HW: OFF: random thoughts - King Crimson

Tom Clark tclark at PETRONET.NET
Wed Nov 21 20:47:59 EST 2001


Keith:

One word.

GO!

You won't be disappointed.  King Crimson live will blow your socks off in
any incarnation.  Robert Fripp alone is worth going.  Forget what the albums
sound like.   Hope you don't smoke cigarettes, though.  They banned it at a
show in New Orleans.

Trey Gunn, but the way, was on the John Paul Jones album "Zooma", for what
it's worth. (Actually, I think the album screamed for Plant to be a
vocalist, but that's another story......).....


----- Original Message -----
From: "K Henderson" <henderson.120 at OSU.EDU>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 7:19 PM
Subject: Re: HW: OFF: random thoughts


> Andy G. thus spake...
>
> >while a lot of people are getting into four new albums
> >(Hawkwind/Brock/Davey/ Bedouin) virtually all out at the same time -
phew!!!
> >no wonder it's quiet; everyone's out or listening!!!???!!!
>
> Well, over here in the states folx are travelling a great deal due to the
> fact that tomorrow is a holiday.  And I assume folx in the UK are still
> travelling around from all the gigs and all.
>
> Let's see...what can I bring up?
>
> Oh, I see there's some sort of strange fantasy fiction novel out called
"The
> Legend of Hawkwind" by Adrian Drake, and no...unlike the Butterworth
books,
> this one doesn't appear to have any relation to Hawkwind the band.
>
> Rudy from the Falcata-Galia label in California (related to the
Transparency
> label that released the 2CD Nik - TG F&R deal) tells me that the new
> Farflung CD (When Science Fails) is due to be released in about two weeks.
> So look for that one.  Weird is that a lineup I saw didn't include mention
> of Len Del Rio, but had a few other guys who I'd never heard of, in
addition
> to Tommy and Brandon.
>
> In the local used CD store I saw second-hand copies of Brainticket's two
> discs on Cleo/PP...Voyage and Adventure.  Both for $5.  If anyone's been
> looking for either/both of these, I can pick 'em up for you and mail 'em
to
> you.  $6 domestic, ppd.  Note that I've heard that some of these came out
> misprinted (switched one for the other), but the ones I have are just
fine.
> So I can't guarantee that these are what they say they are, but if you got
> both, it might not be a big deal anyway.
>
> Another local store actually stocked two of the Weird Tapes CDs!  That's
> pretty amazing for Columbus, OH.  Oddly enough, it was 103 and 104, the
two
> that I *just* ordered from Voiceprint directly.  In the end, the cost
would
> have ended up just the same if I'd bought them here.  I think they had
them
> for $14 + tax, which is a pretty good deal considering the distribution is
> probably fairly convoluted getting all the way to High Street, Columbus.
> Jerry, if you're looking to buy one of 'em, there's a good spot (Singing
> Dog...Classic 70s section).
>
> Down further south on High Street is Magnolia Thunderpussy, that has a
fair
> number of Hawkwind CDs, but they usually have mostly the crap ones.  They
do
> have the Live '79 double, and also Glasters '90 (sadly enough), but at $14
> or so, they're not completely gouging people for something that they
> probably don't even know is pretty lousy sounding, great gig or no.
>
> King Crimson is coming to Columbus next week, and I'm wondering if there's
> any great reason to go.  I've never seen the band before in any
incarnation,
> and frankly have no clue as to what they've been doing lately.  It seems
> like they have seven different versions doing seven different styles of
> music.  The four guys in the photo are Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp, and
> then two guys I don't really know, although I think one of the guys is
Trey
> Gunn, who I don't know from Adam (is he a bassist?).  I do like Adrian
> Belew, at least as a solo artist, and think Lone Rhino was brilliant (why
> it's not on CD is beyond me...the compilation that included a good half of
> it was a start but hardly adequate).  I think I've seen him three or four
> times, and once with the Psychodots as his backing band (and opening
band),
> which was then essentially the same band as the Bears.  Nearly local they
> is, being from Cincinnati/Covington.  Well, anyway, my fandom of King
> Crimson is fairly limited - I think the first album was great and of some
> importance.  Then I lose interest as they got into the tragic "excesses"
of
> progdom, the sort of thing that led to Yes' "Tales of Topographic Oceans,"
> but then (like Yes with Rabin) they brought in a melodic pop influence
> (Belew) and had some success in a different sense.  Those albums like
'Beat'
> and what was it? "Red" or "Discipline"?  Whatever...the ones with
"Elephant
> Talk" and "Thela Hun Jinjeet" - that sort of stuff was interesting at
times,
> with the occasional 'what the f*ck?'.  "Three of a Perfect Pair" the song
I
> liked also.  But overall, my interest in King Crimson is spotty and if I
had
> it to do over again, I probably would come to the conclusion that 'In the
> Court...' and 'Lone Rhino' are the two albums that I really need to have
> from this lot.  Although 'Inner Revolution' and even the Bowie-period
Belew
> album were fun at times...that "I Am What I Am" is great anyway.  Forget
the
> awful Orbison-cover thing - ick.  I'm just rambling on without any point
or
> direction, so feel free to move on any time.
>
> It's a four-day holiday and nobody's around so I have the music (the
totally
> awesome new Into the Abyss (Athens, Greece) CD "Adrenochrome" - if you
like
> bombastic stately gothic proggy rock with psychedelic overtones, then....)
> cranked up pretty loud and am just putting off doing anything productive
