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  Boulder Rocks (& Burbles, Grooves, & Swings) December 12, 2008
Written by DeVito
Of the ProjeKcts, P1 is my favorite (i.e., most listened to), followed closely by P4. I never get tired of listening to either of them. Mastelotto’s drumming totally changes the character of the music from P1, even though the rest of the lineup is the same. Levin is a blast as usual. If you like the improvising side of Crimson, here’s a concentrated 70 minutes of it. --Chris DeVito
An Awesome Night Of Improvisation!!! February 21, 2007
Written by LouieB
October 23rd 1998 marked the debut of King Crimson’s ProjeKct Four and what an amazing concert it was as preserved on this download from the wonderful folks at DGMLive. The event took place at The Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado and was a fabulous night of improvisation that never seemed to let up. The opening "Ghost Pt.1" began with a typical Robert Fripp Soundscape with its chilling cinematic tones. Five minutes into the Soundscape, Pat Mastelotto joins Fripp with a slow moving drum figure. The two push the music into even more darker and intense territory until Pat relents with the slow beat and delves into a mid-tempo dance groove. This is where the remainder of the band, Trey Gunn and Tony Levin, join the rest of the troop. "Ghost Pt.1" leads directly into the long minimalist-like jam entitled "Seizure". Here, Levin taps out a funky repeated bass line while both Fripp and Gunn display some frenzic lead solos over the top. Fripp also continues to provide some dramatic Soundscapes here. Despite this improvisation being based in just one key, it never tends to get overbearing or boring. After a brief pause, the band launches into the second "Ghost" which features a fast-paced trip-hop rhythm from Pat. While Fripp is ever present with some delicate piano sounds from his guitar, it’s Gunn and Levin that really shine for the majority of this piece. Towards the end, Gunn and Fripp offer some great free-jazz like exchanges before diving head first into a manic rendition of "Heavy ConstruKction". This is where every one seems to just go crazy musically especially Fripp with his harmonized schizoid guitar leads. Another break leads to a fantastic reading of the now classic "Deception of the Thrush" which is extremely tight and focused. "Ghost Pt.3" once again features stellar percussion from Pat as well as a relentless guitar duel between Fripp and Gunn. Levin also has some fine moments here especially towards the end. Finally to close out the concert, P4 leaves us with "Light ConstruKtion" which begins almost like a Kraftwerk piece (thing "Musique Non Stop"). Fripp and Gunn then come in with some various guitar exchanges sometimes sounding like dueling vibraphones, sometimes sounding like dueling impossible instruments. Gunn then grabs the spotlight with an insane touch guitar lead while Levin goes into a double-time Jazz walking bass line. Then it all seems to go crazy as it becomes impossible to tell who’s playing what apart from Pat who is obviously drumming. Then it all mellows out as Fripp, Gunn and Levin repeat the riff they began the improvisation with brining this jam and the entire concert to a fabulous finish. I must say that even though I owned the P4 disc from the ProkeKct box set, I only thought I was prepared for what I was about to hear upon downloading this gig. Boy was I surprised. This concert exceeded my expectations by a long shot. P4’s October 23rd gig is definitely one that deserves to be heard over and over again. All four musicians were in top form here and without a doubt gave the Boulder, Colorado crowd their money’s worth. Hat’s off once again to DGMLive for another great concert. I should be checking out the 7th Note in San Francisco gig very soon. Essential ProjeKct Four.
Hot July 18, 2006
Written by fretus
...just downloaded this great stuff. Wow man, yeah! I have to agree with RF who stated that the first part of the show seemed to him as being ’the most adventurous’. If you already have the ProjeKct’s box and other KCCC ProjeKct releases you may think you already have enough of this kind of music. No! You don’t. You will want this if you dig the ProjecKcts. The general feel of the music is inbetween the official P3 and P4 albums and the P1 live at the Jazz cafe, IMHO. Spacey, groovy, searching... Occasionally heavy and schizoid. Frequently familiar in sound, but here you get to hear the full versions... and how they got there.
Projeckt 4 at The Fox February 8, 2006
Written by barrows
First a hearty thank you to all the folks at DGM for making this night of music available. I was lucky enough to attend this show, and it is one of the most wonderful nights of live music I have experienced. The feeling of many possibilities was present to this audient, and seemed to empower the whole event. Now I get to re-visit my responses of the moment and digest them further. To anyone who enjoys what has previously been released by P4: download this now! And make sure that you use FLAC. As an audiophile, and working in the business of high end home audio equipment, I am very impressed by the quality available with the FLAC software, with a properly burned CD-R (at 1x speed, with the computer running no other applications, and onto a Mitsui Gold CD-R) you end up with a product that has the potential to sound better than the commercially released CDs. So, thanks again DGM, I look forward to downloading more music soon. I have one suggestion: do everything you van to keep the audio quality high as FLAC downloads have the potential to sound better than commercially released CDs, and please continue to publish what the source of the downloads is: ie soundboard DAT, hard drive copy, and whether or not live mics are used as well. A qulity rating might be a good idea as well.
beautiful madness January 23, 2006
Written by rfwhitman
As I listen to this performance ( I downloaded the FLAC version) once again I am in wonderment and amazement at the strange, powerful and beautiful music that comes through this group of musicians. The emotional range of the pieces is broad. The whole is a multifaceted trip through moods, imagined places and sonic colors at times achingly beautiful, or energizing, or terrifying; and at all times very listenable, reminiscent somehow of a dimly remembered other language. As an avid young listener and keyboard player in a band in 1975, we listened and studied Crimson’s music voraciously, counting off the time signatures, finding the chords and melodic intervals. Today I am happy to say it all defies logical analysis. It works as challenging, powerful music whose engine is beauty and never chaos. As another reviewer said, there may be improvisation but there are no superfluous or unfocused passages. Thanks Robert and ProjeKt Four collaborators for sharing this with us.
