Thomas De Hartmann Project With Elan Sicroff
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Jun 2, 2013
The Kickstarter-funded Thomas De Hartmann Project with pianist Elan Sicroff, previously mentioned in these pages, is within reach of its goal but still needs your support. Regular visitors will know of this project from its frequent mentions in Robert Fripp's diaries. You can find out more about the Kickstarter project page. 

Court's Counterbalance
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sat., Jun 1, 2013
Here's an entertaining account of listening to In The Court Of The Crimson King from the pages of PopMatters. 

Let Your Fingers Do The Talking
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sat., Jun 1, 2013
Tony Levin’s funk fingers are being made once again. Check out the manufacturer’s website here. 

NIN News
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., May 31, 2013
Trent Reznor talks about his latest projects over in Pitchfork with news that Adrian Belew is guesting on the new album only and not touring with the band as first reported. 

The Power To Believe Covered
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., May 31, 2013
PJ Crook's apocalyptic artwork for The Power To Believe comes under The Dork Report's spotlight. 

Fripp Steals The Show
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., May 31, 2013
That's the verdict of Uncut's editor, Allan Jones in this piece from Uncut's website. The review from The Observer Jones mentioned in his piece can be found here. 

Staring At The Dark Energy Of Sound - OCG Reviewed
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., May 31, 2013
The OCG VII's performance at Cambridge is reviewed here. My thanks also to foonon for sending in this take on the OCG in New York. 

Mister Stormy's Monday Selection
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., May 27, 2013
Ever wanted to hear all those rolls and fills Michael Giles played on the coda to the title track of In The Wake Of Poseidon isolated from all the other instruments except the bass? Well now you can. 

RF & The OCG VII In NY
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., May 27, 2013
My thanks to guestbook regular Emory for posting this impression of last night's performance by the OCG VII in New York.

"Well, that was quite a little event, there at St Mark’s Church.
Actually, most of the time I can tell if an event is going to work for me even before the band shows up: The audience present has a lot to do with whether I can fully participate given the feeling. But in that church (quite historic in NYC, actually, as Peter Stuyvesant I believe is buried there), there was a really cool crowd. Yes, the occasional warmed over Crimhead, but I really didn’t get the feeling that anyone expected anything other than the kinds of things we experienced. And, there were women!

When the Orchestra came out they were lead by an intense-looking Frida Khalo-eque lady, which spoke volumes about the event and how it came to be.

Wait, to back up: Before the guitarists came out there were 5 or 6 people who asked the audience not to record or photograph the event, flash or no, in numerous languages (French, Italian, Spanish, English, German). But when the Orchestra came out, before we saw them we could hear them for several minutes in advance and then they came out up on the balcony of the church. Oddly and incomprehensibly, I found myself almost panicking: I need to take out my phone to video this! This need to be captured on video! That feeling lasted maybe 5 minutes, and in all my years of attending musical performances I have never felt that way before.

The ’performance’ itself was fascinating, and arguably the logical conclusion to all that Fripp has always hammered the universe about, in terms of commerce, money, payment and so on. What we saw and experienced wasn’t so much a series of tunes (ie, like the Crafty Guitarists), but really just a public recital of the work Guitar circlists do on the Courses. It was 75% improvised and, as such, fascinating and alive and totally contrary to the usual transaction that is musical performance these days. Far more chaos was tolerated than I would have thought, and I found it all refreshing. What we "paid for", then, wasn’t so much to be entertained but, instead, we audients collectively took on the cost of this public recital, which I imagine would have been impossible otherwise. If one understood this going in, one received exactly what one paid for.

As for the circulation of the silence, I tried very hard to hear it but found I could not (over and above the movement of the bodies, of course), though for perhaps 2 or 3 seconds I heard it try to lock in, but for me it didn’t.

Oh, and having the performance in the afternoon really made it special, for some reason. That made it very un-show-like."

meanwhile over on Facebook, Patrick Grant offers this account.

"This afternoon was one of the most beautiful concerts I've ever witnessed. The music of course, but the way it was played and presented. I heard drums, harps, pianos.

When you all first came in, in the balcony, I was convinced it was electronic, but that didn't make sense exactly. The presence of the performer was fascinating. Mr. Fripp's demeanor… The mini-concert in the midst of the mass movement, and all that movement: I would love to talk about the basis of the movement. People knew what they were doing; the directions were clear, and I'm sure there were created moments where the performer had the "freedom" to make a decision. Some of our Living actions are like that. I'm always looking for new forms, and saw a lot today. Tell whoever that I'm now a believer. Frippery?"

Fripp On Bowie
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., May 26, 2013
BBC2's David Bowie - Five Years documentary, containing contributions from Robert Fripp, is available on the BBC iPlayer until June 1st.