My thanks to CyNoth for sending in this translation review of Thread by Olaf Maikopf in the German magazine Jazzthing.
"Not so long ago the London based saxophonist and flautist Theo Travis released his space-jazz-album “Double Talk”, for which the guitarist Robert Fripp delivered several contributions. Otherwise known from Soft Machine, Gong or in co-operation with Harold Budd and David Sylvia, the composer together with the guru of new-age-rock live out their mutual passion for ambient on “Thread”. All nine titles are always pleasant to consume although totally improvised. They link the melodic, sensual moments of earlier King Crimson pieces with the first ambient recordings that Fripp and Brian Eno documented already in 1973. “Thread” is ideal for wide spaces whether they form landscapes or are closed in by walls. Then through the apparently never occurring yet continuous gentle changes Travis and Fripp construct a thread of timeless aesthetic soundscapes. None of the kitsch or arbitrariness is here conveyed that so often declasses the ambient genre. The music symbolises beauty and is absolutely soothing – some might choose to characterise this is old fashioned."
"Not so long ago the London based saxophonist and flautist Theo Travis released his space-jazz-album “Double Talk”, for which the guitarist Robert Fripp delivered several contributions. Otherwise known from Soft Machine, Gong or in co-operation with Harold Budd and David Sylvia, the composer together with the guru of new-age-rock live out their mutual passion for ambient on “Thread”. All nine titles are always pleasant to consume although totally improvised. They link the melodic, sensual moments of earlier King Crimson pieces with the first ambient recordings that Fripp and Brian Eno documented already in 1973. “Thread” is ideal for wide spaces whether they form landscapes or are closed in by walls. Then through the apparently never occurring yet continuous gentle changes Travis and Fripp construct a thread of timeless aesthetic soundscapes. None of the kitsch or arbitrariness is here conveyed that so often declasses the ambient genre. The music symbolises beauty and is absolutely soothing – some might choose to characterise this is old fashioned."