A worthy Gig January 23, 2006
Written by millingt
This release certainly will not dissapoint any fan of the various ProjeKcts. The ghost pieces are exceptionally strong on this disc. Seizure has a pretty good trance going throughout.
Ghostly ProjeKctions January 9, 2006
Written by GrassySound
I have the two previous official ProjeKct Four releases (The Roar Of P4, and West Coast Live), and while I enjoy both, this show has a consistency I find lacking in the aforementioned discs. Ghost Pt 1 is a soundscape assault on the mind; interestingly, this track also features a sample of Adrian Belew’s tape recorded "story" from Thela Hun Ginjeet. This track is a superb beginning to this show. Seizure is a hypnotic, rhythmic trance of epic proportions, as most already know. This version, however, is far longer than that which appears on The Roar Of P4. Ghost and Ghost Pt III are really exceptional forays into improvisational electronicism. However, there is not a trace of noodling to be found amongst these performances. Pt III is especially strong, thanks in large part to the programmed and live percussion tracks Pat Mastelotto employs. It slowly morphs into a wondrous atmospheric jam that is one of my highlights of the whole show. The Deception Of The Thrush is great to hear in a more embryonic state, but even more appealing is hearing Tony Levin contribute to the piece. His subtlety goes a long way for enhancing the tune. Heavy/Light ConstruKction have never been amongst my favorite pieces performed by the ProjeKcts (minus P1). However, I think the versions done by P4, and especially during this gig, are my favorite of all the "ConstruKctions" to appear to date. There seems to be another worldly approach that makes them more palatable to my ears. VROOOM. Well, this tune was played as an encore during this show, as confirmed by the diaries of several band members. Unfortunately, it wasn’t recorded, according to Sid Smith; a pity too, as it would’ve been great to hear how this lineup rendered it. I love this show. It may well be the most consistent ProjeKct concert released to date...a mere opinion, of course, but one based upon critical listening and reflection. May we hear more of P4!
Fascinating, Awesome December 2, 2005
Written by ScottM
The P4 disc in the ProjeKcts box I found interesting, but somewhat
cold and abstract. The existing KCCC disc I found less attractive
than that - it gives me a headache. But this gig, to me, works
and works on a high level. I love it for the same reasons I love
the KCCC disc of P3 (3/25/99 I believe) - masterful playing by all,
with space to breath in it, and real ideas being explored at
length. This disc along with the aforementioned P3 disc will be
in heavy rotation in my sound-world, they’re brilliant and highly
successful examples of what can come from skilled musicians improvising. A
special note of thanks to Pat Mastellatto who is a real inspiration to
me as an electronic kit drummer. His flow of squeaks thuds and
breakbeats makes this special, and makes it different from what had
come before.
Bubbling, Ripping Starscapes November 19, 2005
Written by barrystock
P4 pilot a whirring, whizzing starship in this 1998 performance with
Levin, Gunn, Mastelotto and Fripp. It bubbles and fizzes, pops and
jumps, and then grabs you by the throat, and by the heart strings with
great, driving grooves, some recognizable, some unique.
(Metaphor switch.)
It’s a delicious stew. Eat.
Barry Stock
Hollywood, Florida
11/19/05
October 23, 1998
Written by Robert Fripp
08.19 Pat Mastelotto called yesterday evening around 19.30 to see if I would like to join the fully-arrived team for dinner. Actually, I had only just returned from eating at The Creative Vegetarian Restaurant at 1835, Pearl, following a visit to the relocated Barnes & Noble on Pearl at 30th. These, my travelling adventures, are an assertion and an attempt to press this unwilling body into a deeper engagement with the world and the local time zone. The feebly, dribbling pysche of the Fripp emerged from the Creative Cafe to find the key locked inside the hire car, with the engine still running. What a dope! Pop-a-lock arrived to take my money and let me in. The speed with which professionals spring a car's locks leave me both impressed and terrified. ProjeKt Four's debut performance tonight is at 20.00. I haven't been able to stay awake past 20.30 so far. But, I trust the sphere of performance. However impossible a performance may seem beforehand, all that is finally necessary for the performer to do is walk on stage. Once there, everything changes. The discipline of a performer confers the guarantee that, regardless of how they feel, the state of their health, their imaginary fears and projections, the performer WILL walk on stage. After all, this is a necessity. At that point, the performance confers its own mysterious, magical, remarkable presence: the impossible becomes possible. The only posters I've seen in town, so far, for a Project is The Al Dimeola Project, on Saturday. 15.24 Collected, and about to leave for the sound check at 16.00. Who knows what might happen? Five minutes before Fripp & Eno walked onstage (Madrid, May 1975) at the beginning of their short live tour, they asked each other: "What shall we do?". (They were booed off in France three days later). The same, pretty well, for Sylvian - Fripp - Gunn in Tokyo (1992); ProjeKct One (London, December 1997) and ProjeKct Two (Nashville, February 1998). And always the same for Soundscapes. What? How? and an appeal to the Muse in the face of impossibility. But at least the Fox Theatre has "A King Crimson ProjeKct" in smaller letters than projeKct four!
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