened up my ears to sounds possible with the Chapman Stick, and all things Bassular in general. ProjeKct Four is full of his telltale musings, but it's still only a quarter of the total conversation. The tracks "Hindu Fizz" and "ProjeCktion" are definitely the high points of this CD for me, with wild, crunchy and elastic playing on all parts (can you tell I'm having immense fun writing this?), this closes off a very fine four CD Box Set of wild, barely (rarely?) tamed and improvised music that defies real review.

I guess some will find it to be audiowank of the worst kind, and that's understandable, but not really supportable when you give it a listen. The various musicians in this box set sustain for me an almost child-like wonder at the power, the beauty and the sheer enormity of passion possible in playing live improvised music. This stuff is expressing the soul, and it's a real cure for those of us maxed out on former King Crimson glories.

A little word about the Label. DGM is a label, which puts the property rights of ownership back into the hands of the musicians. You may or may not disagree with Mr Fripp's views on this, but the label has a growing selection of music on it (Disc One is an Enhanced CD with a hypertextual trip through the music on DGM's and there are some quality sound clips from each of the releases too). DGM should be supported, at the very least it should be recognised as being possibly the start of a similar fractalisation of the music business. I'm hoping more small bands decide to go it alone and do whatever it takes to protect the freedom and integrity of their music... It's sure as hell has done wonders for King Crimson.

Bottom Line: If you have read this far then there really is no need for a bottom line.

In the wake of the Crimson "Double Trio" tour of 96 a new album was scheduled, but the band were unhappy with the results of rehearsals and writing so tried another approach.

Splitting into sub-groups, or ProjeKcts, different lineups played club tours, performing mainly improvised sets in order to develop material for a "full" Crimson album. The ProjeKct box contains one live CD from each of the 4 ProjeKct lineups, as follows:

P1: Bruford, Levin, Gunn, Fripp P2: Belew, Gunn, Fripp P3: Mastelotto, Gunn, Fripp P4: Mastelotto, Levin, Gunn, Fripp

P1 is the only disc featuring conventional accoustic drums, often working superbly in collaboration with Fripp's soundscaping.

For P2 Belew introduces V-Drums, taken quite some way further by Mastelotto for P3 and P4. The latter two discs are quite startling in their use of sampled and electronic percussion for any band, never mind "prog rock pond scum dinosaurs".

Being improvised, themes can take a while to develop, and sometimes don't really develop enough, but where things fly they hit the stratosphere, ranging from sublime, almost ambient to things that sound dangerous enough to trigger earthquake alerts.

A compilation of the 4 CDs is available as a single disc, Deception of the Thrush, but for my money the whole box is better. Though there is filler, there's not much of it, and the single CD release just misses out too much good music.

Not something for those who like all their music with catchy melodies and hooks. Quite a lot of the ProjeKct material lacks obvious melody, and structurally and rhythmically it's often quite complex. But if you like that, this is a real cooker.

Forget about who is in the individual departments(because if your buying this box-set, you already know who is in the band) the projecKts in whichever configuration is truly exceptional and rock as much now as ever. Do yourself a real big favor and buy this, then do somebody you know and like a favor and turn them ont to thier own packages. Personal preference is P3 and P4.

Let's get this straight from the start : although an unconditional fan of the Bruford/Wetton era, I never liked 80's or 90's KC. Too cold, no atmosphere, too technical and an extremely characterless voice (mister A. Belew). I mean, I could never stay awake during "Discipline" or Beat" or whatever, so clinical, so ... dead. Even when this version of KC decided to tackle old favourites, they sounded thin and unconvincing ("Red" and "Larks' pt2 on "Absent Lovers" being particularly embarrassing examples to anyone who remembers the energy of the originals, not to mention live versions of the 70's). In short, why R. Fripp suddenly decided to become David Byrne ("Thela hun yawn etc.") is one of the great mysteries of 20th century rock music.
ANYWAY, one should never give up hope!
At least, that's my conclusion after listening a couple of times to these 4 discs of very interesting improvs, KC for the new millenium no less, lots of atmosphere, lots of inspiration, with some truly great moments. And the best part (for me) : mister Belew shuts up even on the disc he plays on - bliss! At last Crimson sounds threatening again AND beautiful at times, instead of just pretty and technically impressive. Let's face it : one minute of "Masque" or "Ghost" is worth all your interlocking guitars and other clever stuff of the previous 20 years and you know why? Because this music is based on sounds rather than notes and that was always the basis for great Crimson.

Fans of rock music (who have never dared cross the threshold to the rich improvisatory worlds of Jazz) might find this worthwhile listening and see in it rich and imaginative musical elaborations. But I found it tedious and unimaginative, lacking in harmonic innovation and desperately hooked on the 'distortion' pedal. Whereas the earlier 'Discipline' (and the following two albums) genuinely leapt into exciting musical territory of complex poly-rhythms, jazz-tinged harmonic chord progressions and a gentle sophistication, the 'Thrak' and post-thrak King Crimson have fallen back into mediocrity. If you think this album is great then you've obviously never strayed very far in your musical tastes. I have an immense amount of respect for Robert Fripp but I think he needs to 'deconstruct' his conception of musical style and then let something genuinely new emerge. This isn't it.