> (like that doesn't happen ever day anyway), so bear with me.
>
> I've got a heap of Quarkspace CD's to send out yet.  Probably get to that
> during the weekend proper.  Some of you will get one of the dozen or so
> CDR's that I burned up myself.  Some of you will be lucky enough to get
one
> of the actual manufactured CDs that Paul actually had made.  I think they
> did do a run of 300 but then stopped short of having the artwork/booklets
> done once they decided to offer it as a freebie. Not sure yet if the
artwork
> that was started is complete enough to just offer up as a couple jpg's to
> print out.  If so, and I get them, I'll put them up somewhere to grab.
>
> The show Saturday night (ostensibly Quarkspace's final gig) was really a
> great time.  Lots of guests showed up to play at certain points, and it
had
> the most variety of any Quarkspace gig I'd been to.
>
> The guests included (in order of performance)...
> Richard Orlando (guitar)
> Carl "No-Muzik" Howard (synths)
> Matt Kearns (guitar)
> Darren Gough (guitar)
> Bevin Lynch (vocals)
> Kendra Lewis (vocals)
>
> Darren of course was an 'original' member, at least from when they started
> making CDs, and I think Paul said that Matt had also been a member long
ago
> and that he'd come in from Oregon to guest.  Ritchie Orlando of course is
> Alien Planetscapes' past (and now again present) guitarist and it was
great
> to have him come in from NYC to play on four or five tracks, including a
> very different version of 'Quark, Strangeness, and Charm' (the band's name
> origin as you might have guessed) full of wonderful e-piano stylings from
> "Prog Boy" Jay Swanson and Chet strumming on an acoustic guitar while
> Ritchie made up a nice solo once he got plugged in two-thirds of the way
> through the song (probably a good six minute version).  I think I'll try
to
> get Paul to put up an .mp3 of this track at least (I know he recorded the
> whole gig to digital disc) as I'm sure lots of you would be interested in
> hearing the patented Quarkspace 'jazz-fusion' version of 'Quark.'  :)
>
> Other covers performed throughout the night were Traffic's "Low Spark of
> High-Heeled Boys" and Neil Young's "Down By the River" which was the
post-2
> AM finale with all the various folx jamming outright on the cramped Ruby
> Tuesday stage with great aplomb.  "Low Spark" was the time that Carl H.
got
> to plug in his 'audio-generator/oscillator' type synth (sorry Doug - no
idea
> what it was) and he cranked it up and played some totally freaked and
> whacked sh*t.  Which was completely inappropriate for the song as it were,
> but then it was rather funny in that way and at some point later during
the
> 'jam' bit, it all came oddly together and sounded great.  Carl hung around
> for a few more space-jam-improv numbers where he was right at home.
>
> Q-Space saved some of the new stuff for the last set when the 'girls' got
up
> and sang along, to the title track at least, which is starting to grow on
me
> now.  Earlier in the set, they did the 'Pavlovian Causeway' tune (I think)
> which is one of the coolest totally-spaced numbers they have done lately.
I
> know they did 'In the Shadows' again like they did at Strange Daze (or at
> least here at the Columbus Quimby show), 'cause I remember that that was
the
> time where Paul's gear freaked out on him or something, and the whole band
> got totally out of sequence or something.  Well, that's what he gets for
> writing such a pleasant little ditty in 5/4 or whatever.
>
> OK, how am I doing?
>
> It's been fun reading the gig reports from the UK shows.  I'd love to be
> there of course, but at least we're getting firsthand nollidge of the
> goings-on.  I'm still rather disappointed to learn that Tim B. was dumped
or
> whatever happened. Anybody get the word on what went down yet?  And I hear
> from Hardy via Jerry that Quimby (who were bumped from the two Scottish
gigs
> due to space limitations, pun not intended) will now open for Hawkwind at
> the 'Christmas 2001' gig in London (will it be the Astoria again?).  So
make
> sure y'all make it down to that one early.
>
> It looks pretty definite that I'll be moving to Switzerland next year come
> July 1st, so not that anyone really cares I suppose, but it'll be
different
> for me getting to see different gigs and fests there but then missing what
> we have here at the same time.  And although I'll be working with a group
at
> the University of Berne, I'll actually be living and working near Zurich
at
> the Paul Scherrer Institute.  So I'll be darn close to the German border,
> perhaps 20 miles southeast of Basel.  I don't know any Swiss bands
> whatsoever, unless you count the aforementioned Brainticket that spent
some
> time there.  Do we have any Swiss boc-l listmembers?  I don't recall
seeing
> any .ch email addresses appear here.  Oh, BTW, the .ch stands for
> Confederato Helvetica, which is the original Latin name for the country
now
> know more as Switzerland, or Suisse, or Schweiz, whatever.  Luckily, most
> everyone over there speaks English pretty well as I am pretty inept at any
> foreign language, including German that I even studied in college (the
first
> time, back in the 80s) for my chemistry degree.
>
> Well, ok, I have to go pee, so I think I'll wrap this doggerel up and head
> out and mebbe get some vittles as well.  Vittles is food in case you
didn't
> know - surely you've seen the Beverley Hillbillies?  Comes from 'victuals'
> meaning 'that which sustains life.'  I suppose that could also mean space
rock.
>
> Grakkl (FAA)
>
> P.S.  Anybody have Freedom's Children - Astra (So. Africa 1970)?  Sounds
> like something to get from what I've read.  Now out on CD in Germany
> (Repertoire?).
>



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