His most extensive solo outing since 1979, Fripp’s bleeping and droning was carefully built up and layered via his trusty Revox tape recorders in much the same way as Fripp and Eno’s No Pussyfooting. Indeed there’s an echo of the early lines from The Heavenly Music Corporation in the opening moods of Loop IV.
Whilst the music here is taken from an audience recording, Alex has intercut Robert’s own cassette recording of the lecture/Q&A sections of the evening and spliced it all together. Though the crowd noise seems like it’s in direct competition with the music on Loop I, this does fall back as Loop II evolves.
The first part of the evening is spent with Robert setting up the backdrop for his later soloing and it’s an interesting upfront glimpse into this period and quite a stark contrast to the way the present soundscapes work. The Q&A section has Robert sounding very relaxed fielding all kinds of comments and questions about monads, tetrads, systems of working, King Crimson and the industry from a very earnest and interested audience. He’s even to be heard saying nice things about Sam Alder! To these ears though, it’s the soloing that get the juices flowing in an exhilarating rush that gives this show a real tingle factor.
