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Mike's Record Store
:: Posted by cantspelldiKc on May 03, 2013

    doin God’s Work bro, bless you

Ars longa, vita brevis
:: Posted by bucket on May 03, 2013

Great post Mike! Long live the record store, especially yours.

Long Live the Crimson King
:: Posted by MDGersper on May 03, 2013

My name is Mike. I work at a record store. I enjoy working at a record store because, among other things, I get to choose the music we play. I choose to play King Crimson a lot. 10 times out of 10 I will play brilliant music that goes unappreciated.

For instance, I was once again stressing the importance of the long play to my co-workers. I gave them the example of Islands. Islands is a wonderful long play. You might be able to have Ladies Of The Road hold its own as a single, sure, but there’s nothing like listening to the entire album, then being rewarded with Song Of The Gulls and Islands. The albums finale is breathtaking, it never gets old. This is simply a matter many people cannot understand (my co-workers included), and who could blame them? We live in the age of iTunes and MTV. Your favorite radio DJ likely plays what he is told rather than what he likes.

Several days ago I was playing Larks’ Tongues In Aspic at the store. I perhaps had the stereo volume up too loud. A young couple walks into the store and starts looking around in the opening seconds of The Talking Drum. They were visibly discomforted by the ensuing song. When the song hits a fever pitch and John Wetton has got his bass turned all the way up, and David Cross is just going nuts on his violin, the couple hurriedly grabs a few CDs and make a desperate hustle toward the counter, behind which I am waiting. As they arrive the track turns to Larks’ Tongue In Aspic Part II. The man is relieved and tells me, "This is much better than what was just on!" to which I narrow my eyes and I do not respond. His companion then tells me, "Yeah, that last band scared me." To which I indiscreetly smiled.

Today I was playing The Night Watch (the live album). My boss mistook the song Fracture for a Primus tune he’d never heard (much to my amusement). A customer meandered about the store quietly and listened as the first CD concluded and the second CD began. I could tell he was interested. Record store employees should have a passion for music such that it is a sixth sense to know when someone is interested in what you are playing. Before I had the chance to talk to the man, he shouted from across the store, "What’s this you’re playing?" I very excitedly called back that it was Exiles from Larks Tongues In Aspic performed live. Another gentleman exclaimed, "This isn’t King Crimson!" Of course he was mistaken. I then began to glow as I educated two men, perhaps decades my senior, about my favorite band. I grabbed a copy of Red, and pointed excitedly at the faces. Introducing them in turn to Bill Brufford (of Yes, I explained), John Wetton (of Asia, I explained and briefly performed an a cappella version of Heat Of The Moment before mentioning that Wetton and Brufford had also played together in U.K.), Robert Fripp (of King Crimson, I explained, the dungeon master himself) and even gave nod to David Cross (not pictured, I explained).

The gentleman whom I had a sixth sense about purchased the album. I know he will be back for more. You cannot simply un-listen to Red. It took me one spin. But even if it takes him two, even if he spins the album once tonight, and then months from now he has got the melody from One More Red Nightmare stuck in his head, recalls what it is many days or weeks after that, and then finally spins it again; He will be back for more. He is lucky, for his journey is just beginning but we are all lucky to be King Crimson fans. DGM is good enough to care for all of us and release a wealth of material. Fie on the record label who cares more about the dollar than the music. And glory be to DGM. Long live the Crimson King.

:: Posted by UnusualMuse on May 02, 2013

"I’m seriously missing the Beast at the moment and believe me, if I had a spare million or 2 I’d clear the debts and cover the costs and replenish the royalties and live in hope that would fix things enough to get the Beast back even just as a recording entity."

Interesting idea... I wonder if Mr. Fripp could be motivated back into KC studio mode by a Kickstarter campaign to provide the funding up-front?

Ten Years too
:: Posted by Festus on May 02, 2013

I also realised that it was 10 years since the release of TPTB. This album is up there in my faves with Red, Discipline and ITCOTCK.

I put it on the CD player on Monday and felt like it was all still brand new and waiting to be discovered. At the same time, I also felt sad that we aren’t likely to get anything out of the Beast and that the odd projekct type thing is all we will see.

Here’s the thing:
If I could play Robert an album that ’makes him wants to strap on a guitar and rock out’ please, let me know what album that would be! (I’m assuming that there must be something other than Tool that could hit the spot)

I’m seriously missing the Beast at the moment and believe me, if I had a spare million or 2 I’d clear the debts and cover the costs and replenish the royalties and live in hope that would fix things enough to get the Beast back even just as a recording entity.

Ho hum, back to work....

Ten Years
:: Posted by KramNamloc on April 30, 2013

It’s been ten years since The Power to Believe was released.

I have been hopefully unreasonable for every day of that ten years. Do any of you smell the stirrings of the Beast?

Nicholas Roerich and the Sacre
:: Posted by Frippouille on April 30, 2013

To emory:

The costumes of The Sacre du Printemps were designed by Nicholas Roerich, a painter, theosophist, Peace Nobel prize in 1929, initiator of the Roerich Pact in 1935, a treaty on  the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments, and apparently responsible for the inclusion of the Great Seal of the All-Seeing Eye on the american one dollar bill.

And now for something completely different
:: Posted by albemuth on April 28, 2013

I’ve been watching a lot of Jean-Luc Godard lately, especially Film Socialisme.  It is a non-narrative film, full of ideas that are hard to follow (especially if, like me, your French is not good).  But I’ve found it highly rewarding.  Godard builds his "argument" or "poem" (if the film is either of these things) by quoting extensively from others.  Not surprisingly, he is against the modern idea of intellectual property:
"The socialism of the film is the undermining of the idea of property, beginning with that of artworks... There shouldn’t be any property over artworks. Beaumarchais only wanted to enjoy a portion of the receipts from Le Mariage du Figaro.  He might say, "I’m the one who wrote Figaro." But I don’t think he would have said, "Figaro is mine." This feeling of property over artworks came later on."
http://cinemasparagus.blogspot.com/2010/05/jean-luc-godard-interviewed-by-jean.html

I’ll go with Uncle Jean on this one (rather than Uncle Bob).  Incidentally, some of the music used (or "stolen?") in Film Socialisme sound a little like Markus Reuter’s Todmorden.  I was very impressed with Todmorden.  Very beautiful.  Thanks for posting it.

sans vocals
:: Posted by Tahuna on April 28, 2013

As much as I love Adrian’s indispensable vocals in his KC work, I find the power and inventiveness of the playing so extraordinary on some of the ’songs’ that I wonder whether alternative instrumental versions might have some merit? Perhaps this is a remix project lying up ahead (or even better, added extras on the 5.1 remasters coming up)? Songs I’m thinking of include ’Waiting Man’, ’People’ ’The howler’ ... And on this topic, does anyone know of antecedents for this? And I don’t mean a band doing instrumental versions of someone else’s songs. Just curious.

No cameras please (yeah yeah yeah)
:: Posted by albemuth on April 27, 2013

There are a number of articles appearing about the fact that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are posting signs asking their fans NOT to use cameras.  Their signs read: "Please do not watch the show through a screen on your smart device/camera. Put that shit away as a courtesy to the person behind you and to Nick, Karen and Brian."

The Guardian article about this story ends with the sentence:
"Cameraphone footage ruins not just the moment, but the memory of the moment – for you have no memory of it, only that rubbish footage."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/shortcuts/2013/apr/10/yeah-yeah-yeahs-phones-gigs

Well, it seems like we are making a little progress!

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